Condom brands use Valentine’s Day to spread awareness and love

Social Samosa looks at the Valentine's Day marketing strategies of condom brands.

Every year during Valentine’s week, couples usually buy gifts and the sales of teddy bears, chocolates, and roses rise up. Valentine’s Day is an important occasion for the condom industry too and over the years, inclusive visuals and narratives have become more important for brands. Increasingly, more and more Indian condom brand campaigns are celebrating love of all kinds in their narratives.

The industry has also taken a liking for influencer marketing, which is also seen on Valentine’s day. This adds a layer of authenticity to the messaging. Brands rope in content creators to raise awareness for STIs and encourage consumers to have an open conversation about sex. 

Bringing up the excitement of this romantic day, condom brands engage with their audience through social media and other platforms. Many international brands have come up with creative campaigns over the years. Durex Malaysia has launched '" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="">always be prepared' campaign in the past, which reminded people to engage in safe sex. Another global iconic " target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">campaign by Skyn USA promoted inclusivity in the industry.

Social Samosa looks at Indian condom brands to understand how the industry communicates with its audience for Valentine’s day and decodes its marketing strategy.

Durex 

Reckitt's Durex launched a new product called Dure-X Box ahead of Valentine’s day in 2022 as a part of its digital campaign #GameUpWithDureXBox and posted a fun post on V-day. The brand used the occasion to launch its new product.

While in 2021, when the brand became the second biggest condom brand in India in terms of visibility, the brand’s digital campaign #OurKindaLove spoke about not just traditional heteronormative take but also inclusivity. In the past, the brand has also promoted the idea of #EverydayIsValentines and #MakeAConnection and has come up with funky icebreakers for starting a conversation.

The brand has always encouraged people to enjoy sex beyond romance, but digitalization and emerging technology has dwindled the fire. Studies have shown that relationships get affected when one’s partner tends to get addicted to mobile phones. Durex created a campaign ‘Look up for Love’ in 2017 and launched a Love Bug to help people ditch their phones and stay connected to their partners. 

Manforce

Mankind Pharma's Manforce is one of the largest condom brands in India by market share. For its digital campaign #LoveUpwithManforce in 2023, the brand has collaborated with standup comedians, content creators, and RJs. The brand has used influencer marketing as a medium to connect with its audience. The creators shared fun stories, jokes, and tips and asked the audience to interact with the brand by participating in the challenges through Instagram stories. The campaign was executed by Grapes while taking into account the taboo that surrounds sex that is pervasive in society, wanting to encourage the audience to be comfortable talking about sex. 

Speaking about the aim of the campaign, Joy Chatterjee, Associate Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Mankind Pharma said in a press release, “The campaign was aimed at strengthening the bond between the partners to help them indulge in pleasurable love-making sessions by acing up their level of intimacy.” 

The brand also relied on influencer marketing in 2022 for #GetLockedInLove campaign. The brand’s #BringBackTheFlavours campaign in 2021 showcased its flavors. The brand has been seen actively posting content over the years during Valentine’s week and celebrating all the love days.

Manforce launched a campaign in 2022 which revolved around the idea of safety. The brand warned its audience against public intimacy.

Also Read: Sweet love: How chocolate brands claimed Valentine’s Day as a communication pillar

Kamasutra

Kamasutra uses the opportunity of Valentine's day to talk about its product range, often through influencer marketing. This year, for its digital campaign #MakeLoveLikeNeverBefore, has collaborated with couple content creators where they are seen celebrating the Valentine's week with Kamasutra sexual wellbeing products.

In 2022, the brand spoke about its different flavors with #FlavorsOfLove campaign.

SKORE

Just like other condom brands, SKORE has been seen posting topical creatives on social platforms during the week. The brand took the opportunity of Valentine's week and offered special discounts on its #SkorePlayBox in 2023 and 2022 and has actively posted throughout the week in 2021 to communicate with its audience.

It is seen that these condom brands have not only spread awareness about protected sex and STDs but also have used Valentine's Day as an opportunity to launch a new product range or start a new campaign.