Net#work BBDO and femcare challenger brand Libresse last week launched Africa's first and only online femcare learning platform called 'Vagina Varsity'. The first course is a series of bite-sized content videos and quizzes setting the scene to break taboos and destigmatise a topic that women across Africa feel uncomfortable and even ashamed to talk about: their vaginas.
Boniswa Pezisa
Net#work Group CEO Boniswa Pezisa says that this disruptive yet engaging campaign has allowed the agency to focus on a hard social issue that speaks directly to African female empowerment. “The only way to ask women to live fearlessly and be real about their vaginas and how to care for them, is to take a fearless stance ourselves – and our partners at Libresse have been brave to do this, behaving like a ‘true challenger brand’.
Vagina Varsity, which was developed by a female-only Net#work team and produced by Net#work’s content arm, Flare, is a series of YouTube videos powered by a team of medical professionals and specialist consultants and presented by Thembe and Nwabisa – the popular vlogging duo, ‘Pap Culture’. The pair has had a meteoric rise to fame on YouTube and Pezisa says that they were the obvious choice to lead the conversation. “Thembe and Nwabisa bring a relaxed and informal feel to the conversation while still projecting the significance of feeling confident about your body, and your vagina,” says Pezisa.
“Women across the age spectrum blush to even say the word ‘vagina’ which leads to shame, silence, myths and even health problems – thus the need for “purposeful work” says Pezisa. “It’s a problem that this category hasn’t addressed in the past, and it’s specifically rife across our continent. The campaign addresses the myths and issues head on and we’re thrilled to see that influencers and ordinary women are jumping aboard this campaign and getting excited to learn more about their bodies.”
*Register here: www.vaginavarsity.co.za and follow the conversation.
