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.
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.

With a rural stint of 2 months during the He is an Electronics and Instrumentation

internship and a specialization in Agri- engineer from coveted BITS-Pilani university.
business, Aniket brings a different perspective
to the team.
Research Methodology Qualitative Insights Quantitative Insights Case Problems and Solutions

Research methodology Verbatims

Secondary Research

“hame pata hai “chemist ne

ajkal jawaan log gharwalo ko bata
Qualitative Research dia to” “Bina condom ke hi
shaadi ke pehle hi
4 FGDs & 11 IDIs - separately for - Male, 19, karta hu.. jhanjhat
ye sab karte hai”
married/unmarried males and - Female, 47, unmarried nahi chaiye”
married/unmarried females Mother of 2 - Male, 37, married

“Agar koi doubt ho “condom ki kya

to badme pill kha jarurat hai..bacche
Quantitative Research: leti hu” ho jaye fir aur bhi
84 respondents from Delhi, Mumbai (Tier- - Female, 21, to tarike hai”
1) Lucknow, Nagpur (Tier-2) unmarried - Male, 29, married

Data Analysis Using SPSS & Marketing

Engineering for Excel “gharelu nuskha hi “Meri beti ne aisa
kaafi hote hai” kuch kia to uski
- Female, 32, tange tod dunga”
married - Male, 52, Father
of 3
Recommendations
 Research Methodology Qualitative Insights Quantitative Insights Case Problems and Solutions

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 disagree, 5 – completely agree)

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

For unmarried, physical

barriers are of less
concern than
embarrassment
 Research Methodology Qualitative Insights Quantitative Insights Case Problems and Solutions

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?
Yes, married & unmarried
consumers, both have high
barriers for condom purchase
What is the issue?
 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,
embarrassment of making purchase is critical issue
 Hindrance of performance by condoms is an important
barrier but not as important as the other barriers
How can this issue be addressed?
 The logical approach would be to
address the major concerns of married
& unmarried consumers
 The married consumers should be
convinced of effectiveness & convenience
of condoms in preventing pregnancy
 The embarrassment issue should be
tackled with for unmarried consumers
 Research Methodology Qualitative Insights Quantitative Insights Case Problems and Solutions

How are companies targeting the consumers? Customers perception about different methods
An analysis of the communication strategies of all the condom brands
was done to find out the barriers which were targeted by the companies

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 Condom is perceived to be less Condom is not considered as
the unmarried consumers (major concern for unmarried) convenient than Calendar method effective as Sterilization, Pills & IUD’s

Point to note than condom is perceived as a method that should be used

Thus, all the brands are addressing the physical barriers by positioning
pre-marriage
on pleasure which is not the most important concern for the users
 Research Methodology
Decision making is involved with the product
(condom) as consumer has little past experience
with the product
Need for sexual activity leads
Need arousal
to a need for contraceptive
method
v
Information At this stage, usage of
search condoms as contraceptive is
decided upon
Close friends, TV ads, Internet
acts as information source
Parents are not the
information source
v Information
TV ads of condoms
Evaluation of
brands advertising different product
attributes help in deciding on
the brand
v This stage is ideal to address the major
Product Product is purchased from
purchase retail outlets, chemists etc
v A larger pool of customers will be
Inertia sets in in which same
Post
product of same brand is
purchase
repeatedly purchased
Qualitative Insights Quantitative Insights Case Problems and Solutions
What should DUREX do?
Evaluation of Product Post
Need arousal Information
brands purchase purchase
search
All Brands, including Durex, are interacting with customers at evaluation of brands stage
However, the need for product attributes arises
Consumers at this stage are those which only when the consumer has decided on
have already decided on using condoms purchasing the product
Before this purchase decision, evaluation of
Brands advertise product attributes to various contraceptive methods is done on
these consumers parameters like convenience & effectiveness
Brands are effectively losing out on customers which chose other methods at the information
search stage because of other barriers
Evaluation of Product Post
Need arousal search
brands purchase purchase
Durex should interact with & target customers at Information search stage!
The communication method may still be
concerns of embarrassment & preference TV but the communication strategy will
for other methods be different
The strategy would be to address the
major concerns rather than only
targeted at this stage as customers are
advertising the product attributes
yet to decide on contraceptive method
 Research Methodology Qualitative Insights Quantitative Insights Case Problems and Solutions

Positioning strategies
Issue with existing positioning strategies
All brands are currently positioned Since the strategy targets physical barriers by
on sensuality using sensuality, they are censored and banned

