Diva International launched DivaCup in 2003 in Kitchener, Ontario, with Carinne Chambers as the Chief Executive Officer and her mother, Francine Chambers as the co-founder. DivaCup is a silicone cup that is bell-shaped and inserted manually in the vaginal canal to catch the blood from periods. DivaCup is a product that changes women’s lives throughout their experience of menstruation, boasting leak-free sleeping and reduced landfill waste. Also, women that were once reluctant to talk about their periods have come out to talk about their experience through a period using DivaCup.
The inspiration behind DivaCup fandom.
In the 1960s, when Francine had her period, she had a miserable experience with elastic belts and diaper-like pads held in place using pins. Francine questioned why something better did not exist to catch the flow. In 1992, she came across an Ad for a menstrual cup made of latex called the Keeper, and that is when she realized that menstrual cups had been around since the 1930s. Her excitement led her to start selling the Keeper in her jewelry shop in Waterloo, Ontario.
However, Francine had the opinion that the Keeper still had room for improvement. After Carinne graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with a degree in the business field, the mother-daughter duo set out to upgrade the Keeper. DivaCup was their brainchild, a flexible, reusable cup made of translucent silicone packaged in a colorful box with flowers and left in the vagina for 12 hours. DivaCup is sold for $40 hence saving the average woman who spends about $100 on tampons and pads.
The journey of DivaCup becoming a mainstream product in Canada.
Francine and Carinne made their first sales to health and food stores, but rival menstrual cup rivals hindered their success on the market such as Moon Cup, Softcup, and Lunette. At this time, Francine managed the marketing aspect, and Carinne took charge of client relationships. The mother-daughter duo realized that their success in sales depended on stocking their product in mainstream chains.
Francine and Carinne made their first pitch in San Diego in 2005 at a retail trade show, but they did not receive any orders. They realized that their pitching methods had to evolve because retail buyers cared more about sales and money rather than a charming background story of the product.
A DivaCup requires less space on the shelf than standard products for periods, and also Francine and Carinne hired a senior representative with vast experience with mainstream chains. Their strategy worked like a charm, and in 2013 renowned chains such as Drug Mart, CVS, Walgreens, and Target began to sell DivaCup.
Diva International then focused their efforts on creating awareness among consumers, and the brand worked with educators and professionals in the medical field to spread the word of the product. Also, Diva International promoted the brand through coupons, giveaways, and an elaborate social media presence.
