Carrie Hough

MKT 300

Durex is a brand best known for its condoms. Durex was officially registered and

trademarked in 1929 by London Rubber Company. In the 1970s, Durex began to advertise in

many countries and in 1996, was the first condom brand to launch a website. The Durex brand

was sold to Reckitt Benckiser in 2010 and now has forty-two distinct websites to advertise its

products which emphasizes its hold in the global market. (History of Durex, n.d.) Reckitt

Benckiser is a global superstar that manufactures and advertises many household brands found in

the United States such as Lysol, Mucinex, Scholl, Woolite, Calgon and Clearasil. (RB Brands,

n.d.)

Durex competes in the market of personal use consumer products- contraception, sexual

health and satisfaction. Durex has several major competitors including well known Trojan and

Crown brands. Durex also manufactures and markets other personal use items such as lubricants
and vibrators which places it in direct competition with Trojan. Worldwide, Durex leads market

share with approximately 22% of sales, but falls behind best-selling Trojan in the United States

with only 15% market share (Bhasin, 2015).

You may be asking yourself why a forty-something, happily married mom of three, is

researching condom brands? In my mind, the only viable answer to this question is because the

advertisement above made me chuckle. I have always been keen on quick, clever advertisements

that contain a subtle, yet profound message. For days, I have searched high and low for

something more refined to discuss in this paper, yet I keep finding myself thinking about the

marketing behind this brand. Renee Ramsarran of TrendHunters.com explains it this way,

Companies, especially those who deal with more risqu products, need only look to advertising

efforts such as these to see how to capture consumer attention in a provocatively lasting way.

Society is increasingly receptive to marketing that pushes boundaries, and smart companies

know that simultaneously amusing and informing your target market is a huge advantage

depending on your target demographic. (Ramsarran, 2011)

In this Fathers Day advertisement, Durex is making a broad connotative statement that if

the consumer uses another brands condom that they will probably have a child- in effect, telling

the consumer that the other brand is ineffective as a form of birth control. With this particular

marketing piece, Durex is demographically targeting men.

From a psychographic standpoint, Durex seems to be targeting a younger male audience,

ages 16-30 years, that may not be ready for fatherhood. The behavioral segmentation is directed

towards sexually active, heterosexual men who dont wish to have children. I believe that to a

lesser extent, this advertisement could also be directed towards women of childbearing ages and
homosexual males in regards to safer sex, but ultimately the target market is young to middle

aged men.

After reviewing a few other of advertisements and some of their other products for Durex,

I believe that the brand wishes to be positioned in consumers minds as a responsible, racy, yet

adventurous. Their advertisements touch on three unique selling propositions- functional,

symbolic and experiential (Levens, 2016, p. 139). The functional aspect is that Durex wants to

communicate that it is solving a problem for the consumer- the need for safe sex and a

contraceptive. The symbolic positioning wants consumers to believe that they are cool, funny

and smart. Advertising of the XXL version of the Durex condom might lead the consumer to

have good feelings about his personal attributes. The experiential positioning might be one of

relief that they are not fathers this year and that they were wiser than the people who used the

competitors products.

I was unable to find any exact evidence of where Durex print ad are placed other than a

clever ad in a Singapore newspaper that apologizes being in part responsible for the countrys

declining birthrate and encourages the people of Singapore to put away the Durex to help

celebrate the countrys 50th anniversary (Campaign Brief, 2015). I feel that Durex focuses its

advertising budget on television advertisements in foreign markets and also internet marketing.

Targeting a younger demographic that is well versed in internet usage and social media allows

the company to capitalize its advertising monies on websites, YouTube videos, and even a

Twitter campaign regarding the creation of a condom emoji that would encourage young people

to discuss safe sex without mentioning condoms. (Twitter #CondomEmoji)

The company is also attempting to portray its social corporate responsibility by

supporting injecting humor into advertising for a product that people dont necessarily want, but
need, which can help to take the sting out of a purchasing a product like this- almost a public

service announcement. Durex also has partnered with charitable organizations to help increase

awareness of the how the use of condoms can help prevent the spread of AIDS and the Zika virus

(Roderick, 2016).

Overall, I can appreciate this advertisement. The research behind its marketing was

interesting and I learned a lot about their chosen demographic. The reason why I dont

remember seeing it before is because Durex has done a great job of profiling its customer base

and picking the demographics in which to best use its marketing budget. I dont fit this

demographic in any way, but I hope that if my three sons ever need their products that an

advertisement like this would encourage them to use them.

Bibliography
(2015, August 10). Retrieved from Campaign Brief:

http://www.campaignbrief.com/asia/assets_c/2015/08/Durex_Apology-193257.html
Bhasin, H. (2015, July 19). SWOT Analysis of Durex. Retrieved from Marketing 91:

http://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-of-durex/

History of Durex. (n.d.). Retrieved from Durex: http://www.durexusa.com/about/history-of-

durex/

Kharpal, A. (2016, September 6). Durex announced an eggplant flavored condom for a very

serious reason. Retrieved from CNBC: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/06/durex-

announced-an-eggplant-flavored-condom-for-a-very-serious-reason.html

Levens, M. (2016). Marketing. New York, New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Nudd, T. (n.d.). Adfreak. Retrieved from Adweek: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/happy-

father-s-day-durex-condoms-17234

Ramsarran, R. (2011, February 24). 11 Daring Durex Campaigns. Retrieved from TrendHunter:

http://www.trendhunter.com/slideshow/durex-campaigns

RB Brands. (n.d.). Retrieved from RB Health, Hygiene, Homes: http://www.rb.com/brands/

Roderick, L. (2016, August 22). Why Durex wants to be seen as more that just a condom brand.

Retrieved from Marketing Week: https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/08/22/why-

durex-wants-to-be-seen-as-more-than-just-a-condom-brand/