Moods Condoms : My Man

Brand : Moods

Company: Hindustan Latex Ltd
Agency: Lowe

Brand Count : 115

Moods is a major player in India's Condoms market. Moods was the first major branding exercise to happen in this market. The Indian Condom market is estimated to be around 130 crores.

Moods was launched by Hind latex in 1987 with much fanfare . It was a bold initiative and the campaign was regarded as one of the marketing success stories. Indian condom market is divided in to
a. Free segment
b.Subsidised segment
c.Popular segment
d. Premium segment
Moods is a major player in the popular segment while brands like Kamasutra, Kohinoor and Durex are in the premium segment.

Condoms are considered to be a taboo product. Just like the sanitary napkins, People don't want to discuss these products in public let alone be seen buying it. Hence marketing of this product is a tough call for any marketer. Hence during the 80's the major challenge for HLL was to break the taboo. Moods did to the condom market what Whisper has done with the sanitary market. Now marketers are trying to market these taboo products with "Look good, feel good , do good" message strategy.

Moods was launched with classic ad featuring a hunk asking for " Moods Please" at a store where a shy person was struggling for asking for the same " Can I have a pack of ......mmm..". We as the audience were shocked and surprised at this blunt campaign. The words "Moods please" struck the consumer so hard that even small kids used to tell the shop keeper " Moods Please" much to the embarrassment of the parents.

The brand was positioned for taking this product category out of closet. The baseline " Act With Confidence" exhorted men to confidently ask for this brand at the shops. The campaign created by RK Swamy was a classic success story.
The success of Moods prompted many bold launches in the condom market. At that time Nirodh was the popular brand because of the support from the government. Moods created a category of branded condoms. Next to follow the Moods brand wagon was Kamasutra. KS created lot of talk with its bold ads featuring Pooja Bedi and Marc Robinson. These efforts helped to a certain extend to take this category out of closet.

According to a report on the site Foolonahill.com, the condom use in India is only a mere 5%. The product is still perceived to be a Pregnancy prevention tool. Indians never have looked it as a tool for pleasure enhancement. Although the brands are now highlighting the pleasure aspect with the launch of Dotted and Scented variants, the market is yet to catch up.

The major factor being the cultural psyche of Indian consumer. Unlike in the west, couples seldom talks about sex. We are still a land of hypocrites. Hence it is difficult for a marketer of condom to talk openly about pleasure enhancement and sex without getting the wrath of the so called Culture Evangelists. Kamasutra brand faced lot of such problems when they tried to talk sex. The question is " Without talking sex, how can you sell condoms?" or should I say " Why should I sell condoms with out talking sex? ( debatable point !).

Even with these marketing efforts the product category is still not out of the closet. The product is still bought secretly and we can see the shopkeeper hurriedly packing the product so that others don't see it. Seldom do customers buy it from supermarket and the sale happen through medical shops. So more efforts are necessary to take this product out.

One of reasons why there is a sluggish growth in the condom market is the demand supply gap. Since there is lot of money and demand in the "Social marketing" initiatives of govt and UN sponsored agencies because of AIDS scare, the manufacturers are flush with orders hence where is the time left to create the market.

Moods brand after its success with the " Act with confidence " campaign is now back with the new campaign " My Man". The ads with the old song background " Ye Kya Hua" is interesting. But I have some reservations about the message of the ad ( frankly I don't know). The baseline " My Man" is also little confusing. But any way the ad execution is OK but with a poor message.

Source: Magindia.com, foolonahill.com,hindlatex.com

Brand Update : Your Time, Your Place, Your Moods

Moods, the Rs 40 crore brand from Hindustan Lifecare Ltd , is back in media with a clutter breaking campaign. The campaign " Your Time, Your Place, Your Moods "  has  already being well received among the marketing community.

Moods' last campaign  " My Man " had also received rave reviews from marketing analysts across the country. The only doubt is whether the brand  hurriedly took the previous positioning platform without extracting maximum juice out of it.

The new campaign shows various characters like a plumber, mountaineer, museum care-taker discovering evidence that moods users were there  in those 'most unlikely ' places . The surprised look of these characters give the punch to the new tagline " Your Time, Your Place, Your Moods ".

