Marketing Condoms

A short but fascinating TED talk entitled ‘Selling Condoms in Congo’ looks at a key development issue, AIDS, from the marketing persepctive.

HIV prevelance in the Congo is around 1.3% (circa 930,000). The underdeveloped infrastructure in the country means that many sufferers are failing to get the appropriate medication. Donor agencies (NGO’s_ are providing condoms for little or no cost but demand remains worrying low (only 3% of adults are users).

The marketing strategy used by the NGO’s for condoms is questionable- brand names include Vive, Trust and Prudence. There overall strategy is based around three key strands- fear, financing and fidelity.

Private companies have a more ‘sex orientated’ strategy with a better demand rate. Amy Lockwood argues that the donar agency has failed to identify the target market. In order to make development gains and to change consumer behaviour the donor agencies must be more consumer orientated.

This 4 min TED talk is a great way in to identifying key development issues and strategies.