Femtech strides: P&G’s Always and Thrive Global unveil period tracker for holistic well-being

19 Aug 2021 --- Procter & Gamble’s period care brand Always and Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global are launching “Always You,” a free period tracker and wellness app designed to help users track their cycle in less than 30 seconds and improve holistic well-being.

“The pandemic has spotlighted how women are disproportionately impacted by mental health and wellness concerns,” says Laura Magon, senior director of P&G for Global Fem Care Innovations – maker of Always.

“Our consumers have been using our online period tracker in our Always website for years, and we are now making it more accessible with our new Always You Mobile App.”  

“We partner with Thrive Global to develop more than just a period tracker. Together, we created a wellness platform that provides exclusive Thrive Microsteps to help our consumers improve their overall well-being.”

No more missed school days
Nearly one in five girls in the US have missed school due to lack of period products, according to a 2019 Always Confidence and Puberty Study. 

The Always You period tracker brings personalized, science-backed articles, videos and activities to women in every life stage to improve their intimate wellness and holistic health.The “Always You” period tracker will enable more users to give back daily, helping build a country where no girl has to miss out on school because she doesn’t have access to period protection, P&G says.

By simply registering and engaging with the app, users can spark donations of period products to help #EndPeriodPoverty through partners like Feeding America.

“Like everything we do at Always, we saw an opportunity to continue our social impact by turning this into another way for consumers to contribute to help #EndPeriodPoverty,” says Magon. 

Intimate health awareness
Consumers are increasingly engaging in conversations about their period and intimate health concerns, with over 11 million monthly online searches related to intimate wellness questions, according to P&G. 

This past year has been especially difficult for women, as 80 percent reported feeling that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a bigger negative impact on their stress than any other event in their lives. This is according to a Thrive Sciences nationally representative survey of more than 10,000 US adults. 

In a study conducted by CARE, a non-profit international aid organization, researchers found that while almost nobody is spared from the anxiety, worry and overall emotional fatigue of the pandemic, women are almost three times as likely to report suffering from significant mental health consequences, including anxiety and inability to sleep. 

The Always You period tracker responds to these needs by bringing personalized, science-backed articles, videos and activities to women in every life stage to improve their intimate wellness and holistic health. 

This will help them understand how their physical, mental and emotional health work together — in addition to having a simple period tracker on the go.

Behavioral science
To help users create lasting healthy habits, the Always You period tracker also leverages Thrive Global’s behavior change expertise to bring consumers “Thrive microsteps” — small, science-backed actions you can start taking immediately to build habits that significantly improve life. 

 L’Oréal partnered with Clue, a period tracking app, to deepen knowledge on the relationship between skin health and the menstrual cycle.Users can implement and track their chosen microsteps daily to reduce stress and boost physical and emotional well-being.

“At Thrive, we’re passionate about creating technology that has an impact on people’s lives, and Always You is a good example,” says Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global. 

“We’re not just giving people a period tracker. We’re supporting them and celebrating them with our whole human approach to well-being, and providing too-small-to-fail Microsteps they can take immediately to improve their wellness and build confidence.”

“And we’re especially excited to be doing it to help #EndPeriodPoverty, because giving is one of the most effective and proven ways to boost our well-being, transforming the giver as much as the recipient.”

A female affair
The Always You period tracker was created in collaboration with notable women in the well-being space.

For every new Always You registration and for every 100 Donation Points earned between 7/1/21-6/30/22, Always will donate one period product to Feeding America, up to a maximum donation of 1,000,000 pads.

Users can earn 20 points for every period, or bladder leak event tracked with a maximum of 200 Donation Points for period events per month, ten donation points per day by completing all Microsteps and five donation points for each piece of content consumed.

In the same space, L’Oréal partnered with Clue, a period tracking app, to deepen knowledge on the relationship between skin health and the menstrual cycle. 

This collaboration bridges L’Oréal’s skincare expertise and beauty-tech ambitions with Clue’s know-how in reproductive health and data-driven technology. 

In addition, Clue will work with L’Oréal’s Active Cosmetic Division and its clinical experts to develop scientifically informed new content about the menstrual cycle and skin health for Clue’s reproductive health encyclopedia on Helloclue.com.

 “Our goal is to develop personalized skincare routines for consumers of all ages regarding skin health, beauty and wellness aspirations, taking into account their menstrual cycles from puberty to menopause,” says Barbara Lavernos, deputy CEO, in charge of Research, Innovation, and Technology at L’Oréal. 

By Kristiana Lalou