Storytelling for FemTech: between technology and real connection

Do you remember the mega-fail of the Pinky Gloves? The disposable gloves were basically mansplaining as real satire and a complete misconception. In addition to the failed creation, however, there was also unfortunate communication. The founders, who saw themselves as women’s advocates, certainly had no bad intentions, but they simply did not understand the core of a FemTech company. So let’s take a closer look at how it works to design products and services for women and what role storytelling plays in the process

Hold on… Fem-what?

The term FemTech describes companies whose technologies are developed for the needs of women. This primarily includes healthcare products for menstruation, pregnancy and menopause, but wellness, fertility and sexual well-being are also considered. Above all, this still young sector draws attention to the historical and systematic exclusion of female needs, highlights gaps in research and encourages its target group to accept their own bodies in all their facets. A look at three female technology companies shows what innovative inventions for women can look like.

Every woman is individual – FemTech takes diversity into account! | Photo by Anna Shvets on pexels.de

Menstruation, masturbation and breast cancer

The Female Company is probably familiar to most menstruating people. With its vision of contributing to a world without taboos about the female body, the brand sells organic period products developed with gynecologists and midwives whose cotton is free of harmful substances. In their communication, the founders Anni and Sinja rely on clear language without paraphrasing, glossing over or omitting anything. Or as they put it:

Manufacturers do not have to state on the packaging what ingredients are in their tampons. We want to know what’s (literally) inside us and break the taboo! No more blue liquids, “mumus” and “strawberry weeks”.

The Female Company

But it’s not just menstruation that has been a taboo subject. Female pleasure has also been suppressed, shamed and ignored for centuries. When Julie Lepique finally realized in 2018 that adult content had previously only ever been designed by men for men, she had an idea – she wanted to change the perspective with erotic audio stories. So she founded femtasy and, with the mission Liberating Pleasure, put the focus on women’s desire.

We questioned porn because it didn’t turn us on. We redefined eroticism because it was too stuffy for us. And we founded femtasy because it was time for something to change.

femtasy

The health of the female body in particular is increasingly becoming a focus for doctors and companies. Drastic illnesses such as cancer diagnoses are often associated with excessive demands and isolation for many of those affected. After all, what outsider can understand how the sufferer is feeling? With the Brea app, the founders are therefore pursuing a very special mission: to offer breast cancer patients holistic and sustainable support on their journey through treatment and beyond.

Founder Jessica was diagnosed with breast cancer herself in 2018 and knows all about the challenges associated with it. Her partner and co-founder Daniel accompanied her during this time and contributes his experiences to the app from a family member’s perspective. The trio is completed by Sahra, a good friend who has also experienced the entire course of the disease at close quarters. Their shared message: You are not alone!

Prevention and early detection save lives. | Photo by Anna Tarazevich on pexels.de

But what has storytelling got to do with it?

Let’s go back to the failed Pinky Gloves experiment: worse than the actual product – the pink disposable gloves with Velcro fasteners – were the core messages they conveyed to menstruating people. After all, what does a slogan like “dispose of hygienically and discreetly” say? You are unclean when you have your period. You should be ashamed. You are not ok. You have to hide. So the failure was not really surprising. The founders overlooked the real concerns of their potential buyers.

The three companies presented here all have something in common: they address the growth needs of their target groups. The Female Company sells period underwear, but this is not the focus of its activities. Instead, FemTech advocates the removal of taboos surrounding menstruation and women’s health. Through clear communication, education and authentic storytelling, it empowers its customers to stand up to outdated social stigmas. In campaigns such as “The Tampon Book”, it draws attention to existing grievances and addresses the innate desires of the female audience to want to live in a world with high moral values and to expose untruths.

Anyone who believes that femtasy’s audios are simply erotic radio plays for women also believes that New Adult and Dark Romance are literary porn for teenagers. Because what actually lies behind the sizzling recordings is the desire to experience life in all its complexity and diversity and to break down prejudices. In the role of mentor, the company empowers its listeners to finally live out their feminine sexuality freely, self-determinedly and without shame. By shattering the myths surrounding the female body and creating a safe space for different preferences, it playfully sends its target group on a journey of self-discovery. In doing so, femtasy addresses the growth need to experience and create aesthetic pleasure.

Being diagnosed with breast cancer is hardly a nice story, but the founders of the Brea app tell it anyway and show themselves to be deeply personal. This authenticity makes it an empathetic and authentic companion for people in such challenging times. By presenting facts about the various therapies and forms of treatment in the app in an easily accessible and clear way, they fulfill the inherent desire for simplicity – to understand the connections behind things. In the role of mentor, the app provides encouragement and also shows patients the small steps they need to take to deal with the challenge. What’s more, it helps users regain some control over their unbalanced lives.

Recap: What good storytelling actually means

FemTech companies rely on their audience for their storytelling. They have long understood that women do not need knights in shining armor to save them. That’s why they focus on their target group as the heroines of their own individual stories. In the role of mentor, they accompany, recognize and promote the needs of their protagonists for self-realization and thus create a real basis for trust in the respective product.

The following criteria are particularly important here:

Breaking taboos instead of reinforcing clichés

FemTech often operates in areas that have long been stigmatized. Good storytelling takes these topics out of the shame zone and makes them open, honest and self-evident. It therefore requires that the true needs of the target groups are recognized and that no clichés are served. Women and female readers want to feel understood. Real stories can be used specifically to name existing stigmas and encourage open discussion. The Female Company video above is a prime example of taboo-breaking storytelling and shows that it doesn’t need contrived plots. After all, there are still plenty of real challenges for non-privileged people in our society.

Imparting knowledge empathetically

Many products and services in the FemTech sector are based on scientific data and facts. Storytelling can be used to convey the knowledge gained in a tangible and realistic way without drifting into unnecessarily complicated technical jargon. Ultimately, the people behind the figures, products or technologies should become visible. Instead of clinical, abstract language, metaphors and everyday situations can help to make complex topics easier to understand. Language is about clarity and warmth, which is why, for example, it is not very appealing to talk about “hormone fluctuations that affect cognitive performance”. However, menstruating people can identify much more strongly with a statement if they are told that “in the middle of their cycle, the brain runs like a high-performance computer and this time is therefore perfect for creative projects”.

Purpose-driven and empowering

Values such as sustainability, inclusion, diversity and female empowerment are key components of many FemTech companies. However, they must not only be asserted, but also put into practice. Storytelling must therefore consider and address all people who benefit from the technology – regardless of gender, origin or body shape. Femtasy, for example, uses diverse voices to bring lust to life without clichés or shame. They show stories on their website that make the slogan “Your fantasy, your rules” tangible and encourage female, male and non-binary people to discover their desires with confidence.

FemTech is much more than providing products and services for women. The industry is developing into a promising market and is challenging social norms through good storytelling. With empathy, authenticity and courage, the founders are taking very individual paths, but they are all pursuing the same goal: to improve the quality of life of their target group and finally focus on female needs.

Brands are also constantly challenging the status quo. The cosmetics company Dove has challenged the beauty ideals of an entire industry with its Real Beauty campaign. If you want to read more about it, I recommend Dove’s Storytelling Close-Up.