Market for Condoms - Thesis Example

? MARKET FOR CONDOMS Market for Condoms There is a global market out there for condoms. Each country has its own condom brands and many countries rely on the imported brands of condom. Condoms are targeted towards those who want to have a safe sex experience. Belgium has a huge population and according to the recent trends, there has been an increase in the sex incidents. Like every other European country, Belgian population has a deep concern about having a safe sex. They do not want to plunge in the Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s) or to end up being a patient of HIV/AIDS. With this increased concern, there has been an increase in the condom market. There has been an increased awareness amongst the Belgians regarding the use of condoms to have a safe sex. Not only the locales but also the immigrants are exposed to STD’s and HIV. Awareness about condom use is also created amongst these people who are not so aware about it before (PARKER, P. M. 2006; FOX, M. P. 2000; COLLIER, A. 2007) Belgium is a very liberal country. It is the 2nd country in the world to legalize the same-sex marriages. It has given equal rights to the lesbians, gays and bisexuals. The use of condoms in Belgium is very common. Currently, in the year 2011, it has a total population of 10,431,477 (Population Labs 2011) 66.3% of the Belgian population comprises of males and females who lay within the age bracket of 15 years to 65 years. The sex ratio of 1.02 suggests that there are more males in the population than the females who lay within the age bracket of 15-65 years. And it is under this age bracket where the target market of “WITH” lies. There are a huge number of gays and lesbians living in Belgium. Other than gays and lesbians there people who are living with HIV/AIDS or are at least carriers of the dreadful virus that leads to AIDS (University of California, San Francisco 2011; Health Research for Action 2011; Avert 2011) The following statistics will show the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Belgium over several years. It gives the percentage of adults who are aged between 15-49 years and are living with the HIV/AIDS (CIA 2010) The statistical graph shows that in 2001 HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among adult Belgians was 0.2% and since then up till 2009 it remained constant over the years. Other important stats that can be of use are the population of Belgium over the several years up till now. The trend of population can help to deduce that with increasing population, it is likely that the number of gays and lesbians have also increased. The following statistical graph will show this trend. After 2003, there has been an increasing trend in the population of Belgium. In 2011 it has the highest population. This leads to a fact that increase in population has given rise to more gays and lesbians and thus the market for condoms has increased. There are more people than before who are condom users. So it is evident that there is a huge market of condoms in Belgium (CIA 2010) Part of this huge market are also the people who have been exposed to HIV infection but have yet not developed the symptoms of AIDS (FORBES 2009) These people also form a large part of the condom users as they want to protect their partners and themselves against this dangerous infection. The following statistical figure will help to determine the people living in Belgium who are carrying the HIV virus. In 2011 the number of people carrying HIV virus have decreased. This may be due to increased precautionary measures taken by the consumers against the STD’s (CIA 2010) There is large market for condoms because they are easy to use than any other contraceptive measure and has no side effects at all. Teenagers also represent a huge chunk of the condom market. Condoms are mostly used by the teenagers as measure to prevent teenage pregnancy rather than a protection measure (HYDE, M. O. 2006) Competition in the condom industry of Belgium is fairly high. There are already well established brands like Trojan which is offering a large variety of condoms to the Belgian market. There are several other competitors in the Belgian market which make the entry difficult for the new brands. Though the use of condoms is the most user-friendly way of contraception, there are many other contraceptive techniques available in the market. These include contraceptive pills, surgeries and injections for birth control. But because of its easy to use and discard nature, the market of condoms is huge as compared to these contraceptive measures. An additional benefit of using condoms is that there are no side effects whereas the contraceptives mentioned above usually result in serious infections and may cause many other side effects. The Consumer Consumer Behavior The attitude of consumers towards the condom use is very positive. This positivity has been due to the increased awareness. Consumers have become concerned about STD’s and HIV and are eager to learn about the ways of protecting themselves. They are no more reluctant to the idea of using condoms. Promotion for the use of