Now that we as a culture have become inured to marketing for such once-taboo topics as erectile dysfunction, personal lubrication and manscaping, get ready for the ad world to literally hit bottom.As in, recreational enemas.You still there?No, we’re not pulling this one out of our butt. C.B. Fleet Inc., the Lynchburg, Virginia, company synonymous with at-home disposable colonics, debuts a new product this month specifically for what they’ve termed “elective rectal cleansing.”And, since any new product requires an advertising campaign, Fleet is buying space starting in June in the national gay monthly Out as well as 10 regional publications and various popular websites aimed at gay and lesbian readers. Fleet also will try online ads on general-interest health websites like MensHealth.com and Prevention.com, “but certainly, it’s an easy and efficient target to reach LGBT media,” said Emily Klopp, senior brand manager for Fleet Naturals.“We’ve always known that some of our consumers were using Fleet enemas for reasons other than to relieve constipation, so we wanted to develop a product that would meet the needs of those users and provide them with a safe way to cleanse and frequently if desired,” Klopp said.Between Fleet and private label brands, consumers buy about $30 million in enemas annually. Fleet dominates the market, though because it's a private company, it won't disclose specific sales figures. Fleet's new version hits shelves at CVS drug stores and Target this month, followed by Walgreens next month and Rite-Aid in June. Wal-Mart is the only major retailer so far to balk at carrying it, Klopp said.The company commissioned polling firm Harris Interactive last year to research the market potential and found that 3.7 percent of the general population had used an enema to “electively rectally cleanse” in the prior year. A study focusing specifically on gay and bisexual men found 21 percent of them had done so. Yet Harris found the two populations do so for different reasons: 80 percent of the general population said they used an enema for “health and well-being” while 87 percent of gay and bisexual men said they did so as a precursor to “anal intimacy.” About 38 percent of the general population said they used enemas for “anal intimacy”; respondents were permitted to select more than one answer.To market the product in a manner that doesn’t gross anyone out, Fleet turned to Euro RSCG. The ad firm produced a series of print ads showing, for instance, a donkey–A.K.A. ass–above the tagline: “Keep it clean. Naturally.”Gay marketing expert Mike Wilke gave Fleet kudos for even acknowledging this market when, not long ago, it might have been too icky to embrace.“Especially because we’re talking about a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising to begin with, it’s meaningful that they’re advertising at all, that they’re advertising in a charming way and they’re going after a market that companies don’t always go after,” said Wilke.While Fleet is clearly embracing the implicit pre-anal-sex element of the new product for gay and bisexual male customers, they also believe the “health and well-being” market is the bigger potential opportunity.“We ran focus groups and one person said it helped him think clearly, that he needs to cleanse daily to get thru the day,” Klopp said. “Without it, he said he feels muddled.”Others claimed electively cleansing helped with weight loss and acne, although Klopp is quick to note that there is no research to support any such health benefits. The packaging makes a similar disclaimer.The Fleet Naturals line appears in a mocha-colored box and has important differences from its famous green-boxed forebear. Whereas the traditional enema contains a laxative because it is chiefly intended to relieve constipation, Fleet Naturals has no active ingredient but contains aloe to enhance the sought-after fresh sensation. The original version used a petroleum-based lubricant on its tip, but the new one uses a water-based lube, a nod to the fact that it may be deployed in close proximity to sexual intercourse with latex condoms that can break when they interact with petroleum products.One of Fleet’s arguments for its Naturals line is that it is safer for regular use than using the laxative-inducing version and more effective and hygienic than other methods people use to anally douche.“They’re bringing a new SKU onto the shelf in their product category by having something that’s distinct in the marketplace,” Wilke said. “It may be hard to grow the market but they can steal a share from another aspect of the category. The market can also be people who are using showerheads.”Indeed, Klopp insisted that’s precisely the goal.“I think it would be a tough sell to tell someone who has never rectally cleansed before that they need to try it,” she said. “That could be an objective for Year 2 or 3.”Heh heh. She said the number 2.To see the ads for the new Fleet product, click here, here, and here.Steve Friess is a freelance writer based in Las Vegas. He writes the blog www.VegasHappensHere.com.
