IWD Special Campaign | Winona 2.0: Unveiling the Healthy Beauty of Women

IWD Special Campaign | Winona 2.0: Unveiling the Healthy Beauty of Women

On March 8, when International Women's Day (IWD) was celebrated, Botanee, a leading Chinese skincare company, organized a special campaign featuring Winona Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream and released the short film Women in Factories — China's Female Workers in the New Era, showing love and respect for every woman working in the factory in this new industrial era.

On this international holiday for women, Winona, a Chinese skincare brand under Botanee, turned the spotlight on the industrial production line for the second generation of Winona Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream, focusing on the real conditions of female workers who create the "healthy beauty" and showcasing their unique power and dedication to product R&D.

Love and Respect for Women in Factories

With the rise of female power, IWD has become an important opportunity for beauty brands to engage with consumers. How to communicate with women, keep up with the times, and effectively convey brand values has become an urgent question that domestic skincare brands need to figure out.

This time, Winona chose to picture the real lives of women — a choice aligned with its long-term development strategy. The short film takes the audience on a tour of the entire production line for the second generation of Winona Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream, allowing viewers to understand the significance of work for women from the perspective of products, appreciate the spirit of Chinese female workers in the new era, and see the charm of women in the new industrial world.

Notably, this film was directed by Qin Tian, a Chinese director focusing on female issue and winner of the Golden Award at the FIRST International Film Festival, and photographed by Xiao Quan, a famous Chinese portrait photographer, providing a window into the real conditions of women working behind the production line. The film aims to focus on female insights, starring female workers who produce Winona Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream and bring "healthy beauty" to consumers.

In early March this year, Winona held its first-ever press conference on brand strategy in Shanghai. At the event, the second-generation Winona Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream made its debut, with comprehensive upgrades in ingredients, technologies, texture, and packaging.

If the launch of the second-generation Winona Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream is a significant milestone for Winona's brand strategy 2.0, then the women working in the factory of Botanee in the new industrial era and the power they represent are the pillar of this milestone.

In the modern perspective, the essence of female power is developing dynamically, from "gender equality as a basic right" to the consensus and trend that "women hold up half the sky", and then to the inclusion of gender equality in politics into the Electoral Law. The new era marks the start of a new life journey for Chinese women, and the development of female power in China reflects the achievements of China's modernization process.

Today, the status of women depends on their relationship with the means of production and the extent of their involvement in productive labor. Female power is more about the extent to which a woman lives out herself, the active exploration of women's true selves, and the diverse and broad strengths of seemingly delicate women.

In Winona's short film, we can see the diverse and broad strengths of women working in an 80-mu factory. The female workers in Botanee's factory always want to go more rapidly and reach the site where help is needed as soon as possible. They always want to go more steadily and make sure every product entering the market is reliable. They always want to go further and present better products to consumers. Thanks to the diligence and perseverance of numerous female workers in Botanee's factory, after 13 years of efforts, the second-generation Winona Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream finally came to market. Su Wenrou, a female worker who led the R&D of the product, said: "We have stayed true to our original aspirations, and we hope this product will be more helpful for those with sensitive skin."

Protecting Women and Practicing Longtermism

Beauty is indefinable and fluid. Botanee's short film Women in Factories — China's Female Workers in the New Era not only shows the real conditions of female workers in the new era but also urges viewers to change their attitude towards modern female workers. It aims to encourage every woman working in the factory in the new industrial era to explore endless opportunities, and demonstrate the authentic "healthy beauty" of today's women.

Over the years, Botanee has always respected differences, promoted diversity, and advocated respect for women. Up to 78.6% of the employees and management personnel at the company are women. The proportion of female employees is high and still on the rise. As a company composed primarily of female employees, Botanee pays more attention to the strength of women in the workplace and provides women with equal pay for equal work, and equal employment and promotion opportunities. The company has long focused on women's health and beauty, and it hopes to do more for women by giving more attention and support to female workers in China in the new era.

Botanee has put great emphasis on its ESG management and rating. Through the Winona Bright Smiles Commonweal Project and initiatives like rural revitalization, climate change adaptation, respect for women's rights, and biodiversity conservation, the company has been promoting ESG management to drive high-quality and sustainable development. Its Winona, meanwhile, has played an active part in the "Fearless Bloom — Women's Safety Protection Public Welfare Program" launched by 360 Total Security, aiming to draw attention to women and their safety and improve their self-protection awareness. Moreover, in order to better care for women, Winona has promoted the GHG (Girls Help Girls) Program across its offline stores, allowing women in need to get period products free of charge in those stores.

The ultimate goal of charity represents the starting point of hope. There are a large number of female workers at grassroots level in various factories around China. Winona will team up with Botanee Foundation and the Changning Branch of the Shanghai Charity Foundation to launch the Guardian Alliance for Women's Care, striving to protect women's labor rights and take care of their skin health. Winona will continue to carry out vocational skills training, skin health product donations, and free skin health consultations for women in poverty. It also hopes to cooperate with more charity and social organizations to protect the "healthy beauty" of Chinese female workers and see how women can shine in the new era.

This is a journey of longtermism, just as how Juliet Mitchell depicted in her book Women: The Longest Revolution. In the future, Botanee will seek to be a part of the life stories of more Chinese female workers, bring more attention to the real conditions of women working in factories in the new era, and help those women find their social positions and personal values. It hopes that the "healthy beauty" and power of women can be better seen and recognized by society.

As a Chinese skincare company upholding the principle of sustainable developing, Botanee has established a long-term blueprint. It will keep exploring the new connotations of corporate sustainability and open up a new chapter of corporate development and philanthropy.