Since 1929 Durex has been at the tip of every sexual revolution. But by 2020 we were getting tired. A refresh was needed to reach a new generation discovering sex, regardless of gender, geography, preference or orientation.

We relaunched globally; creating consistency & relevance for a new generation in an ever-changing world where sexual conventions are impacting people’s happiness & sexual satisfaction.

This meant changing the way we looked (from dated to modern), behaved (from broadcast to engagement) & sounded (from parental to peer & medical to human).

We were tasked to give the brand TOV a real overhaul. WIth fluid new audiences we needed to reinvent ourselves, dust off the voice of old (medical, parental, tongue-in-cheek) & become the ally of a new generation who tells it straight, is playful yet provocative & empowers rather than judges. The only mandatory; create a voice with flex across product, brand, protection.

‘Challenge The Norms’ was based on the world’s largest sex survey carried out by Durex. Results identified that 2/3rds of people are dissatisfied with their sex lives; feeling physically & emotionally anxious to perform a certain way. Although the sexual landscape might feel more open & accessible, it's also rife with unrealistic expectations & myths.

Durex needed to take a new positive position on sex; to liberate good sex for everyone, everywhere to help them reach sexual satisfaction. With a new brand world & positioning crafted our task was simple; to make sure Durex lived & breathed its newly reimagined positioning ‘To liberate good sex for all’ ensuring it behaved & spoke in the same way regardless of geography or occasion.

As trusted guardians of sex we needed to re-introduce ourselves to the world, the mission, our legacy, inspiring & empowering everyone to join the good fight for good sex.

We relaunched our iconic sexual wellbeing brand with Challenge the Norms - with an inclusive, open letter to the world of sex that encouraged people to rethink and reject sexpectations in order to have a more fulfilling sex life and released it on Valentine’s Day - the occasion on which these conventions are felt most strongly.

Durex wanted to inspire a fresh new attitude about how sex is depicted, discussed and defined in modern society. This project was the start of that new conversation through a series of playfully provocative Outdoor, Social and Print messages all designed to provoke the viewer and wider society into reconsidering their own sexual stance. Using real data as support from the Durex proprietary study researching sexual attitudes around the world in all of the executions and within editorial PR.

The campaign garnered lots of conversations on and offline, and across multiple markets. In the UK there was a 45% increase of online conversation for Durex and +99% positive mentions compared to the previous year, we also had a 91% share of voice online during the campaign period. In France, we managed to reach 64% of 15-49 year olds, 38 times the average, and received hugely positive sentiment towards the campaign and the brand.