condom has become a socially acceptable activity. They consider it as their responsibility to promote the use of condom. Not only the ordinary consumers, but also the religious leaders in Belgium support the use of condom to prevent STD’s and HIV/AIDS amid the Belgian population (Catholics for Choice 2010). The need for protection is what motivates the consumers to buy condoms. Not only this, consumers like to rely on trusted condom brands. They want value for money and mostly go for the brand names that they trust. The whole idea is that if they are spending their money on condoms, for their own protection and also the protection of their partners, the protection should be ensured (HOGSBORG, M., & AABY, P. 1990) Plus there is an increased competition between the different condom brands. Each brand is coming up with new styles and qualities of condoms. This creates a stimulus which motivates the consumers and also creates an intrigue to try different varieties. Consumers go for the condoms which provides with the highest protection. Consumer behavior is shaped by the consumer psychology which is discussed in quite detail under the heading “Psychology of the Consumer”. It will discuss how the consumer psychology plays a role in shaping the consumer behavior and how can it be changed to enforce the required behavior among the consumers. In Belgium it is not only the married couples that are the users of condoms, but teenage boys and gays are also among the group of heavy users of condoms. Their behavior is different from the behavior of the married men. Also an important part of the group is the consumers suffering from HIV/AIDS. So the whole concept of consumer behavior relies on the type of users that are using a particular product, which in this case is condom (SCHIFFMAN, L. G., & KANUK, L. L. 1978) Most of the men think that they won’t be able to provide sexual satisfaction to their female partner. They are even embarrassed of using a condom during sexual intercourse. This kind of behavior is negative and is a result of the consumer psychology. This segment is not very large but the marketers cannot deny that it does not exist. Such attitude leads to a negative behavior and will not result in the desired action. Marketers need to focus on the consumer behavior because not all the consumers have an optimistic attitude or approach. Psychology of the Consumer Psychology of the consumer is very important because it is the main factor that has an impact on the consumer behavior. Consumer psychology shapes their behavior. It is a difficult challenge when it comes to changing the psychology of the consumer. Psychology refers to the consumers’ mind and each consumer has a different psychology. In other words it can be said that each individual is propelled by his/her internal influences to make purchases. It is a very important factor that marketers need to concentrate on. They need to know in detail the psychological patterns of their consumers so that they can act accordingly. In case of the condom market, consumer psychology is very important. People who do not psychologically think that there is a need of using condoms, or do not pay much heed to the prevention of STD’s and HIV raise an important concern for the marketers. They need to change their perception about the whole thing. Many people don’t think that it is the right thing to use condoms and to have safe sex. They believe that the use of condoms results in decreased sexual stimulation and satisfaction for both the partners. But with time this perception has changed as the condom industry has been able to surface new condom materials and styles. There is such a huge variety of condoms present in the Belgian market and are directed to different market segments (JANSSON-BOYD, C. V. 2010) Another important thing is the pricing of the different condom brands which affect the consumers’ psychology to a great extent. Generally the consumers perceive that condom brands which are priced less relative to the famous condom brands are cheap and do not provide enough protection. They are doubtful about the material that is used, though in reality this is not always true. There are many brands that focus on providing the customers with high quality products at reasonable prices. But the problem here lies in that such brands have already captured the market share as they have been able to pioneer the concept of “high quality but reasonable prices”. Plus these brands have taken years to build a level of trust with the condom consumers. For the new brands it is difficult to follow the same strategy of providing high quality and reasonable prices. One reason is that there are so many external factors that affect the costs of producing condoms and recently production costs for new manufacturers have increased significantly. Even if they succeed to follow the footsteps of these established brands, they need to develop a core competency. This is important because without a core competency, they cannot create a differentiating position in the minds of the consumers. “WITH” needs to focus on developing its core competency and then communicating it to the end