Key objectives

  • Grow Durex share of market 

  • Increase number of people using condoms above a plateau of 30% 

  • Connect the brand to contemporary culture: reverse old-fashioned perceptions in some markets 

  • Rediscover Durex heritage as an outspoken champion of sexual rights and freedoms 

  • Define an inspiring and future-relevant Purpose for the brand beyond protection from STI’s and birth control 

1 Challenge 

  • A brand famous in core market of Western Europe, but a sense of being a little old fashioned compared to newer, better-defined brands, e.g. Skyn 

  • Had been growing in China, but was beginning to be eclipsed by Asian insurgents – Japanese and Korean as well as Chinese 

  • Persistently failing to grow in key US market – no.2 brand to Trojan 

  • A strong DNA as a brand that had been normalising and democratising sex since its founding in 1919, but had gone off the boil in Europe in particular after highpoints in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s 

  • How could the Purpose help to reconnect the brand to today’s more sexually active communities? 

  • From a staid condom brand associated with birth control and STI prevention, to a true cultural actor with a distinctive POV on sexual well -being? 

2 What we did – inputs 

  • Interrogate the brand’s archives in depth, map it against cultural ethos by decade and identify its core DNA 

  • Carry out in depth studies on all key markets, including interviewing cultural experts to understand similarities and differences in attitudes towards sex and sexuality, and the restrictions placed on it 

  • Build and develop a target persona built on beliefs and values: the Open & Curious 

  • Recruit a community of Gen Z activists who are Open & Curious in their attitudes towards sex and identity 

  • Cross-disciplinary workshopping to explore idea territories 

  • Pinpoint where the brand could play credibly – from sexual health to liberating pleasure – and where it would not be credible – medical and BDSM/Kink 

3 What we did – outputs 

  • Agreed, defined global Purpose for Durex: Unleash the freedom to be your true sexual self 

  • Built around the insight that sexual well being could only be experienced in a world where everyone is free and able to fully explore, discover and be their true sexual self 

  • Reframed the brand as the flag-bearer for a sexually open society: with a mission to create better sex, better lives and a better world 

  • Crystallised the brand’s fight: the fears and anxieties caused by prejudice, harmful norms and lack of knowledge that prevent people from being the true sexual selves 

  • In collaboration with the community of activists that we recruited, developed a clear framework for action to drive positive change across the world 

  • Identified, articulated and visualised (including as future news headlines) a detailed menu of bespoke activations that will bring the brand Purpose to life 

4 Impact 

  • The new platform for the brand sets the agenda for the next decade 

  • A global community of activists is now actively shaping the brand’s actions and voice, and are a key part of its future 

  • The brand has been fundamentally reframed as the protection people need to explore freely: liberating it from being purely focused on rubber condoms 

  • Pivoting the brand towards a new future of broader innovation and deeper relevance is a launch pad to address stagnation in Europe and Asia, and an opportunity to differentiate in the key growth market of the USA 

  • PDR challenged, stimulated and helped us create a big new vision that will make Durex a true force for good in the world once again.” 

Olga Osminkina-Jones, SVP
Global Category Growth Officer, Reckitt