Consumer

Behaviour
And
Marketing Research
Project
Topic : WHISPER
Group members:
08. Bhavana

14. Sudheeksha
17. Chelsea
30. Anudeepthi
43. Manasa
 WHISPER

The menstrual hygiene category in India has come leaps and bounds from where it was when
Whisper was launched in 1989. Periods was something no one talked about openly and
advertising about menstrual hygiene products was unheard of. Since then, Indian women have
changed from being almost completely cloth users to about 50% of them (in urban areas) now
using pads. And, Whisper has been at the head of the charge to drive this change. ALWAYS
sanitary pads and other products are sold under the brand name Whisper in Japan, Singapore,
India, Thailand, Indonesia, etc.

“Always” is an American brand of menstrual hygiene products, including maxi pads, ultra thin
pads, panty liners and vaginal wipes. A sister concern of Procter & Gamble, it was first
introduced in the United States in test markets in the spring of 1983, then nationally in May
1984.

Whisper started off with having a difficult time getting permissions to advertise on prime-time
television and then they partnered with Renuka Sahane, where she narrated her experience of
having found a solution to make her periods much more comfortable. This was 1993. That’s
how Whisper became the first brand to show a sanitary pad in a commercial, first to mention
the word ‘periods’ in advertising and the first brand to show how the product works in an
advertisement. Over the next 20 years, they focused on two things: awareness and access.

They launched a school education program and this program is still going strong with 60 lakh
girls being educated each year across the country. When they launched, the category was at
Rs 34 crores and today it stands at around Rs 3400 crores. The award-winning campaign
‘TOUCH THE PICKLE’ by Whisper also earned India its 1st Grand Prix in the inaugural Glass Lions
at the 2015 Cannes Lions. To strengthen their activities, they tied up with UNESCO to touch the
lives of 18 million girls and through their assistance get Menstrual Hygiene included as a subject
in school curriculums across the country. India has come a long way since Whisper was
launched more than 30 years back, but there is still quite an uphill journey left.

The aspects related to Whisper are as follows:

NEED:
Consumer problem solving is triggered by the identification of some unmet need. A need is a
specific requirement that must be fulfilled to maintain one's current state of existence or to
participate in social life. Human needs are a state of felt deprivation. Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs is a theory of psychology explaining human motivation based on the pursuit of
different levels of needs. The theory states that humans are motivated to fulfill their needs
in a hierarchical order. This order begins with the most basic needs before moving on to
more advanced needs. It is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest, most
fundamental needs at the bottom, and the need for self-actualization and transcendence at
the top.
Whisper as a brand and its products fall under Safety needs, because menstrual hygiene
products cater to the health and hygiene needs of women. Safety needs also include personal,
financial and employment security. Once the physiological needs of a person is satisfied, safety
need takes the front seat. Whisper has been successful in fulfilling the feminine hygiene needs
since many years.

The motivation in consumers to use Whisper came from the need for protection from
unpredictable and dangerous conditions. The female community was seeking protection from
the elements like health threats and sickness, which were caused as a result of usage of cloth
during their periods. And this is when Whisper entered the market and created a potential
category by removing the stigma around sanitary pads and bringing them out of the black
plastic / brown paper bag environment for which they put the product at front-and-center of
the retail-environment where actual transactions happened.

While keeping a check on the trends, they realized that 1 out of 5 girls in the country are
dropping out of school when they get their 1st period because they have no prior knowledge
about it. A need to tackle this issue was felt and this need further strengthened Whisper’s
motive in the minds of women. Prepurchase search was done by consumers through an
extensive search of outside environment or information. Whisper also did a lot of marketing.
Due to lack of alternatives available, women immediately chose Whisper and found it to be
suitable and of best quality.

Whisper pads are designed to meet specific needs and are available across various sizes and
different forms. It encourages women to embrace their bodies and celebrate life. Pads are
thoughtfully designed for ultimate ease and comfort. Therefore, the safety need of a woman
was satisfied to a greater extent.
Learning of Whisper Brand:
Consumer learning is a process that evolves and changes as consumers acquire knowledge from
experience, observation, and interactions from others.

Although much learning about Whisper sanitary pads is incidental i.e., acquired by accident or
without much effort. Though a great deal of learning is intentional as well i.e., it is acquired as
result of a search for information.

Learning consists of four elements: motives, cues, responses and reinforcement.