consumers. Strong core competencies of brand help to build a positive image of the brand in the minds of the consumers. In order to establish this new brand, ‘WITH” will need to play with the psychology of the Belgian consumers. Market Segmentation As mentioned earlier in the consumer psychology section, there is a huge variety of condoms present in the Belgian market. Each condom has its own market segmentation. Now basically there are two main types of condoms which lead to further variety. And it is on the basis of these two common varieties that the market segmentation is based. First are the condoms that are used for protective or one can say that contraceptive measures. Second are the condoms that are merely used for protective measures but are rather used as a sex stimulator. For “WITH” market segmentation can be done based on the basic varieties of the condoms. Initially, the brand is not offering condoms that are used as sex stimulators. These condoms include edible condoms. The basic focus of the brand is to provide with the condoms that provides protection against HIV/AIDS, STD’s and pregnancy. The brand is focusing on the male condoms and not on the female condoms. The product attributes include color, size, thickness and safety. In Belgium, market segmentation can be done in four ways. These four ways include demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation, geographic segmentation and behavioral segmentation. “WITH” have a target market in each of these segments. Based on the demographic segmentation, the brand is targeted towards the male gender which has a range of age between 15 years to 50 years. The segment not only includes teens but men of every age up to the 50 year mark. The psychographic segmentation is in alliance with the psychology of the consumers. In Belgium there is a culture that promotes safe sex and thus creates a need in every individual of the country to have safe sex. Thus this segment of the market can be targeted really well by the brand because awareness about the use of condom is already there. The third market segmentation can be based on the geographic level. “WITH” is a new brand and thus cannot be launched all over the country. The brand needs to focus on some geographical areas of the country to begin with. What the brand manufacturer can do is that it can start with the most populated cities of the country. These cities include Brussels and Antwerp. Targeting the condom users in these cities will not be that expensive. Targeting Belgium on a whole will be very costly and will be extremely hard to manage in the initial stages of brand introduction. Once in the growth phase, then the condom brand can be introduced in the lesser popular cities as well. Lastly the segmentation can be done based on the behavioral aspects. The behavioral segmentation is related to the individual behaviors of the consumers. Some might be using the condoms because of the health concerns. Others under this segment might be using it because their increased awareness about the use of condom has changed their behavior/attitude towards the product. And lastly under this segmentation are the consumers who use condom because their partner wants them to use it. “WITH” can focus on all of these market segments in its introduction stage given that the product is launched only in the most populated cities of the country, otherwise there can be huge sunk costs if the product fails to capture the market (KOTLER, P., & KOTLER, P. 2009) Targeting only the larger cities initially will prevent the budget constraint which could result as a result of aggressive and large scale advertising. In this case, aggressive advertising can be done but the budget is kept under control as there are geographical limitations. Market segmentation can be done based on the type of consumers. There are several types of Belgian condom users as discussed previously. Marketers can target gays, teenage boys, married men, people suffering from HIV/AIDS or people carrying the HIV virus. This is another important base for market segmentation because these are the main people who are being targeted by “WITH”. There is a major market segment of teenage users. Teenagers not only use condoms as a protective measure but also use it to provide protection against teenage pregnancy. Differentiating Position The differentiating position of “WITH” is its high quality. The brand has differentiated its product on the basis of the quality of material used to make the condoms. The latex material and the lubricants used in the production of condoms have been imported from US. The condom brand “WITH” does not roll back or break during the sexual intercourse. It is made from the most flexible latex material. Another thing that adds to its differentiating positioning is that though being unbreakable, the lining of the condoms is really thin, which is proof that that the latex used is of best quality. This thin feature gives satisfaction to the users that it won’t affect their level of pleasure during the sexual intercourse. Another important point is that the condom brand “WITH” is present in different sizes. The brand has decided to