A chat with a friend and client got me seriously thinking about the heading of this article.

When I was faced with the question ‘does sex in advertising work’, I struggled to give a definitive answer on the spot. Initially my answer was ‘yes, it works’. But after reflection, it struck me that whilst it does sell, how does it affect the longevity of a brand and products success.

For some brands, sex is used to grab attention; some people refer to this usage as ‘borrowed interest’. In other words, companies attempt to take the interest generated by sexual connotation and use it to generate interest for their brands. So that’s good…it can work, but on the flip side, you could argue that whilst sex may stop the traffic, it only produces, at best, a one-time sale that won’t build brand value which is needed to sustain long-term growth.

Well, not in all cases. There are plenty of brands that have used sexual positioning strategies that have resulted in major long-term success. One of those is Calvin Klein. He has successfully imbued his brand’s identity with sexuality. For well over 30 years, sex in one form or another has been a mainstay in Calvin Klein fragrance, fashion, underwear, and accessories ads. The result? In 2008, products with Calvin’s name generated at least $1 billion in annual revenue.

So yes, sex in advertising works, and for many brands and products its essential. But if sex is used merely to draw attention to a product that has no relevance to sex, then long-term success is not likely.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 00:27 and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.