The elements of learning in whisper sanitary pads are explained as following:

Motives: Whisper identified the need of the consumers i.e., complete protection and comfort
during period days. Hence, this created a driving force i.e., motivation among the consumers to
buy the Whisper sanitary pads over other brands in the market.

Cues: Whisper marketed and promoted their products i.e., sanitary pads through
advertisements, campaigns and giving free samples to the consumers. The packing of whisper
sanitary pads are in two colours i.e., green and orange where green packaging is used to
represent Whisper Ultra Clean whereas orange is used to represent Whisper Ultra Choice.

These advertisements, packaging and campaigns act as cues that suggests a specific way to
satisfy the salient motive i.e., to provide comfort and protection during periods; motivate the
consumers to buy whisper sanitary pads over other brands.

Responses: Response of consumers towards the whisper sanitary pads are positive to a greater
extent as the consumers feel that the sanitary pads are thin, soft and comfortable.

The need to provide comfort and protection during periods evoked a variety of responses and
whisper then introduced variety in their pads i.e., Whisper Ultra Clean in green colour package
which contains 7 pads and lasts for about 12 hours and Whisper Ultra Choice in orange colour
package which contains 6 pads that lasts for about 6 hours.

Reinforcement: The consumers after buying and using the Whisper sanitary pads, they were
satisfied as they took the pleasure, enjoyment and benefits of using it as Whisper continues to
provide consumers with an ongoing positive product thus reinforcing future purchases.

Stimulus Generalization: Responding the same way to slightly different stimuli is called
stimulus generalization.
The brand NINE also provides sanitary pads to the consumers. It is aimed to provide menstrual
hygiene and superior quality pads at affordable prices. It is a me too product of Whisper as it's
packaging is similar to Whisper.

The following are the packagings of Whisper and Nine :

As we can see above, the packaging of Whisper and Nine are quite similar and due to which
many times, consumers get confused or unable to remember the brand name correctly ends up
buying the Nine sanitary pads. As we can see above, the packaging of Whisper and Nine are
quite similar and due to which many times, consumers get confused or unable to remember the
brand name correctly ends up buying the Nine sanitary pads. This strategy is mainly used in
rural areas as most of the population in rural areas tends to remember products by their
packaging or advertisements.

Recognition and recall measures:

The purpose of recognition and retention tests is to determine whether consumers remember
seeing an ad and the extent to which they have read it and can recall its content.

Recognition: Most of the consumers in the market are able to recognize Whisper sanitary pads
as many advertisements are being shown in the T.V , mobile phones and desktops. One of the
famous advertisement is that where a women sleeps in night, where she can move towards any
side of the bed without being sleeping in one standard position , having the fear of leakage.
Here, in the given example, the Whisper assures that there will be no over bleeding and stains
on the consumer’s clothes.

Recall : The consumers who have seen the adverts of Whisper sanitary pads tend to recall and
remember them resulting in consideration for future purchases.
Perception:
Perception is the process by which individual select, organise and interpret stimuli into a
meaningful and coherent picture of the world. Two individuals may be exposed to the same
stimuli, but how each person recognizes, selects, organises, and interprets these stimuli is a
highly individual process based on each person’s own needs, values, and expectations.

Consumers act and react on the basis of their perceptions, not on the basis of reality.

The following bar graph shows the perception of consumers of various brands of sanitary pads
on the basis of price and quality.

Survey: https://1drv.ms/x/s!AsYnOTUBakRGgQe8pjEz98q4J5Hq
Perceptual map for the brand Whisper in relation to its competitors:

Sanitary pads of various Brands

High price

Nua

Plush
Bliss

Freedom

High quality
low quality

Extra care
Stayfree
Whisper

Nine
Sofy
Comfy

low price Template by: www.perceptualmaps.com

In relation to its competitors, the brand Whisper have a good perception in the view of
consumers on the basis of price and quality.

Attitude Formation:
The sanitary napkin market is very competitive with many brands available. In this research,
there is a leading brand of sanitary napkins, namely Procter & Gamble's Whisper, these brands
provide product model to consumers, such as panty liner, tube, wing, extra-thin and night. It is
of crucial importance for marketers to understand how consumers evaluate the product and
their brands. The current study applies the ideal-point model to see what the ideal brand looks
like and how far this brand is from the ideal. The target group of this whisper is the entry users
of sanitary napkins. They are of strategic importance to the marketer because the entry users
who have a positive attitude toward the brand may eventually turn into loyal users of the brand
in the future. Besides, the attitudes toward the brand held by the entry users may not be very
strong, and therefore, it is still feasible for the marketer to change any unfavourable attitudes
held.

