how i would start a condom brand

0:00I wanted to show you guys how I would

0:01build a brand for an existing product,

0:04product that's already on the market

0:05that has to be introduced purely on

0:07branding and marketing. Products that

0:09probably not enough people use, so maybe

0:11it inspires someone as well to actually

0:13build this brand and make it more

0:14popular. So, this is how I would start a

0:17condom brand.

0:19So, to start I want to position this

0:21brand in a way that it stands out from

0:24what is already out there. If you go to

0:26a supermarket, if you Google the

0:27product, you'll see that there's only

0:30one dominant player. You will only see

0:31Durex anywhere. So, what happens with

0:34these brands that I kind of have a have

0:35a monopoly in their space is that they

0:38become lazy. They are not putting in the

0:39effort to be a cool brand. Their website

0:42looks like it hasn't been touched for

0:43the last 10 years. So, the first thing I

0:45would do is to try to stand out. And

0:47there's kind of a misconception that you

0:49have to if you start a new brand that

0:50you have to come up with something

0:52completely new. I think in saturated

0:54markets like this, and especially this

0:56one, there is room for newness. And

0:59there's room for newness in the product

1:00itself, but there's also room for

1:02newness in the branding, the marketing

1:04that they they put out. They They might

1:06have been cool in the '90s, but there's

1:08definitely room for a new player. I want

1:10to take some inspiration from brands

1:12like Liquid Death, Marvis, and David

1:15because simply they go against the

1:17stream. And these are ordinary products

1:19like water, toothpaste, protein bars,

1:22and they didn't change much about the

1:24product itself. They're basically doing

1:26everything different, and that's how

1:28they grow and that's how they stand out

1:31as a brand with products that are that

1:33have been around for years. I would go

1:35with a controversial, shocking name.

1:39[ __ ] how am I going to seriously say

1:41this? So, if you were to see Raw Dog, it

1:44might grab your attention just by the

1:45name. The branding and the name are so

1:48out of the ordinary that it would grab

1:50your attention right away. For this one,

1:52I went with a Futura font um with some

1:55spacing between letters. Simple as that.

1:57It's one of the most used fonts. It's

1:59used by Nike. It's used by Louis Vuitton

2:02and it's it's free. So, if you want to

2:04use this font for your brand, it's very

2:06easy to replicate. So, the packaging

2:08will feel like a perfume brand, but the

2:10same shape as the Durex condoms to make

2:13it recognizable as condoms. But, if you

2:15would see this in the supermarket

2:16against Durex products, it would

2:17definitely stand out. The dog icon is

2:20simply the Ford Mustang logo. I just

2:22asked ChatGPT to change the Mustang

2:25horse into a dog. There you have it. The

2:27wrapper is something that I would do

2:29definitely some research on, some R&D on

2:31to research alternative packaging simply

2:34to tell the customer that your product

2:36is different because there's not much

2:37difference to be made with the product

2:39other than the packaging and it will be

2:41the only design element that might

2:42require some R&D, but it will allow you

2:45to tell your customer and tell the

2:46market that you are different, which

2:48will allow you to have a higher

2:50perceived value of the product. For this

2:52brand, I would simply start with just

2:54one product. I wouldn't make it like I

2:56wouldn't have too many variations and I

2:59think it would could be the power of the

3:00brand as well to just have one single

3:02product. I would call it the Raw Dog 01.

3:05Like later on as the brand evolves, you

3:07can of course have multiple products,

3:09but um as an introduction, I would

3:11simply start with one product. I think

3:12it's very powerful for the brand. The

3:14USBs or the communication would be

3:16you're not feeling this product. There

3:18it's not getting in the way of the act.

3:20Definitely the underlying thought of

3:22this brand would be to make it a

3:24lifestyle brand and to just make it cool

3:26and make it accessible and make it

3:28something that people should just choose

3:30instead of being a teacher and telling

3:32people what to do. I would definitely

3:34start with an online first approach. I

3:36would not be worried yet about retail or

3:39wholesale. I would make a website that's

3:41basically more lifestyle focused than

3:44product focused. In the first first

3:46impression of the website, we want to

3:48sell emotion. We want to sell a sense of

3:50freedom almost and something that I

3:52would do different than what any of the

3:55big condom brands are currently doing is

3:57I would focus on a subscription in where

4:00we reward people for buying more. So

4:03basically discounting products the more

4:05they buy and also discounting products

4:06as soon as they opt in for a

4:08subscription. One big USB that I would

4:10fight for as a company to do is a button

4:13on the website that will say I need one

4:15tonight. We'll definitely have the

4:17option for people to get them as quickly

4:19as possible. Doesn't mean you have to

4:21service the whole world within the hour,

4:24but at least make it for some major

4:26cities. Trying to make it possible for

4:27people to get them really quick and it

4:30will be of course a big USB compared to

4:33any of the other brands. Pricing wise

4:35I'd go a bit higher than Durex. Not

4:38because the product is that much

4:39different. Of course we will try to make

4:42it a bit different and make it better,

4:44but I want the brand to be perceived as

4:45a slightly more premium than Durex. I

4:47want I don't I'm not going to compete on

4:50a price war or trying to get below

4:52Durex.

