The Hindu Business Line : TTK-LIG's hardsell

Man didn't want offspring as a consequence of sex, so the condom was invented. Today, the condom is reinvented for another service — enhanced pleasure. In the market are dotted condoms, ribbed condoms, condoms laced with mild anaesthetic (benzocaine) that numbs the `tip' and gets the man some `extra time', lubricated condoms, the `super thins', even condoms with flavours such as strawberry and pina colada to tingle the tongue! Don't confuse condoms with `protection'!

It is rather paradoxical that in a country of over a billion people the condoms market is just Rs 90 crore! But wait, it is getting bigger.

As Vice-President (Marketing), TTK-LIG Ltd, R. Srinivasan is the man with the mission to market sex products. The Rs 175-crore company is a licensee of Durex, the UK-based company that is at the cutting edge of R&D for pleasure devices. Durex, a 90-year old brand, has been associated with condoms, but today there is a wide range of Durex products — such as lubricants, vibrating rings for males, vibrators and massagers. TTK is bringing them into India one after the other.

With changing attitudes, Srinivasan is a man with mission possible. "People are willing to experiment, they keep trying them (condoms) one after the other," he says. Urban women have no hesitation about picking up a box of condoms off the shelf and presenting it at the billing counter.

With growing product differentiation, reaching the customers has been Srinivasan's singular challenge. Take vibrating rings, for instance. It is a new product in India — a flexible ring attached to a tiny battery pack with a switch. The man slips it on, switches it on and it vibrates, thankfully without noise.

Now, how do you explain these features to customers? These products are sold through traditional outlets — pharmacies, departmental stores, beauty parlours — you can't have a salesman describe the features.

"When we introduced these products (last October) the trade was not interested," Srinivasan told Brand Line. Not surprisingly, because elsewhere in the world you see these products in sex shops, usually those in a red light area.

With some effort, TTK convinced some retail outlets to carry an inventory of condoms, lubricants and vibrating rings.

They made the products and promotional literature very visible, at about 100 outlets in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi, and left it at that. The result: sales far more than expected. "In one month we sold 500 rings (priced Rs 300 apiece) and 250 lubricant packs (Rs 250 each). Health & Glow in Chennai sold 100 rings and 75 lubricant packs. About 16 per cent own a vibrator. Globally, they are more popular with women, with 26 per cent of women using them as against 19 per cent of men.

Srinivasan rationalises the success thus: with lives becoming more stressful, people are looking to sex for relief. Over 60 per cent have sex at least thrice a week and over 40 per cent spend more than 20 minutes on foreplay. The `Durex' brand, he said, helped, because it "gave respectability to the products."

With this experience, TTK is drawing up plans to ramp up distribution. Also, more products from the Durex stable are to be introduced.

These products, says Srinivasan, "are far, far from a regular FMCG product." There are lots of issues in advertising and merchandising.

TTK has not yet tapped the commercial sex workers market — that's the lower-end market, dominated by cheap or free unbranded condoms — but Srinivasan concedes there is a market that could be developed.

But back to the question— how do you market products like these? There will be some print and TV ads, but TTK will primarily rely on making the products available and visible and wait for the word to spread.

More Stories on : Strategy | Contraceptives & Protectives

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
TTK-LIG's hardsell

All for ambience

`E-books are an opportunity'

`Market research firms must offer insights too'

A suitable boy

A question of ethics?

Prasoon Joshi. Rising Indian.

Beyond the box-office