BY MICHAEL JOHNSEN
Two things are happening in the family planning section, also known as health and intimacy. First, products that were once considered too risqué to merchandise in mass outlets are actually finding a home at retail, and being bought there. Increasingly, consumers are walking into their local Walgreens or Wal-Mart and shopping the health and intimacy section as a destination center.
And second, the common misconception that marketers could not responsibly market products in this category is similarly being broken down.
“There are a whole lot of pop culture things that have happened, like the ‘Sex in the City’ show,” said Ansell Healthcare’s Carol Carrozza, vice president of marketing, North America, professional and consumer products, which has made it more acceptable for women to broach the subject of sexual wellness and intimacy among their friends.
Another cultural phenomenon that made it more acceptable to talk about intimacy is the growth of such companies as Passion Parties, a company that helps homemakers host events in their homes featuring sensual products “designed to promote intimacy and communication between couples,” following the Tupperware model. “It made it much more acceptable and mainstream and not so back-alley,” Carrozza said.
Having a home in the pharmacy is advantageous to consumers, Carrozza added, because they can educate themselves and self-select products that might address libido issues, satisfaction issues or products that address such real health issues as vaginal dryness. “Clearly, the need is out there. To some extent we just have to raise awareness,” she said.
Case in point: Durex has secured placement of its personal massager in at least one national retailer, following the successful test market of the product in two major metropolitan areas in two other retailers. And, for its part, Johnson & Johnson is promoting its latest KY launch—a personal lubricant called Yours + Mine—on network television during prime time.
Meanwhile, around the time Durex was completing its test markets, Church & Dwight last fall announced the introduction of its Trojan Her Pleasure Vibrating Touch Finger Massager.
“We sometimes have issues with the trade about stocking the products,” chief executive officer Garry Watts, SSL International, parent company of Durex, told analysts in May. “We’ve talked about some of those [issues with retailers] over the years gone by. But again, the consumers tell us, all around the world, that two-thirds of them are comfortable to see these products appropriately marketed in mainstream outlets. And I think it’s absolutely right [to] explore that potential for the brand going forward,” he said. The
Durex is experiencing faster growth internationally across its Play products; up 15. 4 percent to $50.2 million, with the introduction of the tasteful lineup of personal massagers.
Intimacy product sales
Male contraceptives (by vendor)
Vendor
Church & Dwight
Durex Consumer Products
Ansell
Barmensen Labs
Global Protection
Sales*
$197.7
37. 2
19. 9
2. 1 1. 89
% change
4.7% – 4. 3 15. 4
6. 4
9. 4
Sexual enhancement devices (by vendor)
Vendor
Church & Dwight
Durex Consumer Products
Ansell
Sales*
$2.7
2. 6
0.5
% change
– 22.4%
48. 9
– 43. 6
Source: Information Resources Inc. for the 52 weeks ended April 20 across U.S. food, drug and mass (minus Wal-Mart) *in millions
introduction of tasteful personal massagers to the intimate health space is a worldwide initiative for Durex, which is experiencing faster growth internationally across its “Play” range of lubricants and devices—up 15. 4 percent to $50.2 million.
Appropriate positioning of products in the intimacy space historically has been a concern for U.S. retailers, but because more and more consumers are looking for those kinds of products in their drug stores, that concern has lessened somewhat. “[Retailers] say, ‘Hey, let’s not forget that my customer is female, 41. 3 years old, has 2. 3 children and we don’t want to alienate her,’” Carrozza said. But that’s the customer who’s buying the product. “While it was an initial concern, it’s less so, because as retailers add the vibrating rings and personal massagers to the sexual intimacy section,
they’ve not gotten any complaints.”
According to a June 2007 Kaiser Foundation survey of 1,008 parents with children between the ages of 2 and 17, parents are more concerned with the appropriateness of advertising for toys, video games and clothing than they are for condoms or sexually-themed commercials for lingerie. Of the 83 percent of parents who identified concerns in advertising, 18 percent tabbed toys, 17 percent video games and 13 percent clothing. Only 2 percent identified either condoms or lingerie.
The reality is that there is a demand within this category, a demand that a few progressive retailers, such as Rite Aid, help feed within its circulars. Even among more conservative national retailers, the restrictions on in-store marketing initiatives are slowly being lifted, thanks in part to Johnson & Johnson’s barrier-breaking advertising for KY, one supplier reported.
“KY is really breaking through every barrier when it comes to [television] advertising,” said Paul Fitzgerald, director of retail sales for Barmensen Labs, during an interview with Drug Store News. The whole product category is going mainstream, he said, but not bawdy. “There are people out there that are buying [products like these] to enhance their sex life,” Fitzgerald said. “Our advertising now on television, newspapers, magazines, everything is geared toward couples. … The females are buying [the products] for their partners.”
In J&J’s latest ad campaign, the company markets its Yours + Mine personal lubricants—a two-pack lubricant featuring one lubricant each for the male and female—using everyday married couples to tout the chief benefit of the product: enhanced intimacy.
RED BANK, N.J. — Ansell Healthcare is introducing its
LifeStyles Skyn, a non-latex condom composed of polyisoprene, that can be used as a prophylactic against both pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases without causing an allergic reaction among the 20 percent of Americans allergic to latex. “Because it looks and feels like natural rubber, it’s still very comfortable,” noted Carol Carrozza, vice president of marketing, North America, professional and consumer products at Ansell Healthcare, adding consumers preferred polyisoprene condoms over latex or polyurethane condoms in a blind consumer study. Ansell LifeStyles Skyn condoms
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