4:53I'm going to focus on a more quality

4:55conscious customer and I want to give

4:57the perception that this is better than

5:00Durex. So go about 20-30% above above

5:02the price of Durex. And again this is a

5:05perceived value game. It will basically

5:07tell the customer we're better because

5:09price is simply connected to quality.

5:11Not for everyone, but it will definitely

5:13help getting that perceived value up.

5:15Also something that I would love to do

5:16on the website. So whenever you made a

5:18purchase and you end up on that thank

5:20you page, I would have

5:22an additional send out where you can

5:24send a friend one single condom which

5:26basically functions as an affiliate

5:28program without like having to share

5:30links, without having to do anything.

5:32It's basically telling your customer

5:34like hey, you can give a free gift.

5:35Customer is happy and you get a free

5:37affiliate because you introduce someone

5:39new to the product. And this cannot be

5:41done with every product, but of course

5:43with a product that's so cheap to make

5:45and so cheap to ship I would definitely

5:46do that. What I would do for the

5:47subscription or the loyalty program,

5:49we're going to call it the dog tag and

5:51it's basically people can set the limit

5:53of the amount of condoms they want to

5:55receive every month. First of all, if

5:57people are going to reduce the amount or

5:58going to cancel the subscription, we

6:00kind of going to make a bit fun of them.

6:02We're going to have like a very funny

6:03questionnaire basically telling them why

6:05not or why aren't you using our product.

6:07But also we're going to reward people

6:09for upgrading the amount. So we're going

6:11to have the black tier for example and

6:13the gold tier and each of them have a

6:16more have a higher amount of condoms

6:18that people receive every month. This is

6:20potentially also bringing some virality

6:22online, you know, when you brings out

6:24the gold raw dog red flag or or not.

6:27It's basically going to be a status

6:28symbol. And what I would also do is I'm

6:30going to display these black and gold

6:32tiers on the website. When someone

6:34visits the website for the first time,

6:36they cannot purchase it. It will have a

6:38little lock. You cannot buy those

6:39condoms um unless you're going to

6:41subscribe to the black tier or the gold

6:43tier. So for content, I take a

6:47rebel-like approach and I would do

6:48content that showed how to do things

6:51raw. So I would do sculpting or we do it

6:54bare hand. Dancer doesn't use any music.

6:57A producer that only do does things with

6:59self-recorded sounds. Basically we're

7:02raw dogging everything. So super

7:03talented people but we give them no

7:05tools to perform their arts. So we're

7:06breaking the pattern. Things super

7:08interesting to watch. It's a simple

7:10product so you almost want to make it

7:12seem like like it's an art. And for some

7:14reason I want to shoot everything with

7:15film because it feels natural, feels

7:18real. It really fit with the clean

7:20aesthetic of the brand. Now for

7:22influencer marketing, I would take a

7:23strategy where we display the product as

7:25something super normal to have. So I

7:27would not push the product itself. I

7:29would just have it in there. I would

7:31have it just happen it happens to be

7:34there and these influencers are just

7:36doing their normal thing like taking a

7:38mirror selfie and the product just

7:39happens to be there. Or a series for

7:41example, a bit more pushing the product.