follow the strategy of “high quality but reasonable prices”. Though it is has decided on pricing reasonably, but initially to gain the consumers’ attention and to play with their psychology, it will charge high prices. In case of condoms, consumers associate quality with prices. This is the only way to ensure and build a level of trust with the consumers and also to create a strong brand image in their minds. Marketing Plan There are several ways in which the product can be advertised. Keeping in mind that the brand is new to the market, focus should be on aggressive marketing (GIFFORD, C. 2006). For condoms the production cost is not as high as the advertising budget. Allocating the right amount of resources to the advertising budget is a serious concern. All the advertising campaigns should be focusing on the differentiating factor of the brand. There are several market segments that are being targeting by “WITH”. These segments include gays, teenagers, couples and people with HIV/AIDS. Therefore keeping in view all these segments, different advertisements can be made. Not only the different advertisements, but it is also necessary to decide which medium of advertisements will be most effective. The medium used to advertise condoms should be such that reaches a large audience of the most populated cities of Belgium. TV, billboards and magazines is the right choice of media for this ad campaign. TV ads will be a bit costly but what the marketer can do is that TV ads are not made for all four segments of the target market. Some of them can be catered through the magazines and some through billboards. The total advertising budget for the whole launch campaign would be $150,000. Initially the budget is low because there are no sales that are being made. If the campaign fails then everything will be a sunk cost. So to provide the manufacturer with a cushion, advertising budget is kept low. The advertising budget for “WITH” is as follows: Type of advertisement Amount Allocated TVC’S $75,000 Billboards $50,000 Magazine and print ads $25,000 Total $150,000 There is not a trend of making television commercials for the advertisement of condoms. Marketing plan of “WITH” can begin with changing this trend. It can begin with making a socially acceptable television commercial which can be run on the local Belgian channels. The television commercial can target the market segment of people suffering from HIV/AIDS. There could be a serious depiction made in the advertisement and this will also help to build a brand image of “WITH” as the campaign will show off its socially responsible side. TVC’s The television commercial made for the advertisement of “WITH” will show a case of HIV/AIDS. The ad will show a couple who in the heat of the passion forgot to use condom. The guy had AIDS and after having unprotected sex, the disease is sexually transmitted to the female partner. This cannot be showed explicitly in the television commercial. A shadow story can be used with a narration going on at the back. At the end when the narration ends, the shadow picture can turn into the real picture and the camera moves towards the hospital where the doctor diagnose woman with AIDS. Her expressions show that her whole world crashes down when she hears about her disease. She sits down and cries thinking about the mistake that she and her partner made but it was too late. The television commercial will not last longer than a minute; otherwise it will get boring and too long. The basic idea of having protected sex to have protection against sexually transmitted diseases is easily conveyed through this advertisement. Lots of graphics can be used to give a desired effect. For example the color effects can be used to show how the life of the woman changes from bright to dark. And also the change in her expressions from happy to worried and sad will be captured. At the end of the commercial it is shown that she’s standing in her bedroom and is watching at the unpacked condom lying on the side table. The unpacked condom would be of course of the brand “WITH”. This will not only show that “WITH” is working to protect people from the sexually transmitted diseases but will help to create a positive image about the brand (HAERENS, M. 2006; PEELING, R. W., & SPARLING, P. F. 1999) Billboards “WITH” is being introduced in the most populated cities of the Belgium that is Brussels and Antwerp. Billboard advertisements can be placed in these cities to introduce the new condom brand and also to promote the use of condom. There will not be extensive billboard advertisement. Instead the billboards will be placed only in the most crowded areas of the cities. The billboard will show a woman holding out a condom to her male partner. The condom that is shown in the billboard advertisement will have the brand name “WITH” written on it. The candid picture will communicate the message that the woman wants to have a safe and protected sex. She’s encouraging the male counterpart to use a condom during sexual intercourse. This billboard can change perception of many men who think that the use of condom will result in less sexual stimulation and fun. Men at times