Like any other market segment, the gay/lesbian audience is a moving target. And given the flux in broad social attitudes about sexual orientation, it's a population group whose attitudes are especially apt to be in motion. Brands that decided a decade ago to pursue this audience and haven't closely examined it since then are at risk of failing to connect with an evolving cohort. A report released this month by San Francisco-based Community Marketing Inc. examines the attitudes and media usage of gay and lesbian consumers, touching on ways in which advertisers are reaching (or failing to reach) them.Recession or no recession, this continues to be a lucrative market. One part of the report's survey work (conducted over a period from late July to mid-September) asked respondents to cite some big purchases they'd made during the previous 12 months. Twenty-nine percent had bought a laptop computer during that period, and 26 percent had bought a high-definition TV set. Among other pricey items bought in the previous 12 months by double-digit percentages of respondents were PDA/smart phones (28 percent), cars (17 percent) and desktop computers (13 percent).WHAT YOU DO, NOT WHAT YOU SAYThe study suggests such purchase decisions are less influenced than you might suppose by ads that target the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) population in particular. Twenty-two percent of respondents identified "advertising in LGBT newspapers and magazines" as something that quite strongly influences their buying behavior; 21 percent cited "companies [that] use LGBT spokespersons" and 18 percent "advertising on LGBT Web sites." By contrast, 45 percent said a company's employment practices ("such as non-discrimination in hiring or recognition of domestic partners") exert a very strong influence on their purchase decisions. Forty-two percent put "companies actively promote gay-friendly policies" in that category, and 37 percent said the same about company support for "LGBT political causes."Why does LGBT-oriented advertising stand relatively low on this hierarchy? "I think there is a combination of issues here," says David Paisley, senior projects director at Community Marketing, which specializes in this market. "First, gay men and lesbians don't necessarily look at the LGBT media every week. The number of LGBT print and Internet media is such a small fraction of the overall media. Also, when you go to an LGBT Web site, many of the ads are somewhat generic, and don't necessarily qualify as 'targeted LGBT.'" When asked whether they recalled "seeing an advertisement within the last week that specifically targeted the LGBT community," fewer than half the respondents (44 percent) said they did.In any case, the report indicates that gay and lesbian consumers want companies to be out and proud when they target this community, and not simply to reach it via media seen exclusively by an LGBT audience. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they are very strongly influenced by general-market advertising that "shows diversity and inclusion." As Paisley puts it, "They are looking for gay men and lesbians to be included in the 'diversity and inclusion' advertising in the mainstream market." As an example, he mentions a Kaiser Permanente ad (which ran in Time magazine) whose photo of widely assorted people included a gay couple holding their child. "That type of ad tests through the roof," says Paisley.READ THE REMAINING AND FULL STORY AT AD WEEK
Virgin Mobile Canada has unveiled a new ad campaign that is sure to cause some controversy. The ads, which will go nationwide (Canada), dares people to "Hook Up Fearlessly" during the holidays and one features two men kissing.
A little-known Spanish matador is breaking with a sacred tradition, agreeing to advertise on his cape while slaying bulls and endorse a soft drink that caters to gays. Matador Joselito Ortega will be plugging a club-scene energy beverage called Gay Up and have those words embroidered into his cape in large, red cursive letters.In Spain, matadors are seen by many as the pinnacle of macho, and Ortega's agreeing to endorse a product geared toward gay men is raising eyebrows.But Ortega sees no incompatibility."I am a bullfighter. That is not going to change. I am going to go out into the ring as I have done until now, to risk my life, and the seven goring wounds on my body prove that," he told The AP Wednesday. "If the gay community welcomes me as an image or a symbol, that is fine."Topflight Spanish bullfighters are celebrities, just like football or movie stars, and it is common for them to have commercial endorsement gigs for everything from wine to cars to fancy clothes. But it is almost unprecedented for them to advertise something while in the arena.Bullfighting writers said the only case they recall is that of a matador named Luis Reina, who signed a deal in the 1980s with the Japanese electronics giant Akai and had that brand name embroidered on the sleeves and legs of the glittering 'traje de luces,' or suits of lights, that he wore while fighting.No one expects Ortega to start a trend. It would border on scandalous for a top-rated bullfighter to advertise from the ring.Gay Up is a new product in Spain, developed by firm based in the southern city of Malaga that bought the European rights to it from a manufacturer in Colombia. There, it was made from strawberries. But the Spanish firm decided that to make it a hit with gays in Europe it needed to be an energy drink, said Jose Maria Terron, the company's president."The fact that it is oriented toward the gay community stems more than anything from its name," Terron said.Both he and Ortega said the advertising cape is a good way to shake up bullfighting, which they described as steeped in male bravado."It is a matter of changing what is normal, or usual, within this world that seem so untouchable," Ortega said.Ortega is hardly a superstar. He became a full-fledged matador in 2006 but has been hampered by repeated and serious gorings and has not fought often, said Juan Belmonte, a bullfighting critic for TV station Canal Sur in Seville.Belmonte said those who criticize Ortega's Gay Up deal will be angry not so much because the product is geared toward homosexuals but because Ortega is advertising in the arena, violating a tradition."It is like prostituting the cape," Belmonte said.Associated Press Reporting.
