From The New York Times…
A Hip-Hop Contest to Promote a Brand
By Andrew Adam Newman
MAGNUM, the Trojan subbrand of large condoms, has climbed steadily from a 4.6 percent share of the condom market in 2001 to an 18.8 percent share today, according to the SymphonyIRI Group, a research firm whose data does not include Wal-Mart. What may strike some on Madison Avenue as more remarkable than that growth, however, is that although Trojan has been widely advertised, parent company Church & Dwight has never advertised Magnum specifically.
But the brand has been given an unsolicited lift by hip-hop artists, with dozens, including Ludacris, Kid Rock, Lil Wayne and Eminem, mentioning Magnum in lyrics.
Now Magnum is undertaking its first advertising campaign, a print, online and radio effort called the Magnum Live Large Project, which features Ludacris. Print ads will have their premieres in the May issues of Vibe and XXL, and in the June issue of The Source.
At the center of the campaign is a contest, where participants go to MagnumLiveLarge.com to download base tracks, then record their own Magnum-themed lyrics and upload their entries. Visitors to the site will vote for their favorites, with the winner receiving $5,000 and a trip to Birthday Bash, a hip-hop festival on June 19 in Atlanta. At the show, the winner will be brought onstage by Ludacris and congratulated.
“We’re not looking for jingles, or for people to make a commercial for Magnum,” said Julian Long, a consultant for Colangelo Synergy Marketing in Darien, Conn., which created the ads and contest. “We want to give core consumers the opportunity to be involved.”
While rappers usually evoke the large condoms to imply a physical attribute, Mr. Long said that was not the point of the contest. “We’re looking for songs that encompass the Magnum lifestyle and what it means to live large — not just the size of the condom or what it’s put on but what it means to live large across the board,” Mr. Long said. “We’re saying, ‘You know how to handle your business and we want to give you an opportunity to celebrate that level of understanding.’”
In the 52 weeks ending March 21, Magnum garnered $51 million in sales, outselling the entire Durex brand, whose sales totaled $39 million, according to SymphonyIRI.
Trojan, including Magnum, commands 75 percent of the condom market, with No. 2 Durex commanding 14 percent.
The company claims Magnum is the most popular condom among African-Americans, citing internal research that indicates they account for 22 percent of all condom purchases but 40 percent of Magnum purchases.
Jim Daniels, vice president of marketing at Trojan, noted that Ludacris had appeared in public service announcements about AIDS awareness. “Ludacris has been actively involved in using his celebrity and immense talent to really try to advance improvements in sexual health,” Mr. Daniels said.
“The Magnum brand is viewed as a positive lifestyle badge and positive symbol,” Mr. Daniels said. “And people are proud to show they have a Magnum condom — the large size really connotes a sense of ‘above-average prowess,’ let’s call it.”
For all the connotations, however, it turns out that Magnum is not so large. It is the same length as standard condoms, with the same circumference at its base, Mr. Daniels said. “Some people feel more comfortable with that width, but you don’t have to be an overly endowed man to use a Magnum and enjoy it,” he added.
David Vinjamuri, the author of “Accidental Branding” and an adjunct professor of marketing at New York University, said that a product like Magnum that became popular without a big advertising campaign qualified as an “insider brand with a cult following, one that not everyone is aware of but has a strong cachet with a certain audience.”
Mr. Vinjamuri said that “any kind of overt advertising is a risk” with such brands, and that Magnum appeared to be treading carefully.
“They’re smart to run this as a contest rather than straight advertising,” he said. “It’s a consumer-generated viral marketing campaign, with the idea being that consumers tell stories about your brand, and they end up on YouTube or get passed around, and that will just take what is already happening with the brand and expand it.”
A recent study by the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, asked male respondents if the last time they used a condom it fit well, and 44.7 percent responded that it did not.
“Typically they report they are more tight-fitting than loose-fitting,” said Dr. William L. Yarber, a senior researcher at the institute and part of its Condom Use Research Team. “And whenever they have ill-fitting problems, they are more likely to report breakage, slippage and problems reaching orgasm for themselves and their female partners.”
Dr. Yarber said his research suggested that if men had more size options, it could increase condom use and help reduce both unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
“I think the concept of having more sizes is a step forward for the industry,” Dr. Yarber said. “But you could never market them as small, medium and large, because no one would buy the small.”
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