NEW flavoured Protector Plus condoms with a sleeker and more stylish packaging have been introduced on the market, replacing the old Protector Plus condoms.
BY OUR CORRESPONDENT
The old condoms, whose packaging featured a happy couple, had become out of date and sometimes unpopular because of their unappealing latex smell.
The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) and the Population Services International worked together to redesign the new packaging.
“We wanted to make condoms more trendy, more contemporary,” said Kumbirai Chatora, director of Social Marketing at PSI.
The new packaging is also slender, making it more discreet. USAID, which distributes condoms through PSI hopes that making condoms more fashionable would encourage people to use them more often. Along with the new packaging of the original condoms, the condoms now come in three new flavours: strawberry, banana, and vanilla, thereby offering users a fresh alternative. So far, condoms with the strawberry scent (red) enjoy the highest sales.
The marketing campaign is geared towards men since they are the dominant purchasers.
Chatora added: “What we want is for the man to feel proud.” The slogan for the new condoms is “I am the new man in town.” USAID supported distribution of the new condoms in April, and sales have increased by about 10 percent since then. Additional outlets have also started purchasing the new Protector Plus condoms.
“In the past, it was only the private sector (commercial brand) condoms that had colours and scents,” Chatora explained. “The new condoms add value to the brand as a whole.”
