Condoms: will they ever be good enough?

In 1957, Durex introduced the world’s first lubricated condom. After more than 60 years, condoms are a product that is getting used less and less. In late 2021, Durex conducted a survey on a sample of 15,000 youth aged 11 to 24: only 49 percent declared that they habitually use condoms, compared to 57 percent in 2018. This is partly due to the fact that Promoting products like this is complicated, On the one hand, because sex tabooOn the other hand, is still widespread in different countries of the world because there were no innovations Relevant to the field, such as being exploited by marketing. In fact, condoms are still very similar to the condoms used decades ago. innovations in this area are not related to the product itself, but to the Pax About condoms and how to present them to the public. The same durexwhich covers about 40 percent of the market with 3 billion condoms sold per year, continues to invest heavily in marketing.

durex marketing

British magazine The Guardian recently interviewed and told the story of ben wilsonWho is now the head of Durex, and how the company’s communications department has been successful together “Make the least sexy product sexy”. In 2010 Wilson was sent to China by the multinational Reckitt Benckiser, which in the same year bought the Durex brand with the aim of expanding the condom market. Promoting sexual wellness products in such a country was not easy condom could not be specified In television or print advertisements. For this reason, the communication campaigns developed by Wilson in China during those years were very thoughtful. creative and stimulatingand the company was One of the first to exploit social networks more bloggers To distribute your content. This approach of communication helped in increasing the sales of condoms in the country to a great extent. Wilson himself told The Guardian that his experience with the Chinese market, which has been reluctant to spread condoms, offers an excellent example – on a smaller scale – of the daily work that Durex’s communications section must be doing today.

condoms and fashion

Founded in 1929, Durex made its fortune on a New technology For latex production, which made condoms more comfortable—they were already made of this material, but they were still too thick. The company has always focused on innovation (for example it was one of the first brands to open its website in 1996, a year after Amazon), and continues to do so, and above all through initiatives closer to marketing. For example, during February Fashion Week in Milan, the brand collaborated with diesel In favor of sex positivity: fashion show invitation The Fall/Winter collection included a special pack of condoms, while the runway was literally a mountain of 200,000 boxes of Durex condoms emblazoned with the iconic red and white Diesel logo. on a wave of slogans “for successful Living”The collaboration envisions a capsule collection created in co-branding, and Free distribution of over 300,000 products for sexual wellness All Diesel Outlets. “Sex positivity is something extraordinary. At Diesel we love to play and we do it seriously. Have fun, respect each other, stay safe. For a healthy life!» they have announced Glen Martens, creative director of the historic Italian brand. But this certainly isn’t the first time that condoms have come into fashion. only in 2008 Marc Jacobs launched a range of colored condoms with words “Remember, safety first! XXOO, Marc Jacobs”. about ten years later off white marketed condoms with its logo and the words “safe” Alexander Wang Who partnered with a condom company Trojan Designing a line of clothing and, most notably, condoms, with the famous hashtag #ProtectYourWang. He did the same Saint Laurent with the campaign in 2020 “The Love Affair”, while last year demna gvasliaAt the presentation of the SS20 collection vetements At Paris Fashion Week, She Was Invited With The Gods branded condom, finally, unforgettable earring condom Created in 2018 by jeremy scott on the occasion of cooperation between moschino And H&M – even more so if we remember that Franco Moschino died of AIDS. If we notice, these and other initiatives to encourage condom use through fashion can be understood as the fashion industry’s (late?) response to the HIV epidemic of the 90s, thus conveying the importance of safe sex. And that’s why instead of making clothes using condoms, luxury brands have opted to sell or give away special condoms — in the form of gadgets.

sexy condom

The need to promote a product like condoms, which in itself is difficult to price, has forced companies in this sector to focus on core campaigns and initiatives. For example, this fits in the same vein bread recipe bookfull of sexual puns, created by Trojan On the occasion of World Baking Day 2020. However, in 2017, Durex announced that it would be producing a denim line, then it was revealed that it was actually a line of condoms with slimmer packaging, Designed to disappear in a jeans pocket, with the aim of overcoming the taboo of purchasing and transporting condoms – particularly in South Asia, where the use of these types of products had not yet been fully accepted. But it doesn’t end there: the goal is above all else on inclusivenessMeanwhile, companies like Durex are strengthening their relationships with institutions. For example, in Italy multinational companies helped to define new law to make it easier advertising for sexual wellness products, while in South Africa he claimed sex education courses, In this regard, Wilson told The Guardian that Durex aims to change our general view of condoms today, until they develop into a product. make sex more sensualNot just safe. In Wilson’s expectations, condoms must become “a sexy thing to wear”to become “Part One of Foreplay”, In this sense, well-known faces such as Durex are included lil nas x And Sam Smithand expanding its presence further than other competing companies TIC Toc, In addition, the brand is also changing the language it uses in its ads, trying to accommodate openings — by the youngest of people — for less traditional sexual practices and minority gender identities.