have a perception that their female partner would not like the idea of using condom, so they are reluctant to use the condom during the intercourse. For both the cities same billboards should be used so that there is brand image’s consistency. It will be made sure that the brand name of “WITH” is visible and prominent enough to gain attention of the passers. To make the brand name prominent, the name on the billboard can be written using the neon signs which glow during the night making the brand name extremely prominent. The billboard is targeted to the straight couples or married couples. The billboard will have a romantic sex appeal showing that the use of condom does not have a negative effect on either sex or romance. Magazine and Print ads Magazine and print ads will be targeted towards the gays and teenagers. Magazine ads are the most effective and cheapest form of advertisement. It is the best medium to target the market of gays and teenagers as both the groups spent a great amount of time reading magazines. Magazine ads may include details about the brand as well. There will be several magazine ads. One of them will show a fatherly figure giving out a “WITH” condom to his teenage son. This ad will show that how parents can gain confidence of their children and help them to have protected sex. Another magazine ad will show a teenage girl who is pregnant holding a “WITH” condom in her hand and is looking at the sky with a sad and gloomy expression. Beneath the picture there’s a whole story written about how she had unsafe sex and how she ended up being pregnant just because she and her boyfriend did not took the precautionary measures. The Story will also state that when the guy found out that she was pregnant, he left. This will create awareness amongst the teenage girls and encourage them to have safe sex by asking the male counterpart to wear condom. The third magazine ad will be focused towards gays. The ad will show a gay couple walking on the beach with hands held together. It will show that the couple is very happy and is enjoying every moment of being together. And at the corner of the ad will a message by “WITH” condom “Safe sex can lead to unimaginable happiness”. The ad will not only promote protected sex among the gay community but will help to promote the image of Gay community in Belgium. These were just the few ads. There are several other tools that can be used to promote the brand “WITH”. For the marketing purpose of condoms, the trend has changed. First the men were used for condom ads but now women are part of the condom ads. Similarly in the case of “WITH” there is a clear view that for most of the advertisements women will be used. Another important way of advertising to target the gay community of Belgium will be to run “WITH “condom ads at the Belgian Gay Pride where the whole gay community of the country gathers once a year. “WITH” can make use of this opportunity to run its ad during the Belgian Gay Pride which is held in Brussels. This will give more exposure to the brand as the gay community from all over the country will be headed towards Belgium. There will be a greater number of people viewing the advertisement and coming to know about the new brand. For this purpose, another ad will be made which will be focusing on the gay community. It’s not necessary that HIV/AIDS is the only sexually transmitted disease. There are other diseases as well for example syphilis. This ad campaign can make use of this disease. Gay community of Belgium is like a united group. Every year the community gets together at the Gay Pride and comes to know about each other. If someone is suffering for any disease, the news spread across this community that fast that with a blink of eye everyone will know it. This quick spreading of information can be used as a part of making a new commercial which will be run at the Gay Pride (FELDMAN, D. A. 2010; FOX, M. P. 2000; WEYEMBERGH, A., & CA?RSTOCEA, S. 2006) The ad will show a gay couple who hooks up at the Gay Pride. It will be a good idea to show that the couple hooked up at Gay Pride because many people present at the Gay pride will be able to associate with the story depicted in the commercial. The couple then spends the night together but do not use a condom to fell victim to the unsafe sex. One of the partners starts feeling itchy and goes to the doctor. The doctor announces that those are the symptoms of syphilis. The gay person gets really angry and gets back to his partner yelling at him for not using a condom. At the end of the commercial, runs a script of public message by “WITH” saying “It’s better to have protected sex than being a victim to STD’s and regretting it later”. The commercial will end up with a “WITH” condom being shown after the script ends. The same script can be written on banners and the banners can be placed in different corners of the city during the Belgian Gay Pride event. It will be a 30-second ad so that the concept doesn’t become monotonous and boring. Then there is one more thing that could be done to advertise the condom brand “WITH”. The already suggested condom ads can be modified to celebrity ads. Celebrity