Follow a 2 pronged positioning strategy

Shift in positioning from sensual to medical Intended shift in perception because of new positioning

Position Durex on The positioning would be akin to

medical attributes; a Ipill which advertises the medical
must in sexual activity benefits of using the product
The benefits of condoms Condom has only 15% failure rate
over other methods will compared to 25% for calendar
be advertised

A Vision of sexual well being for all

Associate Durex with This will reinforce the positioning

AIDS and sexual health
awareness programs of
government
of Durex as a product with
medical benefits
Adds to the goodwill for durex
which may contribute to
removing taboo Disassociation with sensuality decreases the Awareness about the effectiveness of
taboo and makes the product convenient condoms increases
 Research Methodology Qualitative Insights Quantitative Insights Case Problems and Solutions

Communication strategies (1/2)

Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3
Parents may come to know Other methods are Associate with government
Sensuality is the major Embarrassment is also
is the biggest barrier for preferred as they are sexual health awareness
reason for embarrassment an issue
unmarried perceived to be better programs

Show parents talking to their children in the ads
A dad would be shown telling the son about the proper use
of condoms
Similarly, a mom would be shown talking to her daughter
The ad wont advocate premarital sex
Only the discussion between the parents will be shown with
no mention of the product
Finally, the product will be shown with the slogan “Be Safe..”
Show doctors advising a married couple in the ads
The doctor would advocate avoiding unwanted
pregnancy using condoms
Scientific facts such as condom being twice safer
than natural methods should be shown
Prevention from AIDS would be addressed
Finally, the product will be shown with the slogan
“Be Safe..”
Align with the government programs
such as “Red ribbon express” and
advertise it
Association with awareness programs
on TV and show that this program is
sponsored by Durex at the end
Distribute free Durex condoms during
HIV AIDS check up camps organised

The product packaging to be changed accordingly The product packaging to be changed accordingly by government
 Research Methodology Qualitative Insights Quantitative Insights Case Problems and Solutions

Communication strategies (2/2)

Concept 4 Concept 5 Leverage on the idea of safety
Show the durex condoms during sensual scenes
between married couples in daily soaps in different situations
Be Safe..
campaign
Sensual scenes have become
commonplace in Indian daily soaps. Durex Advertise in places where safety is Buy a spot on Indian cricket
involved e.g. railway stations, Bus stop team jersey – safety in sports
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

All these
Since the association This will eventually
communication
with sensuality is not lead to normalisation Also, since the ads are
strategies will shift the
there & communication of the category. Also not sensual in nature,
positioning of Durex
strategy using parents , the associated stigma TV media wont be
from sensuality to an
the embarrassment with condom purchase averse to airing them
absolutely essential
would decrease will reduce
medical product
 Research Methodology Qualitative Insights Quantitative Insights Case Problems and Solutions

Leveraging digital media and Internet penetration

Use Flipkart as an online portal for selling condoms
Condoms are already sold Flipkart already sells adult materials
on health portals like such as novels so selling condoms Portal Durex Alexa Daily Unique Daily page view
healthkart.com wont be an issue Presence Rank visitors per visitors

However, portals such as HEALTHKART YES 444 436,041,156 5.83

This also provides a customer touch
Flipkart would give access point which solves the issue of
to a larger customer base embarrassment for customers FLIPKART. NO 10 939,532,749 8.81

Overlap of Flipkart’s & Durex’s TG

Durex’s consumer
base
Market Potential for

People who have

Durex on Flipkart

Unique purchased condom

Age: 18-40 Online Market of
customers who online = X
Sec: A+/A Condoms
searched for Average expenditure
Geography: Customers it can tap
rr
Top8 metros
condoms (say on Condoms by X in through flipkart = X
Y) last year =Z Total Sales = X*Z

Flipkart’s customer base

Identifying overlapping demographics Identifying condom users online Analyzing Purchase history Calculating Market Potential for Durex
Research Methodology Qualitative Insights
Retail outlets & Modern retail channels
An opaque case for keeping
condoms at retail outlets
Use an opaque case for keeping
condoms at retail outlets
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
Quantitative Insights Case Problems and Solutions
Create positive synergies
with other RB products
If the perception of Durex However, added incentive would
changes, it will automatically be positive synergies with brands
change the willingness of such as Dettol, Vanish, Mortein,
Modern retail to stock Durex Cherry etc
Offer discounts on Dettol to For 50 packs of Durex purchased,
modern retail on purchase of 1 bottle of Dettol Hand wash
Durex would be free