From Awareness to Action: The next challenge for sanitary napkin brands

Look at the gap between knowing about menstrual hygiene and actually using a sanitary napkin regularly. The two are not necessarily the same. Cost, availability, family attitudes, lack of knowledge and traditional practices can all influence the choice.

Branded sanitary napkins began making their presence felt in the Indian market in the early 1980s. As the category developed, brands such as Carefree and Stayfree helped bring menstrual hygiene into advertising and popular conversation. But the communication of those early years was very different from what we see today. It was subtle, restrained and often communicated through suggestion rather than directly talking about periods.

From Subtle to Open

That change is significant. Today, menstrual hygiene can be discussed far more openly in advertising. Brands can show boys buying sanitary pads, talk about periods directly and challenge some of the embarrassment that has traditionally surrounded the subject.

The recent Stayfree communication is interesting in that context. It normalises the simple act of a boy buying sanitary pads. More importantly, it suggests that when boys are comfortable talking about periods, it can make it easier for girls to talk about them too.

This is an important evolution for the category. Advertising has played its part in making the subject less embarrassing and more visible. But advertising can only take the conversation so far.

The bigger challenge begins when the camera is switched off.

Awareness Is Only the First Step

The sanitary-napkin category now needs to think beyond awareness. The real question is not simply how many people watched a campaign, but whether the communication helped change behaviour.

There are girls who may know about sanitary napkins but do not use them regularly. In some families, the decision may be influenced by affordability or availability. In others, it may simply be a matter of what the family has traditionally followed. In smaller towns and communities, myths and discomfort around menstruation can still influence attitudes.

This is where brands need to think at the grassroots.

Education should start in municipal and government schools, but it should not stop with girls. Mothers need to be part of the conversation because they often influence what happens at home. Women's forums, community organisations and NGOs can provide another important platform for reaching families.

The communication here also needs to be different from mainstream advertising.

A television or digital film can create awareness. But a demonstration in a school, a conversation with mothers, simple educational material and samples can help convert awareness into understanding and, eventually, habit.

Taking the Conversation Home

There is another important dimension that brands need to consider. Menstrual hygiene cannot remain a conversation that happens only between a brand and a young woman.

It needs to enter the family.

Mothers can play an important role in helping girls understand menstruation without embarrassment. Fathers and boys, too, can become part of a more natural conversation. The more comfortably a family discusses the subject, the less likely menstruation is to remain surrounded by myths and silence.

That is why the idea of a boy buying a sanitary pad is more than just a communication device. It represents a small but meaningful change in how the category can be discussed.

But the next step has to be bigger than the film.

From Campaigns to Community

The category has already done considerable work in breaking the silence. The next phase should be about breaking the barriers that prevent regular usage.

That means looking at access, affordability, education, parental involvement and habit alongside communication.

Brands could work with schools, NGOs and community groups to create sustained programmes rather than one-off awareness initiatives. Demonstrations, educational sessions, mother-and-daughter conversations and product sampling can make the message more tangible.

This is also where the visual medium can play an important role. A simple demonstration can sometimes explain something far more effectively than a 30-second commercial.

The objective should be to take the conversation beyond the television screen and the smartphone and into places where decisions are actually made.

Measuring What Really Matters

This also calls for a different way of looking at success.

The industry has become very good at measuring reach, impressions, views and engagement. These are important measures of communication effectiveness. But menstrual hygiene demands another layer of measurement.

Did awareness lead to trial? Did trial lead to regular usage? Did the programme reach mothers as well as girls? Did it make the conversation easier at home? Did it reach communities where awareness and access remain low?

These are harder questions, but perhaps more meaningful ones.

The sanitary-napkin category has come a long way from the days when periods could only be discussed through suggestion. Today, brands can speak openly, confidently and without the same level of embarrassment.

That is progress.

But the next chapter cannot be only about talking more openly. It has to be about helping more girls make informed and practical choices about menstrual hygiene.

The journey now is from awareness to action—and from advertising to the grassroots.