Watch the ad here  : moods 

The advertisement campaign is an attempt by the brand to bring humor into its communication. A drastic change in the brand's approach since most of the earlier campaigns were sensual in nature. The ads are refreshing and fun to watch and also gives lot of creative headroom for future campaigns . According to reports, the brand campaign is also aimed at the global markets which is a key focus for this brand. Moods is exported to more than 40 countries and in some middle east nations, the brand is a market leader. 

Condom brands are lazy marketers. The brand campaigns are sporadic and it seems that no brand is specifically interested in becoming a category leader.Gone are the days when brands like Kamasutra blazed the category with some bold advertising.

The current campaign of Moods is aimed at improving the brand recall . Although there is a significant change in the brand's personality, it does not warrant further analysis since the brand is not aggressive in the promotion front. Positioning strategy lacks relevance if it is not backed by consistent promotional activity. The changes in the positioning of Moods will not help in developing a lasting impression in the consumer's mind. How ever the condom marketers now are more interested in promoting brand recall rather than developing a powerful positioning. 

To be fair to the brand, the new ads are clutter-breaking and watchable. Without venturing into sensuality, the brand is able to convey its message. The elderly couple creates a definite iconic picture to this new idea. The new tagline is also good and packs lot of scope for further creative executions. Hope the brand stays with this idea for some time.The new campaign does its job of increasing the brand's visibility and recall which will be there till the brand decides to go back into hibernation. Kudos to the creative team behind the job.

Related Brand

Moods : My Man

Brand Update : Moods wants you to Play It Right

After around three years, Moods have come out with another campaign. The new campaign themed " Play it Right" is also a sort of repositioning for the brand. In the last campaign, the brand adopted a naughty " Your Time, Your Place " positioning.

The new campaign   themed around the man who is playing it right takes the focus back to the man. In one of the earlier campaign - My Man, the campaign put the focus on the women which made the campaign standout from the rest of the crowd. The " Your time, your place " was a clutter-breaking campaign with a touch of humor. 

The new campaign - Play it Right is neither clutter- breaking nor humorous. The theme of a smart man getting what he wants is a much used theme and Moods have not done anything different in terms of execution. 

Watch the ad here : Moods- Play it Right

The brand could have brought some kind of creativity into the ads rather than depending on the old theme with a careless execution. 

According to Economic Times, the Indian organized condom market is worth around Rs 700 crore . Mankind leads the market with a share of 28 % . Moods is trailing in the fourth place with 12% share. 

Brand Update : Kamasutra Condoms

After a long while, Kamasutra has come out with a new campaign. The current campaign is little different from the earlier ones in that the brand has shed the sensual route and has become more subtle.
The last campaign from Kamasutra was revolving around the theme of experimenting which was highlighted by the tagline " who do you want to be tonight ".

The latest ad shows a " button less world' where the guys roaming around with their button-less shirts. The teaser says " get ready to lose your buttons ".

Watch the TVC here : Kamasutra new ad

The brand has the new tagline " Most wanted men ".

This is a serious deviation from the core personality of the brand. KS is always perceived to be an extrovert, on-the face , open and a naughty brand which does not shy away from talking straight.
All through the life of this brand, its known to be controversial, sensual brand. Subtle was never this brand's character . So those who were expecting another set of shocking ads are bound to be disappointed.

The brand has also changed its tagline to " Most wanted men ". This new tagline is also a dampener. The tagline is very similar to that of Moods ( My Man !) . I think that the brand could have chosen some thing different from Mood's tagline.

Its interesting to note that in India, government is taking more initiative in promoting these products rather than the private players. Most of the condom marketers are not aggressive in their spends . One reason is that most of them are minting money by supplying it to the governmental agencies and NGO's . There are also reports that suggest that since government is selling cheap condoms through the same channel, premium condoms are losing the market.


In 2007 , the brand have extended itself to personal care by launching its range of deodorants and aftershaves. So far I have not seen any KS personal care products in super markets. I think it is an opportunity wasted.
KS have an equity which could be easily leveraged by the company in the personal care segment . It would have become a worthy competitor for Axe ,had the company "shamelessly " promoted this brand. How ever the company chose not to aggressively promote the personal care range. It would have filled the gap for a " Adult " personal care brand in the Indian market.

Related Brand

Kamasutra