ads are said to have more impact on the minds of the consumers and prove to be more fruitful in establishing the brand name. What the marketing team can do is that in the TV commercial showing the HIV/AIDS scenario, they can hire some famous celebrity couple with whom the target market of “WITH” associates. For this purpose, “WITH” can conduct a small market research to find out famous celebrity couples with whom the general public associates with and then use the most famous option in their television commercial. Another modification that can be made is regarding the commercial that is to be on-aired during the Belgian gay Pride. The commercial is for the gay community. Instead of using ordinary gay models or a real life gay couple, the marketing team can make use of a celebrity gay couple. The celebrity ads will raise the cost of the marketing campaign of “WITH” but it is worth taking a risk. If people trust these celebrities, they are definitely going to buy the product if their favorite celebrities are using them. The advertising budget will considerably increase by $100,000. The new advertising budget will look like the following. Advertising Medium Budget Allocated TVC’S $175,000 Billboards $50,000 Magazine and print ads $25,000 Total $250,000 Marketing of the product is not just restricted to advertisements (SHIMP, T. A. 2003) It can also be done through other several methods. In its initial introduction stage “WITH” can take help of the sampling tool. By sampling it refers that it can give out trial samples to some people so that people use it and know that in real the condom doesn’t break and is of high quality, providing with the maximum protection. It can also build up store displays in medical stores of Brussels and Antwerp. “WITH” can make its own official website where people can make transactions online. This will not only act as an advertising medium but will also help to generate sales as consumers will be able to save their time of going to the shop and buying the “WITH” condoms. The website can display the whole variety of condoms available under the brand name of “WITH”. But in order for the web transactions to be effective, “WITH” will have to maintain its delivery system. On-time and efficient delivery system can also help the brand to gain competitive advantage. Ad Testing It is a very important step that needs to be taken before the advertisements are run whether they are magazine ads, print ads, billboards or even television commercials. Basically ad testing is done in two steps. The first step is known as concept testing and the second step is known as copy testing. If one of these steps are absent during the ad testing procedure, it might result in the backfiring of the whole marketing campaign. The idea of concept testing is used to evaluate the consumers’ responses to a product before it is introduced in the market. It is like anticipating the consumers’ responses before the product is made available in the market. This helps to mould the marketing campaign according to the consumer attitudes. The marketing plan can be made accordingly so that the consumer psychology can be changed in order to get the desired results. The other concept of ad testing is copy testing, which is used to determine the ad’s effectiveness based on the consumers’ responses. This method is used for testing the television commercials and other advertisement mediums before the advertisements are on-aired. It helps to identify the weak spots of the marketing plan and also helps to determine how effectively the ad will perform. The ad will only be effective if it is able to gain the consumers’ attention and is able to generate the desired responses. There is another concept of pre-test and post-test when advertisement testing is done. Pre-test includes both the concept testing and copy testing techniques. Whereas the post-test is done once the advertisement is on-aired or published or finally reaches the consumer. Post-test technique is an evaluation technique that is practiced once the campaign has started. It helps to analyze the actual effectiveness of the marketing campaign. Both the steps of pre-test (concept testing and copy testing) and post-test need to be done in order for an efficient ad testing procedure (ESPEJO, R. 2010; SHIMP, T. A. 2003; GIFFORD, C. 2006) Bibliography ESPEJO, R. (2010). Advertising. Detroit, Greenhaven Press. SHIMP, T. A. (2003). Advertising, promotion & supplemental aspects of integrated marketing communications. Mason, Ohio, Thomson South-Western. HOGSBORG, M., & AABY, P. (1990). Sexual relations, use of condoms and perceptions of AIDS in an urban area of Guinea-Bissau with a high prevalence of HIV-2. Liege, Belgium, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. WEYEMBERGH, A., & CA?RSTOCEA, S. (2006). The gays' and lesbians' rights in an enlarged European Union. Brussels, E?ditions de l'Universite? de Bruxelles. FELDMAN, D. A. (2010). AIDS, culture, and gay men. Gainesville, FL, University Press of Florida. FOX, M. P. (2000). Condom social marketing: selected case studies. Geneva, Switzerland, UNAIDS. 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