Whisper also partnered with Network 18 for a “Period of Pride” campaign through which they
wanted to normalize conversations around periods and make people aware about the
importance of period education in the country. Through the campaign, they created a petition
to have MHM education included in school curriculums across the country. They aimed to get a
million signatures on the petition, post which they would submit the same to the HRD ministry
& request them to action on it.

They have always been and will always continue to be committed to unleashing a girl’s
confidence and making her an unstoppable force.
 Attitude measurement is based on twelve product attributes, which are identified through in-
depth interviews, exploratory research and a pertest. The majority of respondents do not have
significantly different attitude toward Whisper. For the respondents who do have a significant
difference in attitudes toward these, many of them perceive Whisper to be significantly more
favourable than other brands and the remaining respondents perceive other brands. Among all
respondents, except for the relatively unimportant attributes of fragrance and price，the
beliefs about Whisper on all other attributes are closer to the ideal points. Significant
relationships are found between difference in attitudes toward Whisper and other brands and
usage of Whisper, is more. Respondents who have a more favourable attitude toward a brand
are more likely to have used that brand during their most recent menstrual periods.
The attitudes of people changed as per the generations. So, there is no more awkward
situations faced by women’s towards choosing their hygiene sanitary pads. Whisper has
created an awareness and attitude towards their brand. Though this they build a confidence for
women.

“My life my choice -whisper”

BRAND PERSONALITY:
Brand Personality refers to the association of human characteristics and traits with the brand to
which the customers can relate. It is the way a brand is personified , the sum of its emotional ,
psychological and behavioural patterns that remain unique over the course of its lifespan. A
brand personality comes into existence when human-like adjectives – like unique ,caring, funny,
trustworthy, creative, straightforward, etc are assigned to a brand.

Whisper- sanitary pads are example of sincerity.

Whisper entered the market when Johnson & Johnson’s Stayfree was already a key player in
the market under the female health and hygiene sector . With the time and development , it
expanded its product line with new products Whisper Ultra Clean and New Whisper Ultra Soft .
In order to retain its position as a leading brand in the minds of the consumer , Whisper
connected at a more personal level with its customers.

The first step towards creating a distinct positioning was establishing the brand tagline - “ Have
a Happy Period ’’ . The use of the word ‘Period’ implied breaking the taboo of menstruation
periods. No other brand had taken this step ahead before , which distinguished Whisper as a
bold and confident brand in the minds of the consumers .

SINCERITY
This dimension includes brands that are seen as down-to-earth , honest ,trustful and cheerful .
Sincere brands are usually responsible ,committed to their customers ,give a feeling of caring ,
and are geared towards family and/or home .

Whisper encourages women to embrace their bodies and celebrate life. Widely preferred by
women across the country , Whisper sanitary pads are created to offer complete protection
and comfort during our period days.

Whisper pads are thoughtfully designed for ultimate ease, comfort , and protection so that we
can live our life to the fullest.

Whisper pads are designed to meet our specific needs and are available across various sizes and
different forms.

Whisper Ultra Clean

Whisper Ultra Clean gives us Hygienic Protection. It has a germ-lock technology which locks
upto 100% wetness , odour & germs . It's nearly 40% longer for long lasting coverage so that we
can be worry free during periods . Its Dri-Weave Cover ensures that the period blood is

absorbed in seconds and it has a delightful scent .

Whisper Ultra Softs Airfresh

Whisper Ultra Softs Airfresh gives us Softness with Airy Freshness for an irritation-free feel
during our periods .It is dermatologically tested and its 500 air fresh pores give you an airy-feel
on your skin. It has a dual-action gel which neutralizes odour instead of just masking them . It's
nearly 40 % longer with a wider back and it has a delightful scent for all-day freshness.
Whisper Bindazzz Nights

Whisper Bindazzz Nights gives us Night Protection. Its longer length and wider back ensures
that we are protected from leaks from all sides .With this we can have a worry free sleep during
our periods

Because with this pad we get upto 0% leaks all night-long . Its Dri-Weave Cover ensures that the
period blood is absorbed in seconds so that we can sleep comfortably the entire night.

