Tastefully Market the Icky

According to VentureBeat, the people at Thinx have developed an item with a potential for billion dollar profits, but worry whether retailers like you will market and merchandise the item effectively.
     It’s women’s underpants. Yes, lingerie shops show off ladies’ briefs with sexy as the marketing message. But Thinx underpants sell for from $26 to $89 a pair, and the distinctive advantage is not so much sexiness as sidestepping ickiness. These briefs are designed for women to wear during their periods. They’re leak and stain-resistant, anti-microbial, and moisture-wicking absorbent.
     The problem is that market research indicates women are reluctant to reveal their attention to their periods while shopping in a store, and consumer research indicates men will avoid selecting lingerie items merchandised in the vicinity of anything associated with women’s periods.
     Thinx thinks a solution will come from their consultation with the merchandising team from super-successful retailer Zappos and from a socially conscious tie-in. For every pair of Thinx sold, seven pairs of washable, reusable pads will be provided for women in Africa, where acquisition and disposable of such products are challenging.
     What tactics will you have for avoiding the tacky when marketing and merchandising items your shoppers might consider to be uncomfortable to consider in public?
     Overall, it might get easier. In contemporary society, decreases in personal modesty have affected all sorts of product and service retailers. Clothing. Physical fitness. Residential construction. Even furniture. It influences what you offer and how you display the alternatives. Kimberly-Clark’s “U by Kotex Click” are packed in reusable tin containers, each carrying one of 56 patterns, and the brand name appears on shelves in strikingly bold colors over a black background. Along with this, K-C products for incontinence and urine leakage are coming out from the shadows.
     Still, Kimberly-Clark has been there before with results which were not positive. In late 2001, K-C announced “the most significant category innovation since toilet paper first appeared in roll form in 1890.” Moist Cottonelle Fresh Rollwipes came in a plastic dispenser which clipped onto a regular toilet paper holder. Although market research said that almost two-thirds of adults were in the habit of wetting toilet paper or using a moist wipe, the product failed to sell well. A post-mortem concluded that shoppers had absolutely no interest in making their store purchases of this sort of body maintenance product any more noticeable by going for innovation.

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