We didn’t wait for the TV campaign to finish and hope the story would tell itself. Instead, the DKT team asked 100 women and men, ages 18 to 35, a simple set of questions aided or unaided: Have you seen this ad? Do you recognize this brand? What did you think of it? This wasn’t a focus group behind glass, and it wasn’t a set of assumptions about what people probably think. It was people, asked directly.
What we found was encouraging: 83 percent of those surveyed recognized Lydia when shown the brand. When asked, unprompted, to name the first contraceptive brand that came to mind, 41 percent said Lydia, more than any other brand. And of those who’d seen the campaign, 89 percent rated it good or very good.
It wasn’t all good news. Nineteen percent of respondents couldn’t name a single contraceptive brand at all when asked. That tells us there is still work to do – a significant group of young people is not being reached with information about sexual and reproductive health, or more exposure to the options available to them. And that’s exactly who DKT is committed to reaching.
But generally, these numbers tell us the message is landing and the brand is memorable. Here’s why this matters beyond one campaign in one country: a brand isn’t simply a logo or a slogan. It’s the motivation and impetus that makes a woman in Yangon reach for a specific box on a pharmacy shelf instead of walking away confused or unsure –or reach for nothing at all. In markets where a woman might make that decision once, quietly, without asking anyone for help, a brand she already recognizes and trusts can be the difference between getting the method she needs and not getting one at all. That’s worth building carefully, and it’s worth checking constantly.
Happily and concurrently, sales of Lydia contraceptive products are up. Through June of 2026, IUD sales have increased 46% compared to the prior year. Hormonal implants – a 96% increase; contraceptive injections are up 115% and emergency contraception is up more than 200%.
All of this bodes well for Burmese women and men. While much remains to be done, DKT’s efforts to increase awareness, understanding, and use of contraception are meeting the needs of the customers we serve.
Verify, don’t assume: How does DKT know an ad campaign is working?
Verify, don’t assume: How does DKT know an ad campaign is working?
By Christopher Purdy, President & CEO of DKT International
August 17, 2026
We take seriously what it costs to run an ad campaign. So every year, we ask ourselves the same question: how do we actually know it’s working?
Not “how do we think it’s working.” Not “the numbers feel right.” How do we know?
It would be easy to assume. Run the ad, watch sales, and if the line goes up, call it a success. But sales move for many reasons that have little to do with an advertisement: supply issues, seasonality, trade campaigns, or competitor activity. A sales bump doesn’t prove the ad worked, and high ad awareness numbers don’t always translate immediately into strong sales. Either signal on its own can mislead you. We only get the real picture by checking both.
And that’s exactly what our team in Myanmar did this year with Lydia, a major contraceptive brand, after running a new mass media campaign to promote contraceptive choice.
We didn’t wait for the TV campaign to finish and hope the story would tell itself. Instead, the DKT team asked 100 women and men, ages 18 to 35, a simple set of questions aided or unaided: Have you seen this ad? Do you recognize this brand? What did you think of it? This wasn’t a focus group behind glass, and it wasn’t a set of assumptions about what people probably think. It was people, asked directly.
What we found was encouraging: 83 percent of those surveyed recognized Lydia when shown the brand. When asked, unprompted, to name the first contraceptive brand that came to mind, 41 percent said Lydia, more than any other brand. And of those who’d seen the campaign, 89 percent rated it good or very good.
It wasn’t all good news. Nineteen percent of respondents couldn’t name a single contraceptive brand at all when asked. That tells us there is still work to do – a significant group of young people is not being reached with information about sexual and reproductive health, or more exposure to the options available to them. And that’s exactly who DKT is committed to reaching.
But generally, these numbers tell us the message is landing and the brand is memorable. Here’s why this matters beyond one campaign in one country: a brand isn’t simply a logo or a slogan. It’s the motivation and impetus that makes a woman in Yangon reach for a specific box on a pharmacy shelf instead of walking away confused or unsure –or reach for nothing at all. In markets where a woman might make that decision once, quietly, without asking anyone for help, a brand she already recognizes and trusts can be the difference between getting the method she needs and not getting one at all. That’s worth building carefully, and it’s worth checking constantly.
Happily and concurrently, sales of Lydia contraceptive products are up. Through June of 2026, IUD sales have increased 46% compared to the prior year. Hormonal implants – a 96% increase; contraceptive injections are up 115% and emergency contraception is up more than 200%.
All of this bodes well for Burmese women and men. While much remains to be done, DKT’s efforts to increase awareness, understanding, and use of contraception are meeting the needs of the customers we serve.
Transforming Lives through Reproductive Choice
Verify, don’t assume: How does DKT know an ad campaign is working?
One new country, 1,193 vasectomies, and a new option for women in Nigeria!
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