155. NEWTEX BELTLESS, “Pagka’t Dalaga Ka Na” Campaign, 1987

NEWTEX LAUNCH PRINT AD featuring Jennifer Sevilla, from Mr. & Ms. Magazine, Aug, 1987

Kimberly-Clark, founded in 1872, has been making personal healthcare products  that have become global consumer brands, distributed in over 150 countries. Kimberly-Clark Philippines Inc. began operations in 1964, and gave Filipinos such well-known products as Huggies, Scott Tissues, Kleenex and Kotex sanitary pads.

These products have performed creditably well in the local market, especially Kotex. But Kotex had a high-end, older image, so a new napkin was introduced to cater to the younger segment of the market, in the hope that they get to practice napkin usage early, and then graduate to Kotex as they grow older.

NEWTEX Beltless Feminine Napkins  were thus launched in the summer of 1987, priced lower than Kotex and made to answer the basic needs of the POME (point-of-market entry) target, who are starting or about to start their period. Thus, Kimberly-Clark’s NEWTEX was positioned as the napkin to use in an adolescenet’s lovely transition to womanhood in a campaign by Hemisphere-Leo Burnett.

WATCH NEWTEX "JENNIFER SEVILLA " TVC HERE:

“Pagka’t Dalaga Ka Na” succeeded in hitting this pre-teen market although the approach was not meant to shut out other potential users of the brand. The agency opted not to show much of the product but to visualize this new exciting phase of a young girl’s life, as captured by some of the copy used: “It’s that time of your life when everything’s new and exciting. You’re starting to wear shoes with heels. And a bra. And you’re not very conifident. Mabuti na lang may NEWTEX beltless. At least, during that time of the month, makakasiguro ka!”.

 

NEWTEX Poster, Source: Pinterest

Young, upcoming star Jennifer Sevilla was cast as the epitome of a girl on the verge of womanhood, and a TV commercial was produced with her as the star. Other young celebrities who appeared in Newtex ads include Janice de Belen and Lea Salonga.

 

NEWTEX, Janice de Belen version

The NEWTEX “Pagka’t Dalaga Ka Na” campaign would win a Bronze Award at the 1987 Philippine Advertising Congress Awards.

 CREDITS:

ADVERTISER: Kimberly-Clark Philippines Inc.

PRODUCT: Newtex Beltless

AD AGENCY: Hemisphere-Leo Burnett

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Greg Garcia III

ART DIRECTOR: Willy de Guzman

COPYWRTER: Tessa Razon

SOURCES:
Newtex TVC "Jennifer Sevilla": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG0ieeRoGjY, uploaded by The Third Shifters, publihsed Jul. 21,2016.

de la Torre, Visitacion. Advertising n the Philippines: Its Historical, Cultural and Social Dimensions, Tower Books, 1989. pp. 454-455.

Photo of Newtex poster Janice/Lea: pinterest