Thursday, July 19, 2012

Let the battle of the condoms begin.


Three leading condom manufacturers – Trojan, Durex and Lifestyles, have recently launched vastly different social and experiential campaigns as they battle for market share.
Trojan has formed a partnership with Healthguru.com, and will be sponsoring an interactive video series dealing with questions about – you guessed it -- sex.

Durex has introduced a new Facebook app to help couples choose the perfect mood music for lovemaking.  And they partnered with Ice T and Coco for a Facebook event/Twitter party.

Finally Lifestyles has chosen to partner with Identity, a touring electronic music festival.  They will be distributing free samples at 15 concerts this summer and hosting ticket giveaways on their Facebook and Twitter pages. (Sass, 2012)

They all strike me as interesting approaches.  I wonder if any of them will be successful.  What do you think?  Will any of them make you change your brand preference?


Sass, E. (2012, July 13) Condom Brands Step Up Marketing Efforts.  mediapost.com. Retrieved July 18, 2012, from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/178717/condom-brands-step-up-marketing-efforts.html?edition=49029

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

With the growth of social media, online dating sites, etc, it makes sense that condom manufacturers would launch marketing efforts on these venues.

Although it appears they are using similar approaches, their target audience seems to be different. I think Trojan being the current dominant leader is trying to appeal to the more health conscious customers by forming a partnership with Healthguru, which enables users to engage a panel of health experts.

Nonetheless, I found interesting that Durex is using Ice T and Coco as their spokesperson especially since Ice T admitted to being a pimp before his rapping career. It seems Durex is using their celebrity style as experienced sex icons to appeal to the adventurous couples. Unlike Europe where Durex dominates the market, Americans have historically been known to be more sexually conservative.

Lifestyles on the other hand, seem to be targeting a younger audience by promoting music and tickets to festivals. According to recent research, music listening by young adults has increased by 45 percent and it seems Lifestyles has taken notice.

In the end, product superiority and reliability would come into play for me.

Karina

Mika said...

I agree with Karina that the three brands seem to be targeting different audiences. Lifestyles' campaign seems to be the most effective campaign to me, as they are reaching a demographic that has potential to be a life-long customer for Lifestyles. Using Identity and other music festivals to reach consumers is a route that many brands seem to be taking, such as Beats/HP, Samsung, etc. It's a fun way to connect with the target consumers while promoting their product and safe sex at the same time.

Trojan and Durex's campaigns seem to be geared to an older audience, perhaps in monogamous or serious relationships. Trojan's intentions to promote safer and more exciting sex lives may be good, but it lacks a "wow factor". As for Durex, I prefer not to model my sex life after Ice T and Coco... but that's just me.

Christopher Larca said...

There is a battle going on but it is not happening between Trojan, Durex, and Lifestyles; it is the choice to use condoms or not. There seems to be a rise of many subcultures in the realm of sex that do not promote the use of condoms or safe sex at all.

In my opinion I don't think that there is much brand loyalty at all. When it comes down to the heat of the moment and you believe in safe sex that fact that your a Trojan man and there is only Durex or Lifestyle condoms around will not deter your efforts to score.

On the other hand, it does bring some peace of mind that these companies are trying different methods to gain marketshare in the name of safer sex. I don't think that one will be more successful than the other because it seems that each company is targeting different age groups that only have sex in common nothing else.

I don't have a particular preference when it comes to condoms. I just have a preference not to have any surprise pregnancies or any surprises along those line.

~Chris

Anna Maxwell said...

I think any sort of awareness for safe sex is a good thing. I think the most effective ways is Trojan's, sex questions and Lifestyles concert promotions. Not only are you getting the word out, free-bees are the always a very enticing way to get people to buy. Lifestyles is going right to there target and making it easy to reach the brand. I feel that Durex is the least effective, it seems like an unusual partnership with Ice-T and Coco and for someone who occasionally watches the show I don't think it would make me want to buy their brand.

Rhon Flatts said...

Ice-T and Coco’s Facebook event/Twitter party seems a little weird. Who exactly is the target audience for that soiree?

The Trojan brand at least seems concerned about the community with this “Trojan Cares” campaign. I don’t know how many new customers this idea will attract, but it will go a long way for their company image. With that being said, I wonder if they’ll choose to go the kinky route with this approach, or a mixture of the two.

Of the three brands, I think Lifestyles has the best approach. Free samples are the way to go. This way potential customers can test the product. Questions of durability and fit will surely be addressed with this hands on approach.

The Lifestyles campaign would have the best chance at making someone change their brand preference; because of the free samples. As for me, unless the campaign is directly addressing durability and fit, I don’t see the need to experiment with another brand.

-Rhon