Stylish sex toys corner the market
by Rebecca Burn-Callander - Tuesday, 29th January 2008 - (1) comment
If you’re squeamish, look away now. Nexus manufactures G-spot massagers. Here’s how the London-based company created a buzz in a narrow market.
“Can you name any leading sex toy brands?” demands director Anil Dominic.
RB, alas, cannot.
“That’s because the market leaders know nothing about branding. These companies are old fashioned. They still think it’s all about T&A [tits and arse]”
Nexus has seen 500 per cent growth and a third year turnover of £1.6m off the back of a totally new approach to sex toy marketing. The products are aimed at heterosexual men and couples so packaging is kept clean and neutral. To the uninitiated, the best-seling Nexus Glide would look perfectly at home in a Heal’s catalogue! Perhaps in the “kitchen” section.
A Nexus anal toy will set you back between £45 and £85, compared to a benchmark £25 for most sex toys. “By avoiding the tacky, eighties packaging, we can charge three to four times more for our products,” says Dominic. “That’s a 3000 per cent mark up for us.”
Forty per cent of Nexus toys are bought by couples, 30 per cent by gay men and 30 per cent by single heterosexual men, and those with health issues such as impotence. (“Our products allow men with erectile dysfunction to achieve orgasm,” clarifies Dominic.)
The market is booming. Dominic increased the Nexus range from two products at launch, to 15 last year, with 16 more due to launch in the next three months. The director is aiming for market saturation. “It’s the Unilever approach,” he says, “Even if you don’t like Surf, you’ll probably buy Comfort or Cif. That’s why we’ve got such a range of styles, colours, toys for novices and more boutique ranges.”
Dominic believes that having a wide range also helps draw in impulse shoppers, who are drawn to the wealth of choice on offer. “It’s a narrow crack in the wall, but we’ve got through it,” he quips.
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slash Says:
what's the difference between a vibrator and Gordon Brown? Gordon Brown's a real dick.