CASE STUDY - DUREX

Team - PRISM
Aniket Bandhekar

ABM09016

IIM Lucknow

ABM09016@iiml.ac.in

8009966496

Aman Sehgal

PGP28153

IIM Lucknow

PGP28153@iiml.ac.in

8755148080

Aniket Bandhekar is a marketing

enthusiast who believes that live
projects and case studies are the
true way to learn.
The IIML campus winner of HUL
LIME Season 5, he has proven his
marketing acumen by earning a
PPI from Syngenta India Ltd,
where he did his internship in
marketing domain.
With a rural stint of 2 months
during the internship and a
specialization in Agri-business,
Aniket
brings
a
different

Aman Sehgal is the campus usual

suspect with the HUL LIME Season
5
campus
winner
prize
and
Mahindra
War
Room
&
ITC
Interrobang
campus
finalists
positions already in his kitty.
Known as marketing buff, he has
shown his marketing acumen by
redesigning GTM strategy and sales
force optimization for Marico during
his summer internship.
He
is
an
Electronics
Instrumentation
engineer
coveted BITS-Pilani university.

and
from

Verbatims

Research methodology
Secondary Research

Qualitative Research
4 FGDs & 11 IDIs - separately for
married/unmarried males and
married/unmarried females

Quantitative Research:
84 respondents from Delhi,
Mumbai (Tier-1) Lucknow, Nagpur
(Tier-2)
Data Analysis Using SPSS &
Marketing Engineering for Excel

Recommendations

hame pata hai

ajkal jawaan log
shaadi ke pehle
hi ye sab karte
hai
- Female, 47,
Mother of 2
Agar koi doubt
ho to badme pill
kha leti hu
- Female, 21,
unmarried

gharelu
nuskha hi kaafi
hote hai
- Female, 32,
married

chemist ne
gharwalo ko
bata dia to
- Male, 19,
unmarried

Bina condom
ke hi karta hu..
jhanjhat nahi
chaiye
- Male, 37,
married
condom ki kya
jarurat
hai..bacche ho
jaye fir aur bhi
to tarike hai
- Male, 29,
married

Meri beti ne
aisa kuch kia to
uski tange tod
dunga
- Male, 52,
Father of 3

Decoding Reasons for not purchasing the condoms (1/2)

We asked the respondents to rate the 19 reasons for not purchasing condoms on a scale of 1-5 (1- completely disagre

Embarrassment of
making the
purchase is very
high for unmarried
males and Females

For unmarried,
physical barriers are
of less concern than
embarrassment

Decoding Reasons for not purchasing the condoms (2/2)

Married couples
show high
preference for other
contraceptive
methods
Overall, the condom
usage is not taken
seriously by the
consumers

Is there an issue
with condom
usage?

What is the issue?

Yes, married & unmarried

consumers, both have high
barriers for condom purchase

Married couples prefer other methods over

condoms
because of the perception that other
methods are better
However, embarrassment is not a major
concern for
married males
But when it comes to unmarried consumers,

How can this issue be

addressed?

The logical approach would be t

address the major concerns of
married
& unmarried consumers
The married consumers should be
convinced of effectiveness &
convenience
of condoms in preventing pregnanc
The embarrassment issue should be

How are companies targeting the consumers?

An analysis of the communication strategies of all the
condom brands was done to find out the barriers which
were targeted by the companies

Customers perception about different

methods

All the brands address the physical barrier by

advertising the condoms as increasing the
pleasure for both partners
However, none of the brands addresses the fact
that condoms are better at pregnancy prevention
than other methods like calendar method (major
concern for married)
Also, the existing ads add to the Embarrassment
issue for the unmarried consumers (major
concern for unmarried)

Thus, all the brands are addressing the physical barriers

by positioning on pleasure which is not the most

Condom is perceived to be
less convenient than
Calendar method

Condom is not considered as

effective as Sterilization, Pills
& IUDs

Point to note than condom is perceived as a method

that should be used pre-marriage

What should DUREX do?

Decision making is involved with the
product (condom) as consumer has
little past experience with the product
Need
arousal

v
Informatio
n search

v
Evaluation
of brands

v
Product
purchase

v
Post
purchase

Need for sexual activity

leads to a need for
contraceptive method
At this stage, usage of
condoms as
contraceptive is
decided
Close
friends,upon
TV ads,
Internet acts as
information source
Parents are not the
information source
TV ads of condoms
advertising different
product attributes help
in deciding on the
brand
Product is purchased
from retail outlets,
chemists etc
Inertia sets in in which
same product of same
brand is repeatedly
purchased

Need
arousal

Informatio
n search

Evaluation
of brands

Product
purchase

Post
purchase

All Brands, including Durex, are interacting with customers at evaluation o

However, the need for product

Consumers at this stage are
attributes arises only when the
those which have already
consumer has decided on purchasing
decided on using condoms
the product
Before this purchase decision,
evaluation of various contraceptive
Brands advertise product
methods is done on parameters like
attributes to these consumers
convenience & effectiveness
Brands are effectively losing out on customers which chose other methods
at the information search stage because of other barriers
Need
arousal

