Increased use of condoms is directly related to decreased STDs and unwanted pregnancies, which leads to increased sexual health. The starting point was to increase condom use when sleeping with someone new, a behavior that has gone downwards past decade.

The brief challenges, based on findings in the research phase:

80% of the target group has the ambition to use a condom when sleeping with someone new, but only 45% make it happen (16-35 years, Scandinavia) *. How can we decrease The Condom Gap, the gap between the target groups' attitudes/behavior?

Half of the young Swedes claim they would feel better, improving their ability to communicate in bed. How can we create a more open social climate around sex?

Objectives 2018-2020 (16-35 years)

- 60% use a condom when having sex with someone new

- Increase brand awareness by 10%

- Achieve sales growth of 1% per year

#DearCondom was designed to earn the target group's attention by being 100% transparent and real - bashing our own product for the greater cause.

Till today, condoms are portrayed in advertising and pop-culture as embarrassing, as a joke or stereotypical. To increase condom use, the creative take was to shed total new light on the condom - make it sexy. Showing it can be sexy in the act and that it is sexy to suggest a condom, as people suggesting a condom are perceived as caring and respectful to their partner*.

In an honest and sexy love-/hate letter to the condom, we let the target audience mixed feelings towards condoms drive the story, showing we all share the same thoughts, feelings, and insecurities coming to sex. To deepen the conversation, a series of films with famous couples and friends shared their unfiltered view on sex - with or without condoms.

Insight: Young people don’t tend to ”traditional media” for a source of inspiration, they listen to their idols on social media.

Key message: We get it! Condoms are not always easy. The key message was to be 100% honest about the mixed feelings young people have towards condoms, the good and the bad.

Target audience: Young sexual active adults throughout Scandinavia.

Distribution of assets: To connect with the target group as well as getting our message out there, we let cameos in the campaign tell the story in their own social channels, in their own way. No pre-written scripts or demands from the brand, 100% their voice and condom opinion.

No traditional media got embargo rights, but they gladly picked up the news directly from the influencers' social feeds, ensuring broad media reach. Because as expected, our campaign content got blocked hard. Over and over.

Assuring nationwide reach among young boys and girls was a far greater challenge and we needed a story that could gain attraction far beyond traditional media publishers. Deciding not to give news embargo to any publisher and instead let the cameos in the campaign tell their story first. We wanted to create a movement.

This happened the first couple of hours of launch day. The day after we continued on with a broader media outreach which led to lifestyle media picked up the news as well. Each publisher angling their article with a selected cameo as the front which best suited their target audience (sports, fashion, music).

+55 articles, gross media reach: +13 500 000

+50 influencer posts

+3 million campaign reach e.g views (film, interviews, snippets)

Media coverage message in line with strategy as well as the influencers' posts - being their own unfiltered condom opinion.

Condom Gap: In 2019, 53% (+ 8%) of the target group 16-35 years (Sweden) stated that they had a condom the last time they had sex with a new partner. 63,5% in the same target group and question, in Finland (+6,5%, from 57%).

Awareness: December 2018 showed an increase in brand awareness amongst young people (+4.5% Sweden ****, +9% ***** Finland).

Business Outcome: 2018 showed a negative turnover trend was turned to positive with + 6% sales (vs 2017).?

2016: -4.4%

2017: - 2%

2018: + 6%