Yasmin's China launch asked women to invent Chinese characters the language lacks

Support Yasmin's OTC launch in China without a product-centric campaign, speaking to modern women who strive for the best and shouldn't compromise on contraception either.

Chinese characters with the radical 女 have long defined what women should be — the campaign invites women to invent characters for lives no character can define: 女∞.

A digital video asks the audience to relook at the 女 character set and invent their own characters expressing infinite possibilities, under the line 'Beyond good enough, empower you to blossom'; released in Chinese with English subtitles.

The campaign launched across digital channels to support Yasmin's availability in major Chinese pharmacies; the source records no performance figures.

When Yasmin, a combined oral contraceptive manufactured by Bayer Pharma, became available at major pharmacies in China, BBDO Beijing chose not to make a product-centric campaign. Instead it built the digital launch around a cultural observation: Chinese characters containing the radical 女 have long provided many definitions of women — but modern women have done and achieved far more than any existing character can define.

The campaign video asks its audience — modern women with high expectations of themselves — to relook at the characters built on 女 and to create their own characters that can express their infinite possibilities: 女∞. The line is 'Beyond good enough, empower you to blossom', arguing that as with career, lifestyle and love, women shouldn't have to compromise on their contraception decision either.

'We are lucky enough to live in an age where women truly have the opportunity to spread their wings and take control of their lives,' said Arthur Tsang, chief creative officer of BBDO Beijing. 'In contrast to the deeply ingrained cultural and linguistic prejudices about what women should be, Yasmin offers an important message and celebrates the potential we're seeing in women in modern China.'

An OTC switch puts the product on open shelves, so the brand needed a reason to be chosen beyond pharmacy access.

Product-centric contraception advertising risks feeling clinical; an empowerment message invites sharing.

The 女 radical gave the brand a linguistic insight uniquely legible to a Chinese audience.

The target — women with high expectations of themselves — responds to 'beyond good enough' as self-description.

Enter a new market by adopting its deeper code: a language's built-in assumptions about women gave the brand a cultural argument instead of a product claim.

The campaign supported Yasmin's OTC availability in major Chinese pharmacies from November 2016; the source records no uptake or campaign-performance figures.