The Secret's Out! TENA's mission to break the taboo around incontinence

Sammanfattning: On the 23rd of April 2019, TENA made a bold decision to launch a game-changing product by addressing a taboo subject publicly. The Silhouette Noir product is a unique adult diaper that looks and feels like elegant black underwear. Since it is the first black underwear on the market designed for the purpose of empowering women with incontinence, TENA wanted to tackle the dilemma publicly. Therefore, the brand adopted a different marketing approach than their traditional one by creating a Victoria’s Secret Angels inspired campaign with models over the age of 40, wearing the new product. These images were displayed on billboards across central London with the slogan ‘Secret’s Out’ and the message that one in three women in the United Kingdom (UK) suffer from incontinence. Therefore, TENA drove the taboo topic of bladder weakness out into the public by actively engaging in social brand activism. Considering the brand’s previous discreet marketing measures, the launch was rather controversial and risky, thus sparking doubt within the organisation. Based on this, the case question arises whether TENA in the future should stick to their discreet and traditional approach that had been successful so far or take the risk and act as a social activist to express their new brand identity?