Now that we as a culture have become inured to marketing for such once-taboo topics as erectile dysfunction, personal lubrication and manscaping, get ready for the ad world to literally hit bottom.
As in, recreational enemas.
You still there?
No, we’re not pulling this one out of our butt. C.B. Fleet Inc., the Lynchburg, Virginia, company synonymous with at-home disposable colonics, debuts a new product this month specifically for what they’ve termed “elective rectal cleansing.”
And, since any new product requires an advertising campaign, Fleet is buying space starting in June in the national gay monthly Out as well as 10 regional publications and various popular websites aimed at gay and lesbian readers. Fleet also will try online ads on general-interest health websites like MensHealth.com and Prevention.com, “but certainly, it’s an easy and efficient target to reach LGBT media,” said Emily Klopp, senior brand manager for Fleet Naturals.
“We’ve always known that some of our consumers were using Fleet enemas for reasons other than to relieve constipation, so we wanted to develop a product that would meet the needs of those users and provide them with a safe way to cleanse and frequently if desired,” Klopp said.
Between Fleet and private label brands, consumers buy about $30 million in enemas annually. Fleet dominates the market, though because it's a private company, it won't disclose specific sales figures. Fleet's new version hits shelves at CVS drug stores and Target this month, followed by Walgreens next month and Rite-Aid in June. Wal-Mart is the only major retailer so far to balk at carrying it, Klopp said.
The company commissioned polling firm Harris Interactive last year to research the market potential and found that 3.7 percent of the general population had used an enema to “electively rectally cleanse” in the prior year. A study focusing specifically on gay and bisexual men found 21 percent of them had done so. Yet Harris found the two populations do so for different reasons: 80 percent of the general population said they used an enema for “health and well-being” while 87 percent of gay and bisexual men said they did so as a precursor to “anal intimacy.” About 38 percent of the general population said they used enemas for “anal intimacy”; respondents were permitted to select more than one answer.
To market the product in a manner that doesn’t gross anyone out, Fleet turned to Euro RSCG. The ad firm produced a series of print ads showing, for instance, a donkey–A.K.A. ass–above the tagline: “Keep it clean. Naturally.”
Gay marketing expert Mike Wilke gave Fleet kudos for even acknowledging this market when, not long ago, it might have been too icky to embrace.
“Especially because we’re talking about a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising to begin with, it’s meaningful that they’re advertising at all, that they’re advertising in a charming way and they’re going after a market that companies don’t always go after,” said Wilke.
While Fleet is clearly embracing the implicit pre-anal-sex element of the new product for gay and bisexual male customers, they also believe the “health and well-being” market is the bigger potential opportunity.
“We ran focus groups and one person said it helped him think clearly, that he needs to cleanse daily to get thru the day,” Klopp said. “Without it, he said he feels muddled.”
Others claimed electively cleansing helped with weight loss and acne, although Klopp is quick to note that there is no research to support any such health benefits. The packaging makes a similar disclaimer.
The Fleet Naturals line appears in a mocha-colored box and has important differences from its famous green-boxed forebear. Whereas the traditional enema contains a laxative because it is chiefly intended to relieve constipation, Fleet Naturals has no active ingredient but contains aloe to enhance the sought-after fresh sensation. The original version used a petroleum-based lubricant on its tip, but the new one uses a water-based lube, a nod to the fact that it may be deployed in close proximity to sexual intercourse with latex condoms that can break when they interact with petroleum products.
One of Fleet’s arguments for its Naturals line is that it is safer for regular use than using the laxative-inducing version and more effective and hygienic than other methods people use to anally douche.
“They’re bringing a new SKU onto the shelf in their product category by having something that’s distinct in the marketplace,” Wilke said. “It may be hard to grow the market but they can steal a share from another aspect of the category. The market can also be people who are using showerheads.”
Indeed, Klopp insisted that’s precisely the goal.
“I think it would be a tough sell to tell someone who has never rectally cleansed before that they need to try it,” she said. “That could be an objective for Year 2 or 3.”
Heh heh. She said the number 2.
To see the ads for the new Fleet product, click here, here, and here.
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Like any other market segment, the gay/lesbian audience is a moving target. And given the flux in broad social attitudes about sexual orientation, it's a population group whose attitudes are especially apt to be in motion. Brands that decided a decade ago to pursue this audience and haven't closely examined it since then are at risk of failing to connect with an evolving cohort. A report released this month by San Francisco-based Community Marketing Inc. examines the attitudes and media usage of gay and lesbian consumers, touching on ways in which advertisers are reaching (or failing to reach) them.
Virgin Mobile Canada
