The Bloody Brilliant logo with photo of young person with period blood on their jeans
A mobile phone showing the Bloody Brilliant Instagram feed with a photo of a young person in their bed with period blood on their trousers and bed

The mission

To create a brand, resources, and campaign to break the taboo around period health for young people in Wales. 

NHS Wales commissioned Social Change to create a brand, website, resources and marketing campaign targeting young people in Wales between 11- 16 to open up the conversation around period health, so they feel informed and empowered to speak to a healthcare professional, if they need to.  

A deck of Bloody Brilliant period cards

The research

Getting to the heart of the challenges young people face when talking about and experiencing periods.  

For this project we conducted a large-scale survey of young people across Wales to gather key information around the attitudes, understanding and beliefs which young people have towards period health. From this we uncovered key insights which informed the overall campaign, brand and all the resources. Co-creation focus groups with young people followed to refine the concept and ensure it resonated with the target audience.  

The Bloody Brilliant website

The campaign

The website, resources and campaign which form Bloody Brilliant aims to empower young people who have periods, though sharing expert knowledge and importantly opening up the conversation around period health - so young people don't have to suffer in silence.  

Featuring friendly illustrations and normalising imagery, the multichannel campaign shows the more unseen and unspoken side of menstruation - such as leaks to help its audience feel at ease, knowing that these things happen to half the population regularly and it's nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of. Bloody Brilliant is working to break the taboo around discussing menstruation through increasing exposure, awareness, and knowledge around this completely natural topic.  

The website is a hub of engaging expert-approved resources aimed at young people aged 11-16 and their supporters. The resources aim to help young people understand what is, and importantly isn't, normal when it comes to their period, with resources on everything from period pain and flow to emotional symptoms and self-care tips. The website helps young people and those around them, from parents and carers to friends and loved ones, to navigate the Bloody Brilliant world of periods with handy illustrated guides and even a period dictionary! 

A young persons leg with period blood dripping down it wearing a towel

In the first 10 months, the Bloody Brilliant campaign reached over 310k people through paid advertising alone and nearly 47,000 reached through organic social media channels (Facebook and Instagram), inspiring young people across the country with its fearless, straight-talking message, focusing on normalising conversations around periods and period health. This impressive reach was complimented by over 7,000 users on the Bloody Brilliant website (including both Welsh and English platforms).  

A re-run of our initial survey after 10 months of the campaign highlighted a significant increase in people feeling they can talk about periods openly, particularly among those who do not bleed. This increased confidence was further demonstrated through an increase in people who do not bleed stating they have been spoken to about a period and the percentage of people who bleed receiving information or being talked to about period health. 

The Bloody Brilliant colouring book
Inside of the Bloody Brilliant colouring book
7,000+ Website users
8,000+ Website sessions
Nearly 5,000 Downloads/page views of website resources
310,000+ People reached via paid advertising
46,000+ People reached through Facebook and Instagram
5% increase In people who bleed feeling it’s okay to talk about periods openly
7% increase In people who bleed being given information or talked to about period health
11% increase In people who do not bleed feeling comfortable to talk about periods
4% increase In people who do not bleed having been spoken to about a period