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By Liza Horan

New York—In another sign that tennis is a desirable means to market to the masses, Playtex is featuring the sport in a multimillion dollar ad campaign for print and online media.

The product is Playtex Sport tampons, featuring a 'no-slip grip' and '360-degree coverage', marketed to active women who are confident, focused and driven to be their best.

"We thought tennis embodies that," says Jennifer Delaney, Senior Product Manager. "We did research and we always came back to tennis for the physicality of it and the fact that it's empowering, visually appealing and the energy is electric."

While vignettes of gymnastics, track and other sports are featured in the promotional video, only tennis and cheerleading are used in advertising. 

"Tennis is the primary image we are using in print and online advertising as well as on our own website. We use the tennis ad to target women over 18 in print, as well as the only image in our online ad campaign," says Delaney of the eight-digit spend. "The other image is cheerleading, which skews a bit younger and is in the teen ads."

The "why" is simple, she says: "Most people have picked up a racquet and can relate to tennis. It's visually and physically aligned with who we are and what our product is about. We particularly understand that active women want to be 100% confident and focus on their game. And tennis really shows the beauty of the feminine body and allows a woman to be confident."

Choosing the empowerment tack over the traditional ones playing on worry or embarrassment has proven effective for the company and falls in line with its activism efforts.

In addition to sampling through high school team captains, Playtex is a sponsor of the GoGirlGo! national campaign by the Women's Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King. And on PlaytexSport.com, the Team Player Essay Contest provides a series of $2,500 scholarships and a single $25,000 scholarship to young women who describe empowering experiences in essays. Click here to read about one of the winners.

Delaney explains: "The Foundation's GoGirlGo! effort is about enabling 1 million girls to become active and gain confidence."

So, too, is Playtex Sport—and consumers are responding.

"The reaction has been incredible in this country and in others. People have been calling to say 'thank you,'" Delaney reports. "It's selling well and we're coming out with line extensions."

In addition to great sales, the company is reeling in great reviews of the product (GirlsLife.com's G-Blog gives Playtex Sport a thumbs-up) and its marketing (Slate has covered the product).

Once again, as companies outside the sport use tennis to bring attention to their goods and services, this industry benefits.

Playtex is no stranger to tennis. Here are some facts and links:
- In the 1980s the company sponsored the $1 million bonus check for women achieving a Grand Slam.
- Entrepreneur Victor Kiam, who worked his way up from regional sales manager to top executive at Playtex in the 1950s, competed at Wimbledon and won several father-son tournaments with son Tory. He's also the founder of the first international family tournament.
- Mrs. Harvey Firestone, wife of the tire magnate, is among the celebrity endorsers for Playtex girdles. She was known to tuck her shirt in the girdle while playing tennis because it stayed put there!

Did you know...
According to the Women's Sports Foundation, there has been an 800% increase in the number of young women participating in sports over the past thirty years. Young women are reaping the psychological benefits from this lifestyle switch with increased confidence on the field, at school and in social situations. —excerpted from a January press release