CASE STUDY: K-Y INTRIGUE

Client: Johnson & Johnson

Product webste http://www.k-y.com/kyintrigue/

Moving the K-Y brand into prized premium territory

Client: Johnson & Johnson

Product: K-Y Intrigue http://www.k-y.com/kyintrigue/

Moving the K-Y brand into prized premium territory

Overview

K-Y lubricant has historically been marketed mainly for use

by medical practitioners. The lubricant was subsequently

targeted at menopausal and post-menopausal women. More

recently, J&J expanded K-Y’s market further by branding it

not only as a lubricant, but also for ‘intimacy’ and ‘massage’.

Challenge

I was hired by the J&J Consumer Product Group in 2006 to

help launch a new K-Y product aimed this time at a much

more affluent consumer: the 30-something woman in a

stable relationship. It is very hard for a brand with a strong

mass positioning to launch a more premium sub-brand.

Usually the trickle-down is from premium to mass. This

launch therefore required a unique and sensorial approach.

Solution

The verbal brand identity (brand copy, tagline ‘Tempt.

Tantalize. Mesmerize’, and back-story), together with

design, conveys an image of a luxurious product that

promises excitement, mystery and adventure – moving

radically beyond the K-Y brand’s well-established position as

a utilitarian commodity. This message is further reinforced

by a price-point more than double that of other K-Y

products. The launch was accompanied by a bold ad

campaign on TV, Internet and in print media, as well as

launch parties. Sales of K-Y Intrigue far surpassed all

projections, and Intrigue has spawned a series of flankers

(K-Y Yours + Mine, K-Y Intense).