7:44Uh for example, what's in my bag, where

7:46we have girls telling people what's in

7:48their bags, and they casually just

7:49mention, "Oh, my Raw Dogs." So, we treat

7:51influencer marketing for our own brands

7:53almost the same way as we treat creative

7:55testing. And we go in-depth on the type

7:57of influencer we're choosing, their

7:59persona, uh what other brands they're

8:00using, the type of content they put out,

8:02and we keep track of everything. If

8:04you're keeping track of that data

8:05properly, it will make it easier for you

8:07to pick the next influencer you want to

8:09work with. It becomes more comfortable

8:11to spend money on them as you basically

8:13increase the chances of a bigger return

8:16on investment. So, for influencer

8:17events, I would use an unusual aspect as

8:20well. Like, for example, hosting an

8:21influencer dinner with no cutlery or

8:23plates, or an Raw Dog party, uh where

8:26people have to hand in their phones. So,

8:28basically, you're raw dogging the party,

8:30or you're raw dogging the dinner. Uh but

8:32we of course give them uh the photos

8:34afterwards, so they can still post about

8:36it. Now, before spending money on any of

8:39those things, like influencer events or

8:40influencer marketing, I would advise to

8:42spend the first marketing budget on paid

8:43media. This is also how we grow our

8:45brands from the start. Everything else

8:47comes after. So, I would create a bunch

8:49of ads on different angles, like the

8:51natural ingredient, the pureness of a

8:53product, the made-to-disappear angle,

8:55basically not noticing it, and the

8:57effortless use, so basically telling

8:58people nothing comes in between. And

9:00creating a bunch of ads like this and

9:01meta ads, and trying to figure out

9:03what's the most converting angle, and

9:05then doubling down on that. So, start

9:06with statics, and then doubling down on

9:08UGC videos, animations, talking heads,

9:11and so on. And once you know what's the

9:13best-performing angle for this brand,

9:15because we don't know that right now,

9:17you can also use that specific

9:18communication more in influencer

9:21marketing. You can use that information

9:23more on your website. You basically know

9:25what is the best-performing angle for

9:27your brand to communicate on all levels

9:29of communication, all departments of

9:30communication, and it will adapt your

9:32social strategy. It will adapt your

9:34influencer marketing strategy. It will

9:35adapt what the brand stands for. So,

9:38start with ads, that's what works, and

9:39basically adapt your brand towards that.

9:41One big thing that I would do as well,

9:43quite an interesting marketing approach,

9:45especially in this market, and

9:46especially for a solution-aware

9:48audience, so people that are already

9:49using the product, is to create a big

9:51enemy. And in this case, it will be the

9:53big condom brands that we can use to our

9:54advantage in advertising. And therefore,

9:57I'd create ads that pique the interest

9:59for the big brand users to also look at

10:01alternatives. And I would do this by ads

10:04that basically bring the other players

10:05down on their weaknesses. So, for

10:07example, creating the product with only

10:09natural materials, or telling people,

10:11"Hey, the default one isn't necessarily

10:13the best one." Telling people, "Hey,

10:14there's a the There's basically a big

10:16player on the market that is the bad

10:18guy, and we're coming here with a better

10:21product, more natural product, non-toxic

10:23product." I would definitely play on on

10:25taking the enemy down. What I would also

10:27do is to buy a 30-second ad in a cinema,

10:30or on TV commercials, basically

10:32somewhere where people have to watch the

10:34ad and are not being on their phones. I

10:36would buy a 20-30 second ad, and for the

10:38first 20 seconds, I would show nothing

10:41but a white screen. So, make people

10:43confused, make people like, "What is

10:44What is What is happening? What is

10:45happening to the screen?" After which, a

10:47text pops up that says, "You were

10:49waiting for something to get in the

10:50way." And then it will say, "We would

10:52never." And it would show the logo of

10:55Raw Dog. I would partner with a beauty

10:57brand to normalize it for women to also

10:59carry them. That's the only message

11:01here. Of course, the Road brand might be

11:04a bit far-fetched, but it could be with

11:06any other beauty brand, and the campaign

11:07works because it's out of the ordinary,

11:09and it's something that people haven't

11:10seen before, and it's kind of shocking

11:13for those brands to do something like

11:15that, because it's so out of pattern.

11:17Later on, as the brand evolves with a

11:19bit more budget, I'll try to partner

11:20with with a sports car brand,

11:22specifically a car with a two-seater,

11:25because the campaign will be built

11:26around having a two-seater for as long

11:27as possible. And if not as a

11:29partnership, Uh, just creating the car.

11:31The attention piece here would be to

11:33make the two-seater car the mascot of

11:35the brand Raw Dog because it's so

11:37symbolic to the benefit of the product

11:38which prevents you from having to buy a

11:41four-seater. So, for some billboards, I

11:44would create a billboard with a big

11:45countdown timer that says 9 months, but

11:47it would never really count down. Or, I

11:49would jump again on uh, Raw Dog not

11:52getting in the way. Could be also a

11:54magazine. Could be also be done in a

11:56two-page magazine like you barely notice

11:57this. Uh, smart way of communicating the

12:00essence of the product. I would also use

12:02a QR code for every campaign that we put

12:04out either online or offline, uh, which

12:06basically tells you exactly how much the

12:08campaign has cost. People are very

12:09curious about that these days and I

12:11would jump on that. Um, and it also

12:13allow you for any partner uh, you're

12:16working with to lower the cost because

12:17they know they're going to be exposed.

12:19Also, for the packaging design, I would

12:21uh, make the packaging with an NFC chip.

12:23So, when the last item is picked, you

12:25can simply tap to reorder and it

12:27automatically updates your latest order.

12:30So, it's just another pressing your

12:31phone to reorder. Think it would be a

12:33smart thing to do in the packaging and a

12:35fun thing to initiate a reorder. And

12:38finally, as a final thing on a website

12:40or on a social, I would have a monthly

12:42event where we raw dog a person by

12:44sending hundreds of condoms to their

12:45home which is basically telling them

12:48like, "Hey,

12:49you shouldn't reproduce." So, basically

12:51we're voting every month for the person

12:52who should should not be reproduced.

12:54Kind of jumping on the cancel culture

12:56and making making making it kind of a

12:58joke out of it. So, that's how I would

13:00start a condom brand. Let me know in the

13:01comments if I should do another category

13:04and I'll see you next time.