Durex overturned with Hi Tea!

2020 Durex was fined 810,000 for connotation advertisements on hot search because the sentence is too dirty and connotation women are close to the sensitive area. Not only did Durex not respond to this crisis, but on the hot search to gain super-high traffic popularity. But the impact on Hi-tea is tremendous.

1. Not targeting a specific audience
There are many reasons why Durex and Hi-Tea were criticized for their marketing copy. The first reason lies in positioning. Two brands, Durex and Hi-Tea, got their audiences wrong. We all know that Durex’s audience is men, and most of the people who like to drink Hi-tea are women. These are two different audience groups. Such copywriting has no meaning to sales conversion. We all know that the purpose of advertising lies in sales. Otherwise, it is of no use.
2. Poor text and excessive marketing
This time Durex’s copywriting is like this: “No drop is allowed tonight.” And Hey Tea also replied in the comment area at the bottom of Weibo: “Hi Dudu, I remember that date. I’ve said that from that day on, your lips Always have my cheese.”
This interaction was unsuccessful and harmed brand communication. One was drinks, and the other was sex toys. The original meaning of the joint name was to leverage more potential consumer groups, but the marketing copy this time was disgusting, although, With traffic, it doesn’t make any sense. In the end, cooperation must be sales-oriented. All marketing activities we do must ultimately serve sales.

Gender marketing is nothing new, and in most markets, it is not only the sex toy brands such as Durex that will play the role of eroticism. Of course, these earliest gender marketing may be successful, but they are far from good marketing. On the one hand, this marketing is directly related to body associations and is far from connotative; on the other hand, the underlying fundamental value is materialising women and gender inequality. Today, few brands dare to touch this line in marketing.

Hi-Tea has issued an apology statement. But a lousy brand impression has been produced. It may take a long time for Hi-Tea to wash away the negative image it has imposed on the public. As far as Durex’s public relations are concerned, nothing has been done. However, the time misalignment makes Durex focus on giving a voice to the public, whether it is taking advantage of the situation or facing crisis public relations, and using public opinion to strive to minimize its crisis.