Whisper Bindazzz Nights Koala Soft

Whisper Bindazzz Nights Koala Soft brings us a super soft top cover so that we can have a
cuddle soft sleep. It has double hug wings which hugs us so tight that we can sleep in
whichever position we want. Its longer length and wider back ensures that we are protected
from leaks from all sides. With this we can have worry -free sleep during our periods because
with this pad we get upto 0% leaks all night-long.

Whisper Choice Ultra

Whisper Choice Ultra gives us upto 100% stain protection. Its approximately 50mm longer than
other pads and its all-round leak guard protects us from leaks from all sides . Its blue core with
liquid-lock magic gel locks the wetness in so that we have a comfortable period.
By seeing all this we can say that Whisper has been family oriented and down- to -earth to its
customers by providing a wide range of sanitary pads.

Combination of constant hard work ,expansion of its product line ,high perceived quality and
positive customer experiences made Whisper a brand that established itself as sincere.

Due to its commitment to their customers and giving comfort to them, Whisper has become a
sincere and a friendly brand in the minds of consumers.
 HAPPY
WINGS
ROAR LIKE A LIONESS
#PROUDTOBLEED

Co-founders of the brand :

Manasa
Anudeepthi
Bhavana
Chelsea
Sudheeksha
The following are the aspects to develop a strategy for our brand.
Learning of 'HAPPY WINGS’ Brand:
Learning is the process in which consumers acquire purchase and consumption
knowledge through experience, observations and interactions with others.

Learning consists of four elements: motives, cues, responses and reinforcement.

The following is the learning strategy used by our brand:

MOTIVES: The primary objective of the marketers is to identify the need of the
consumers and to make sure that they fill the gap by making consumers purchase
theirs products.

Our company identified the needs of the consumers in context of using a sanitary pads
and the needs included :

• While putting a sanitary pad, the pad does not have enough gum to stick to the
panties.

• There is no fragrance in the sanitary pads while they are put to use.

• The length and breadth of the sanitary pads are not sufficient.

• The fear of leakage and stain on clothes.

The above needs of the consumers are fulfilled by purchasing and using our brand,
which leads to motivation in consumers to buy our company’s sanitary pads.

CUES: Cues are stimuli that direct consumer behaviour. The advertisement, packaging
and price act as cues for the consumers in order to fulfill their needs by buying specific
brands.

Our company in order to fulfill the needs of the consumers and fill the gap, we used
advertisements as cues to motivate the consumers to buy our brand over the other
brands.

The advertisement of our brand’s sanitary pads is as follows:

Once, there is a girl , sitting on the bench in a park. She is on her periods and is
frustrated. She is using her phone and accidentally the song “ La la la la la la ……”
played in the background. There, the girl went into her imagination where she is flying
in the sky, with the wings happily and then suddenly the reality hits hard and she
remembers that she is on her periods and it was just her imagination. Then, there is a
pack of sanitary pads( i.e., HAPPY WINGS SANITARY PADS) beside her , which she picks
up and uses. By using this, she enjoys her periods and thus roaring like a lioness ( )
in this hard time.

In above advertisement, the girl is happy during her periods while using our company’s
sanitary pads and thus roaring like a lioness in this tough time.

RESPONSES: The response of the consumers after using our brand’s sanitary pads is
positive to a greater extent and the consumers are happy purchasing our sanitary pads
as they are organic pads manufactured/ made with the help of bamboo, cotton and
banana peels.

Reinforcement: It is a process where the consumers buy your products in future based
on the past positive experiences of using your product.

The consumers after buying and using the sanitary pads of our brand are satisfied and
hence they tend to purchase them again in the future. The reasons to encourage the
consumer for future purchases are that our brand’s sanitary pads long last for about 8
hours and we also provide a disposable bags with the pack of sanitary pads. One
disposal bag for each sanitary pad.

The other reason is that it is eco – friendly and thus protecting the environment.

PERCEPTION:
It can be defined as how we see the world around us. The perceptions women have of a
sanitary pad (as product or brand) and its advantages or disadvantages have a
significant effect on their purchase behaviour. We (HAPPY WINGS) as a brand plan to
attain sensation by way of :

Product- In terms of its dynamic features

Commercials- In terms of the visually and content –wise appealing ad as created in the
LEARNING aspect above.

