(Extracted from How Asia Advertises by Jim Aitchison)
Applying A New Discipline

The Problem:

Adultshop.com is an online retailer of adult products. Its mission was to recognized as a global leader in adult product distribution. The challenge was to launch a completely new brand in a controversial category.

As the first publicly traded adult product company in Australia , Adultshop.com required investment support for its business model prior to international expansion. However, mainstream consumer, investor and media groups did not openly accept the category. The business was heavily biased towards males, the competition intense and cluttered, products were sold on price and promotion, and advertising was dominated by small space print ads.

The Strategy:

The client's marketing strategy targeted current user groups, hoping to build market share by focusing on promotional offers in the key product area of videos. It was assumed that advertising would run in adult magazines using sexually provocative images typical of the category.

The agency recommended pursuing an untapped market opportunity. While most people felt uncomfortable walking into a sex shop, it argued, the anonymity of the Internet and a user-friendly site would break down the barriers and encourage a broader audience to purchase adult products. Women, in particularly, had never been addressed by the category. In fact, Adultshop.com could create a new category by becoming the first adult company to directly target a mainstream audience and leverage the non-threatening online environment to create a brand with mainstream positioning. The Adultshop.com website would become a totally acceptable place to shop, and appeal to both men and women.

The question was, could an adult shop become a successful, credible mainstream brand simply by acting like one?
The Adultshop.com proposition was developed to appeal to all adults 18 - 49 years of age. The company was restructured. Adultshop.com became the company's umbrella brand, user-friendly, non-pornographic website, able to command price premiums, drive innovation and build investor support. An unbranded subsidiary business serviced the heavy user group.