Libra Confronts Period Stigmas with Liberating TV Campaign

Leading Australian period care brand Libra is not afraid to push against the boundaries of societal norms when it comes to their advertising campaigns. Following on from last year’s #bloodnormal campaign, Libra has launched #LiveLiberated, an unapologetically female-driven campaign made by women, for women. The campaign strives to make women feel powerful and authentic, while subverting the pressures to conform to unattainable standards of perfection.

Created by Cummins&Partners, which was appointed by Libra as its creative agency earlier this year, the campaign features a cast of five women, each with their own distinct character. The women express confidence, determination, power, defiance and playfulness, while at the same time rejecting the confines of what society deems ‘normal’.

“As a woman growing up in Australia — and growing up in Australian advertising — the opportunity to work on an iconic Aussie brand like Libra was a bit of a dream come true” says Sarah McGregor, creative director at Cummins&Partners. “This felt like a chance to not just win a piece of business and make a campaign, but a responsibility to do the right thing and create a positive conversation — not another piece of noise that makes women doubt themselves and their bodies.”

The Australian-made campaign was created in Melbourne and shot in Sydney with all female heads of department and a predominantly female crew, led by director Gemma Lee, who has directed campaigns for Mazda, Lexus and the Australian Defence Force. Teaming Gemma, who is known for her skill as a performance director and working closely with talent, with cinematographer Zoe White, was always going to yield impressive results. Zoe has shot two episodes of HBO’s Westworld, and 12 episodes of Hulu’s 'The Handmaid’s Tale' — the latter earning her a PrimeTime Emmy nomination. 

“It’s so important who your collaborators are”, said Lee. “Zoe has come from shooting drama, which means we talked a lot about how to design the shots around character. I wanted my shooting style to be bold and unapologetic, like the message of the campaign. That’s why we went for strong colours both in the wardrobe and lighting, and camera moves that are striking and energetic. The casting had to be women who were representative of each of the characters we envisaged. We wanted to represent women of all shapes and sizes, ensuring we had a broad cross section.”

The 30-second TVCs are set to the classic track 'You Don’t Own Me', remastered by Australian artist SayGrace. The track was chosen because of its evocative spirit, empowering message and historic context – it was originally released in the early 1960s and is a throwback to a time of revolution, and struggle for social change and equal rights.

The #LiveLiberated campaign is also encouraging an essential dialogue on Libra’s social media through the #AskGem platform, offering women a safe (and anonymous) space in which to ask questions they might otherwise be too embarrassed to seek answers to.

“We wrote something that we ourselves would have loved to have seen as young women”, concluded Macgregor. “Something that told us it’s ok to love yourself, believe in yourself, and, of course, live liberated.”