Tagline- Why just ‘whisper’ and why not ‘roar like a lioness’

Our marketing efforts are aimed to target majorly the sight and touch sensory receptors
of consumers with a little focus on smell as well. The differential threshold would be
high quality, more features and desirable quantity at best minimum price. We aim to
reduce the risk that consumers perceive in terms of finance, performance, physicality
and time-loss by offering the best product possible.

BRAND PERSONALITY:
Our brand ( Happy Wings ) describes its brand personality as Sincere and
Competence.

Our brand sanitary pads are made of Organic substances. It includes

Bamboo , cotton and Banana peels etc. The user is also protected from
diseases by an antibacterial coating ,which helps stop bacterial
development. In order to keep women relaxed even with heavy flow,
these sanitary pads have a dry liner .

In the case of other brands of sanitary pads , sometimes with really

heavy flow it takes a little time to dry out maximum 5 minutes but that
time is enough to stain the whole. In order to avoid stains , Happy Wings
has a dual absorbent core that quickly absorbs fluids and keeps it within.

Additionally , the odour control system employs fragrance to stop odour.

We have also improved the leakage protection of sanitary pads.

Some brands of sanitary pads have to adjust all the time because of the
small size , it sticks to one place but some of them worry of staining from
the side because it doesn't have Wings .Happy Wings sanitary pads have 3
sizes : regular , large and extra large .

If it's your last day of the period ,regular size sanitary pads are the best
for you. For the days with heavy flow, you can go for extra large sanitary
pads and is ideal for nights as well.

We also provide disposable bags along with sanitary pads.

Our brand is designed in such a way that it meets the needs /

expectations of the customers . Happy Wings sanitary pads give a feeling
of care . It is also a sincere brand. So it makes customers reliable on our
brand , which makes our brand a confident brand. Happy Wings sanitary
pad is committed to its customers in providing best quality and comfort .
Happy Wings is a hardworking brand keeping its customers safe and
satisfied.

MOTIVATION:
This driving force is produced by a state of tension, which exists as the result of an
unfulfilled need. As stated earlier, sanitary napkins fall under the category of safety
needs. HAPPY WINGS will motivate consumers by reducing this tension and fulfilling
their needs and thus relieving them of the stress they feel during the menstrual phase.
We intend to satisfy the consumers who have product-specific goals .We want women
to enjoy life, live longer and healthier, feel good and energised, stay happy, move
towards achievements and at the same time save money by using our brand.

We use the concept of approach object or positive goal while motivating the
consumers. We would focus on the rational motives of women, because these relate to
choosing products that give the greatest utility considering the economic perspective
and other alternatives available. We also focus a lot on eliminating the factor of
frustration. Therefore, HAPPY WINGS sanitary pads will help women experience a safe
and unstoppable journey through their beautiful and natural menstrual phenomenon.

Attitude formation:
As consumers have different attitudes towards a particular brand. Attitudes
may reflect favourable or unfavourable. Consumers may consume new
products, or some may not. Consumers view a brand as possessing a number
of attributes that provide the basis on which they form their attitudes.
Consumers may hold a number of different brand attributes and attach
different levels of importance to these attributes.

Today, women lead more active lifestyles. The change in lifestyle has created a
great need for convenience in the feminine hygiene industry. In response to
the trend for convenience, manufacturers are creating smaller, compact
products that come in more discrete packages. Through many of research and
as per consumer attitudes we created a new sanitary pad “Happy Wings “
“Roar like a lioness”. With many features and which satisfy the women need
of every month with happiness. As attitudes of consumers are changed as per
the world nowadays all are becoming eco-friendly and hygiene conscious .In
market there are to many various sanitary pad brand are existing but some of
the consumers go for the new brands and try it. As compared to existing
brands happy wings has various features it is organic, rash free…etc. Some of
the consumers may change their attitudes by outlook of packaging of a
product, so here we labelled our product a girl flying with wings and green
colour package which creates a good vibe to the consumers. The main
objective of our product happy wings is to build positive attitude, confidence,
and associate with the present and future lifestyles. Providing free samples in
market may grab the consumer attitudes towards our brand. Even
advertisement may build positive attitudes towards consumers for new
brands.

Hence; Happy Wings provide basic menstrual need for women as compare to
existing brands and it creates a positive attitude and build confidence to
women. So that women can “ roar like a lioness and say I’m on my periods”.

Thank You