Ahead of Its Time

The cusp of the eighties and nineties represents quite an inflection point in the country’s socio-economic evolution and the impact it had on the Indian psyche. Not only were incomes growing and quality of life improving, minds were opening up and becoming more comfortable with hitherto taboo topics. You could say, with liberalization came liberation of thought.

It was a time when the JK Group received a gift – second chance, more likely – a bail-out package to revive its loss-making subsidiary, JK Chemicals. The subsidiary launched headlong into the contraceptive business, supplying low-cost condoms to the Government’s population control programme. That was a sustainable business, but their aspirations were also revived, and they eyed the not-so-populated space of premium, branded condoms.

Deconstructing the Indian Psyche

Research was quickly conducted and it revealed that sexual behaviour and thinking hadn’t changed much in the past twenty years. While condom awareness was very high (85% in urban and semi-urban territories), usage was abysmal – below 3%. There was a silver lining to that poll though. The Indian male wasn’t as inhibited about sex; however, that was quickly subsumed by an age-old truism – he remained selfish in his sexual outlook. Safe sex and contraception remained the responsibility of the woman.

Lintas, the agency called in to work on the campaign, decided it wasn’t socially prudent to perpetuate the stereotype of the macho male, given this backdrop. The brand did not align with this stereotype; besides, that would only cater to base instincts and be downmarket in nature. Risked becoming a me-too, as well. The desired positioning was ‘premium brand’ – classier… elevated.

Calibrating the Positioning

Made sense from a marketing perspective too. The gap existed somewhere between the subsidized (even free) Government promoted brands and costly, high-end imported condoms. This new domestic entrant into the premium market (almost a first, in fact) had to be closer positioned and promoted to its foreign counterparts – its packaging and advertising elegant, inviting, maybe even bold – though in a classy sort of way.

Yet it couldn’t be as evolved as some of the foreign brands that focused on female pleasure. Ultimately, it was always going to be the Indian male who would pick them up from the store, and his frail ego wouldn’t want him to feel like a wimp, in any way associating with a female-leaning brand. 

The solution lay somewhere in between macho male image and female brand. It would have to portray a sexy, yet friendly imagery, where both the man and the woman would be involved in the decision making.

Perfect Branding

Two factors would play a key role in achieving this – the correct brand name and the correct packaging. As brand names go, the agency toiled over hundreds of options, but in the end, the last man standing was clearly a no-contest. It left the rest of the options far, far behind – it would be branded Kama Sutra!

What a perfect branding! Coming from the land of the Kamasutra, the association and identification was faultless. In a single stroke too, the name conveyed everything and more – what the product was (a condom) and what it stood for (a heightened and sublime level of sexual pleasure). After all, the original treatise represented the very art and science of lovemaking, without any of the associated awkwardness or embarrassment.

A bold and perfect branding, and yet, it was still an age when most people found it embarrassing to walk into a store and ask for a pack of condoms. So the agency decided to smoothen that edge by making an acronym of the brand name – KS. However, soon after launch, they discovered there was no real need for that. Customers were perfectly at ease asking for Kama Sutra across the counter. As a brand name, they had indeed hit the jackpot!

Woman on Top

That left the packaging and the advertising. In both cases, the agency decided that the focus should be on the woman – the man playing a supportive role. It all led to the creation of ‘The KS woman’. She would be the modern, liberated Indian woman, no more ruled by the male’s whims and fancies. She would have a mind of her own, not a mere passive entity but an equal and enthusiastic participant in a very intimate act.

The search for such a model began. A suave, confident woman who was a combination of oomph and beauty. One who could easily carry off the image of a sex symbol – though, in interpretation, meaning more a proud symbol of her sex and sexuality. The quintessence of a modern woman!

Once again, the shortlist narrowed to just the one! Everybody concerned knew they had a winner in Pooja Bedi. She portrayed a westernized, big-city image, one that the MTV generation could easily identify with – or aspire to be.

Bold but Classy

In packaging and advertising, the dominant colour chosen was that of passion – red. This was juxtaposed with black and white visuals of the couple, and it all came off very classy. Even the visual device was minimalistic and smart. Free-hand squiggles that left no doubt about what they represented. To those who didn’t get it, they could at best be misinterpreted as coupling – or at worst, just a meaningless artistic element.

Each print ad carried as its copy, an interpretation of an extract from the Kamasutra. The agency also pulled out all stops with its media innovation – booking out an entire issue of the popular men’s magazine Debonair, with only Kama Sutra ads permitted. It not only sold out, but became a bit of a collector’s item.

There was always going to be resistance from conservative quarters. Doordarshan and some magazines refused to carry the ads. Yet, some of them did construct articles on the KS phenomenon – and that only added more fuel to the brand’s quick rise to the top of the public consciousness.

All in all, the Kama Sutra story was bold, innovative and unique. It could just as spectacularly have bombed, with plenty of backlash. Maybe it would, had it been launched say even a decade earlier. It was probably a case of the right place at the right time. Maybe even ahead of its time. But both agency and brand pulled it off spectacularly.

More power to advertising. Just goes to show, with careful thought and calibrated strategy, even the impossible becomes possible.