• by Karl Greenberg , August 1, 2013

Kimberly-Clark's U by Kotex brand is getting behind summer concert tours with a digital campaign for girls and their mobile devices, at "American Idol" and Bruno Mars summer concert tours in August.

The campaign, "U Decide," centers on five :30 spots projected on jumbo screens behind performers. The spots ask lifestyle questions, to which girls are encouraged to respond using Twitter and Instagram. The results will be posted onscreen, per the company, with U by Kotex adding offers as an inducement. Attendees will also be able to tweet at U by Kotex to get a free sample. A real-time brand page will aggregate and track content provided by "U Decide" participants.

The company says it will offer premiums at 10 “American Idol Live!” tour stops. Also at concerts will be brand ambassadors at venue exits and in parking lots offering product samples.  

U by Kotex, which launched in 2010 specifically for teens, started out of the gate as a crowdsourcing and interactive venture with programs that let girls design color schemes for product packaging, which itself was designed to look anything like traditional feminine hygiene products. 

Last year the brand launched a reality-check documentary program featuring real people and a Web site intended to correct myths about menstruation for girls at that phase of their lives who may have no idea what to expect.    

Kimberly-Clark has made grassroots sampling programs a big part of its go-to-market strategy for U by Kotex. Data from market research firm Mintel suggests that the tactic could pay off, as sampling is the number one way to get product users to switch brands. "They need to experience them and see a difference before they try something new." 

The firm’s study on the sector says retail sales of feminine hygiene and sanitary protection products reached $4.9 billion in 2012, a 2.2% increase from the prior year. 

While the category going forward will be fueled by an aging population, which will require more products for incontinence, the market will also get a lift from U by Kotex's target demographic: girls who are starting puberty at younger ages combined with women putting off childbirth, per the Chicago-based firm, which reports that the market is heading toward a $5.5 billion by 2017. 

On the brand side, while sales for Procter & Gamble have remained stable with Always pads and Tampax tampons the preferred brands among most women, Kimberly-Clark saw the biggest growth for this time period, with a sales increase of 6.1% to make up 27.3% of the market, per Mintel.