Informatio
n search

Evaluation
of brands

Product
purchase

Post
purchase

Durex should interact with & target customers at Information search stage!
This stage is ideal to address the
major concerns of
embarrassment & preference for
other methods
A larger pool of customers will be
targeted at this stage as
customers are yet to decide on
contraceptive method

The communication method may

still be TV but the communication
strategy will be different
The strategy would be to address
the major concerns rather than
only advertising the product
attributes

Positioning strategies
Issue with existing positioning strategies
All brands are currently
positioned on sensuality

Since the strategy targets physical

barriers by using sensuality, they are
censored and banned

Follow a 2 pronged positioning strategy

Shift in positioning from sensual to medical
The positioning would be
Position Durex on
akin to Ipill which
medical
advertises the medical
attributes; a must
benefits of using the
in sexual activity
product
The benefits of
Condom
has only 15%
condoms over other
failure rate compared to
methods will be
25% for calendar
advertised
A Vision of sexual well being for all
Associate Durex
This will reinforce the
with AIDS and
positioning of Durex as a
sexual health
product with medical
awareness
benefits
programs of
Adds to the goodwill for
government
durex which may
contribute to removing
taboo

Intended shift in perception because of new positioning

Disassociation with sensuality

decreases the taboo and makes the

Awareness about the

effectiveness of condoms

Communication strategies (1/2)

Concept 1
Sensuality is the
major reason for
embarrassment

Parents may come to

know is the biggest
barrier for unmarried

Show parents talking to their children in the ads

Concept 2

Other methods
are preferred as
Embarrassment is
they are
also an issue
perceived to be
better
Show doctors advising a married couple

Concept 3

Associate with
government sexual
health awareness
programs
Align with the government

A dad would be shown telling the son about the

in the ads

programs

proper use of condoms

The doctor would advocate avoiding

ribbon

Similarly, a mom would be shown talking to her

unwanted pregnancy using condoms

advertise it

daughter

Scientific

Association

The ad wont advocate premarital sex

being twice safer

Only the discussion between the parents will be

methods should be shown

shown with no mention of the product

Prevention

Finally, the product will be shown with the

The product packaging to be changed accordingly
slogan Be Safe..

facts

from

such

as

condom

than natural
AIDS

would

Be Safe..

as

express
with

Red
and

awareness

programs on TV and show

that this program is sponsored

be

addressed
The
product packaging to be changed
accordingly
Finally, the product
will be shown with
the slogan

such

by Durex at the end

Distribute free Durex condoms
during HIV AIDS check up
camps
government

organised

by

Communication strategies (2/2)

Show the durex condoms during
sensual scenes between married
couples in daily soaps
scenes have become

Concept 4
Sensual

commonplace

in

Indian

daily

soaps. Durex can be shown during

such scenes
Line such as Suraksha ke liye
yehi sabse behtar hai.. can be
used in dialogues
Only soaps with high TRP to
be shown
e.g. Mann kii awaaj Pratigya
(a soap with high TRP) has
shown sensual scenes before

Concept 5

Leverage on the idea of

safety in different
situations

Advertise in places where

safety is involved e.g. railway
stations, Bus stop

Be Safe..
campaign

Buy a spot on Indian

cricket team jersey
safety in sports

Leveraging digital media and Internet penetration

Use Flipkart as an online portal for selling condoms
Condoms are already
sold on health portals
like healthkart.com
However, portals
such as Flipkart would
give access to a
larger customer base

Flipkart already sells adult

materials such as novels so
selling condoms wont be an
issue
This also provides a
customer touch point which
solves the issue of
embarrassment for
customers

Overlap of Flipkarts &

Durexs consumer
base
Age: 18-40
Sec: A+/A
Geography:
rr
Top8 metros

Flipkarts customer base

Portal

Durex
Presence

Alexa
Rank

Daily Unique
visitors

Daily page view

per visitors

HEALTHKART

YES

444

436,041,156

5.83

FLIPKART.

NO

10

939,532,749

8.81

Durexs TG

Unique
customers
who
searched for
condoms
(say Y)

People who have

purchased
condom online =
X
Average
expenditure on
Condoms by X in
last year =Z

Online Market of
Condoms
Customers it can
tap through
flipkart = X
Total Sales = X*Z

Retail outlets & Modern retail channels

An opaque case for keeping
condoms at retail outlets
Use an opaque case for
keeping condoms at retail
outlets

Create positive synergies

with other RB products
If the perception of Durex
changes, it will
automatically change the
willingness of Modern
retail to stock Durex

However, added incentive

would be positive
synergies with brands
such as Dettol, Vanish,
Mortein, Cherry etc

Offer discounts on Dettol

to modern retail on
purchase of Durex

For 50 packs of Durex

purchased, 1 bottle of
Dettol Hand wash would
be free

Case to be kept right

beside the cashier
Case to have a dispenser
so that the person can on
his own take the condom
and leave