Durex Research

In 2017 Durex and Public Health England released a campaign to encourage young people to use condoms in order to protect against STIs click here for the video campaign, unlike the D&AD brief set by Durex, their previous campaign went down the route of trying to scare 16-24 year olds in to wearing condoms by showing people who have STIs talking about their experiences, with their faces replaced by emojis in order to hide their identities and 'relate to young people' although im not sure this is as effective as they thought it was going to be, due to the fact that the D&AD brief states that the campaign shouldn't 'bully or scaremonger'.

screenshot taken from the 2017 Durex campaign

After looking at the previous campaign i decided to begin research looking in to why young people aren't wearing condoms, through an online article by the independent, it was suggested that the most common reasons young people aren't wearing condoms is due to:

• the perceived impact on sexual pleasure and intimacy. 
• the fact that young people are 'not scared' of contracting STIs anymore. This has been linked to the idea that they don't think the consequences are as severe as they used to be; this does have some truth, due to the fact that people with HIV are expected to live 20 years longer than people with HIV did in 2000. 
• A lack of discussion between the people having sex, or the lack of discussion between friends about STIs (56% of men and 43% of women have said that it's difficult to talk about STIs with friends (statistics taken from ukgov))
• 'the heat of the moment' 

From the above research i believe that my visually led campaign should focus on proving the preconception that condoms have a negative impact on sexual pleasure and intimacy wrong, whilst also showing condoms as being a normal thing to carry and that safe sex is good sex. i want to stay away from facts and figures about STI rates amongst young people, as the campaign has said to liberate not dictate i feel it's vital not to focus on the negative risks of not wearing a condom, but rather the positives of wearing one. I also think that it's key to try and break conventions about sex, showing more than just a man and a woman who are in a monogamous relationship; highlighting the real, honest, open and fun attitudes Durex as a brand have towards sex. 

I think taking an 'always be prepared' angle to the campaign might work well, rather than showing condoms being used whilst having sex, show young people of all enthinicites and sexualities carrying a condom always, as you cant really predict when you're going to have sex. A study by Emory University found that carrying a condom/using a condom can be 'seen as a sign of sexual promiscuity' i think it's appropriate to the Durex's brand ethos to break down this stigma, communicating the message of the brand that good sex is a human right, liberating people to have the sex they want on their own terms. I think it's also important to show women carrying condoms breaking down the sexual convention that men should carry condoms, showing women taking charge of their sexual health and pleasure. 

Within the campaign i also think i should (after research) show the variety of Durex condoms, by showing thinner designs and new materials they use such as graphene, it will help to show how condoms don't have the negative impact on sexual pleasure and intimacy people believe they do, the types of condoms could also impact design decisions such as the colour pallet of the design'