Adgully Exclusive | Promoting responsible sex- The Durex way!

Durex, the number 1 condom brand in the global market with a 25% market share, has been existing in the market for over 75 years now. In India Durex is marketed by TTK-LIG Ltd in India. Last year, Reckitt Benckiser acquired SSL International which owned Durex, Scholl and other footcare brands outside the US for a reportedly huge amount of nearly $4 billion.

In India, Durex is the fastest growing condom brand with a wide range of products. However the brand is in a space that not lot of Indian consumers freely talk about.

So to gather more about the brand's marketing strategy and the way forward Adgully caught up with Vishal Vyas, Brand Manager, Durex.

Durex recently launched an online store with features like-

Range and Variety - The complete range of products to choose from which may not be available in the stores

Selection without Hesitation ' There is still hesitation in going to a store and asking for condoms, lubricants or stimulators

Ticket to Privacy ' The customer details are kept absolutely confidential

Doorstep Delivery ' Delivery without any indication of the contents inside

Talking about this launch, Vyas, says, "India has seen a growing e commerce market in the recent years. Durex too has an Estore where products can be purchased online. In India people are still hesitant to go to the store and ask for condoms and pleasure accessories. The Estore is a convenient option for consumers as there are several advantages that the customer enjoys."

When asked about some of the challenges of promoting and marketing the products in a country like India given the fact that the country has inhibitions about issues like contraceptives and family planning, he points out, "India itself has seen a vast difference in accepting the product. Earlier there was a lot of hesitation and there were taboo topics- but now at least the barrier is beginning to break. People are ready to talk about sex and contraception. However, it will take time for India to be absolutely open about it."

Vyas further adds that recently the company has been rolling out a lot of initiatives that involve the youth as they are the high risk factor for AIDS. "It is necessary to promote responsible sex among them.We have had some associations with college fests, we are on Facebook as 'Love In Jeans' and do continuous activities on it as social network has become a phenomenon now. We also partenered with MTV for a show called 'It is your sex Life'. Recently we had a bike rally at Mumbai to emphasize on AIDS awareness and John Abraham was there to support the cause."

He says that the brand uses all marketing tools and generally does viral campaigns. "We involve on ground activities with print campaigns. Besides digital and social media is very important as a lot of people are hooked on it. For example we did a campaign on facebook for world AIDS Day."

The brand launched an initiative on 1st of December 2010 called as the "Awareness Virus", a Facebook Application was launched which allowed users to infect their friends in an interesting way. The application worked on a simple thought that if AIDS can spread so fast, awareness on this subject should spread faster. Users could also choose status updates specific to the prevention of AIDS and read various myths and facts about the virus.

- Some of the other brand associations in the year 2010 by Durex were like-

- Organized a bike rally flagged off my actor John Abraham at Mumbai

- Launched online campaigns on Facebook

"We have a conscious decision to reach of out to the youth of today and as part of the brand promise of promoting safe and responsible sex amongst the youth we have balanced several ideas and activities with the sole purpose of contacting youth in an ambience that he or she is comfortable in and educate them on safe sex practices," Vyas says. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]