A few years ago I had the opportunity to conduct qualitative research in Montreal for condom marketer Durex. I remember the client warning me that people were typically shy about discussing such intimate matters in a focus group setting.
As the discussion warmed up (excuse the pun) and the topic shifted to the specific products the participants used, I heard about the sensations of pleasure rings and about different condom types for regular or ‘hardcore sex’. All of this was discussed in the same manner these women would otherwise discuss shampoo brands.
We also heard that Durex users were more experienced and experimenting with sex. That learning lead the way to an adapted version of a campaign running in the rest of Canada built on the theme ‘Hump Day’. We called it the ‘Cinq à sexe de Durex’ – a reference to the happy hour from five to seven.
Posters, web banners and radio spots were part of the campaign.
This focus on the pleasure seekers appears to also be the
platform for a new campaign for Durex in the U.S.
Quoted in Ad Age, Stephen Mare, Durex brand manager, said that “the Durex consumer is less likely to be a first-time condom buyer, more experienced, more likely to know exactly what he or she likes in "sexual health" products, more likely to be passionate and deeply involved with their partners. It's not about a random hookup on a Friday night kind of thing."
There was nothing random about hump days and happy hours.
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