Kotex

Background

Russia has an unspoken taboo on discussing women's health.

And it is supported not only by men but also by women. It can be difficult or even impossible for a young girl or woman to find support in her environment.

Therefore, in 2018, the Kotex brand began to develop a community within the largest social network in Russia, VKontakte. In addition to being a social network, the VKontakte platform is also a super app, so the core of the community was the Kotex mini app used by girls to track their cycle, ask questions to the chatbot and communicate with other community members there. In 3 years, the community has gathered more than half (about 7 million) of the young girls in Russia.

Problem

But in addition to community support, sometimes you need help in the real world.

Especially when the period came unexpectedly and you had no hygiene products.

Solution

To help girls in this situation, we decided to accumulate the power of the entire community

and created a special SOS button inside the Kotex mini app.

When this button is pressed, the girl sends a request to community members nearby for help.

To help girls in this situation, we decided to accumulate the power of the entire community and created a special SOS button inside the Kotex mini app.

When this button is pressed, the girl sends a request to community members nearby for help.

Mechanics

To make the help effective, we created several scenarios for interaction between the girls.

Each member of the Kotex community was invited to volunteer in our SOS program. First, she could share her geotag in real-time, and second, she could mark places she frequented regularly, such as school or work.

When the request finds the nearest volunteer, the mini app sends a push asking for help and, subject to consent, creates a secret chat between the girls so that they can make an appointment.

In case a volunteer was not there, the request was automatically transferred to the express-delivery service, through which the girls could get the necessary hygiene products in 15 minutes.