1.  Marketing History.  4

2.  Brand Equity.  5

2.1  Durex’s Market Position.  5

2.1.1  Key competitors.  5

2.1.2  Position.  5

2.1.3  Market trend  6

2.2  Market Segmentation.  6

2.2.1  Geographic  6

2.2.2  Demographic.  6

2.2.3  Psychographic portrait  7

2.2.4  Behaviouristic  7

2.2.5  Profile  8

2.3  Brand Value  8

2.3.1  Intangible Value.  8

2.3.2  Functionality.  9

2.4  Key Brand Element (Brand Identity)  9

2.4.1  Name.  9

2.4.2  Logo  9

2.4.3  Range of product.  10

2.4.4  Packaging  10

2.4.5  Promotion.  11

2.4.6  Price  12

3.  Primary Research.  13

3.1  Awareness.  13

3.2  Advertising  13

3.3  Packaging.  13

3.4  Price.  14

4.  Conclusion.  15

5.  References.  16

3

1. Marketing History

In 1929 the London Rubber Company (LRC) has registered DUREX condom trademark, whose name was derived from Durability, Reliability and Excellence. The next important steps as a global condom’s provider were in 1951 with the introduction of the first fully automated production, and two years later with the development of the first electronic testing machines.

During the 1980s, Durex condoms began to be sold in public area (supermarket, pubs, …), due to the recent AIDS fear. This decade will show thanks to the sales increase, a sharp development of marketing with the first Durex poster campaign in 1982, as well as the first condom advertising on television (1987).

Finally, during this last decade, Durex has followed a marketing policy aimed to increase the awareness of the brand, with: the installation of free-standing outdoor Durex vending machines (1992); the sponsorship of MTV’s events (1995); the first Durex Sex Survey (1995); the launch of the first selection of coloured, flavoured and ribbed condom in the same pack (1996) and in 1997 the launch of the first non-latex protection called Avanti.

At the beginning of the 21 ^st century, Durex has launched www.Durex.com over 30 countries. These web-sites feature localised pages, in particular the use of local language. It provides sexual information, allowed people to question specialists, details the Durex condoms and the sponsored events.

Durex is nowadays part of SSL International, which is a world-wide company producing a range of branded products sold to medical and consumer healthcare markets, such a Scholl, Marigold gloves, etc …

2. Brand Equity

2.1 Durex’s Market Position

2.1.1 Key competitors

Although Durex is a world-wide brand, there are no real international world-wide competitors, but rather more national size competitors, such as Trojan for the United States market, Mates for the United Kingdom, Condomi in Europe, Pasante, etc.

The market of the condom has two principal aims:

1) Prevention of STD, such as AIDS.

2) Contraception means.

So, in opposition to direct competitors, it is essential to evoke the role of the indirect competitors, which are those with a product of substitution. According to the Durex Sex Survey (2001), the condom is globally the most popular form of contraception (41% of people use it). In the 59% non-condom users, 19% of the population uses the pill, 8% natural methods and the rest (75%) use no contraception. So the indirect competitors (the pill and the natural methods) have very few market shares, which are negligible.

Concerning the prevention means of the STD market, the condom industry has no official competitors.

2.1.2 Position

The market share being approx. 22%, the position of Durex can be defined as the leader of its sector. Obviously, at the different national level, the ranking can be slightly different with, for example, 80 % of market share in the UK, 59 % in Italy, 14 % in the USA and around 4 % in Japan. However, these positions are reflecting a dynamic strategy, namely to enter new market, such as Japan in 2000, with ambitious market share targets (5%-7% the first year).

2.1.3 Market trend

According to the SSL International Preliminary results for the year ending on 31 ^st March 2002: “Durex showed underlying growth of 4.7%, after a £7.5 million trade loading adjustment, driven by volume increases. In the UK, the growth in the retail sector was partially offset by a decline in NHS sales. Asia Pacific recorded an impressive performance in condom sales, with a growth of more than 20%. The USA continues to be a fiercely competitive market.”

2.2 Market Segmentation

2.2.1 Geographic

Although Durex is a major worldwide company (present in 140 countries), its main market are European (69.5% of sales), American (18.6% of sales) and Asian ones (11.9% of sales). Otherwise, Durex condoms are available in supermarkets, chemistry, free-standing outdoor vending machines and in other public area. But the particularity is that the range of product is not the same according to the retail point. Indeed, the classical condoms are sold in the supermarket and public area, and in the drugstore a wider range of condoms and genital product are proposed.

2.2.2 Demographic

Usually, the condoms are addressed to every kind of the population, however it seems that Durex is more focused on the young population the 16-24 year olds. The two main reasons are that: This population is potentially the highest condom users, and according to the Durex’s market developers (2002), “market research has shown that, once recruited, brand loyalty among users is extremely strong”. As a result, Durex is targeting by its advertising campaign around 60 millions 16-24 year olds, for attracting them and then develop their loyalty. Finally, even if the condoms are addressed to every class of the population, the high price may favour the upper class (ABC1) with high incomes. Indeed, a lot of non-branded condoms are cheaper and fully recognised as safe, such as Safesex and Pasante.