Back in 2014, the P&G brand Always launched a campaign with a powerful message for the pre- and post-puberty girls out there. Created by Leo Burnet with the help of famous female documentarian Lauren Greenfield, they designed the campaign and it currently has more than 67 million views on YouTube. Publicis Groupe’s MSL was the one that originally came up with the idea. ‘LIKE A GIRL’ also won the PR Grand Prix. I have presented this campaign in the form of a storytelling arch in order to understand the idea behind the campaign in a much better way.
The beginning: The campaign is about a social experiment to show the impact the phrase #LikeAGirl had on society, especially on girls “pre-” and “post-puberty”. The video shows how people of all ages interpret the phrase ‘like a girl’.
Dilemma: The challenge was to build a meaningful understanding of confidence which would resonate with the next generation of consumers. Girls limit themselves. Society manipulates girls by telling them what they should or shouldn’t be.
The journey to resolve: A conversation was created in the video to encourage people to share their opinions regarding the phrase ‘like a girl’. Between puberty and adulthood, all the women internalized the phrase to mean weakness. But the younger girls symbolized ‘like a girl’ as being strong and confident. The experiment also showed how a little encouragement can go a long way in changing perceptions of what ‘like a girl’ means.
Impact: More than 67 million views on Youtube. Turned a phrase that was used as an insult into an empowering message.
Lessons learned: #LikeAGirl means winning the race. With a majority of girls feeling that societal pressure to be perfect drives this fear of failure. But the truth is, failing is a good thing! It helps us learn, grow and ultimately build confidence. #LikeAGirl means Amazing things.
Here We Go Again 