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Sexual wellbeing: the next frontier in wellness?
By Robbie Muir
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Wellness is everywhere: beauty products are branded as 'self-care', meditation apps are the norm, we're drowning in yoga leggings and there's a supplement for just about everything.
- Products and services designed to help us mitigate the stresses of modern life are contributing to what is now a mainstay cultural conversation about optimising your health - mind, body and ‘soul’.
- But there’s a big part of our lives that has been pretty slow to enter the conversation. Sex. Specifically, sexual wellness and wellbeing.
- Our British prudishness will need to exit stage left, because whilst the sector was slow to emerge, it’s heating up. Here’s the rundown.
Gen Z, LGBTQ+ communities, and digital distribution = heightened demand.
- The global market size for sexual wellness products is growing at a CAGR of 12.4% and currently valued at around $70bn, and it includes contraceptives, toys and lubricants.
- Gen Z and millennials are openly discussing their sexual wellbeing online and off (bolstered by influencers), and the conversation is ever-more inclusive: celebrating sexual fluidity and LGBTQ+ communities.
- Gone are the days of having to shield your face as you enter a seedy sex shop on the high street - D2C distribution has enabled discreet browsing and delivery, as well as more privacy.
Education, contraception, sex toys and lubricants = the current market trends .
- Building trust through wholesale - Contraceptive products are not something you want to ‘experiment’ with so trust is key. Young D2C brands like Hanx have built retail partnerships with Boots and Superdrug to help boost their awareness and availability.
- Bridging the women’s data gap - There’s a lack of research relating to female pleasure and sexual health, which has led to a surge of female-focused sextech brands like Lora DiCarlo and Lioness.
- Gender-neutral, sex-positive positioning - Cake and Maude are bringing conversations about sex out into the open. Brands like Kandid are categorising sex toys by type rather than gender that speaks to, and champions the LGBTQ+ community.
- Sexual wellness for older people - Ageing bodies, particularly post pregnancy, can benefit from using products such as kegel trainers, like Elvie's, to improve blood flow and nerve activity.
Leaders in the category will focus on brand, inclusivity, product innovation and subscription business models
- Inclusivity is here to stay - brands that champion this movement will continue to do well in attracting the younger generation, as well as meaningfully improving the lives of the LGBTQ+ community (e.g. Kandid).
- Product innovation is a big sales driver in sextech. Companies putting money in to R&D, consumer research and design have managed to capture share with new exciting product designs which can peak consumer interest (e.g. Dame)
- Sexual hygiene, lubricants and contraceptive products are perfect for subscription, and helps build the consumer behaviour (e.g. Lola).
ART
Turning COVID-shortages into a brand building opportunity
Fluff is an Australia-based ‘casual cosmetics’ company, with tagline: It's ok to feel more with makeup, so long as you don't feel less without it. Challenging beauty and business norms is core to their brand, and they stayed true to that approach even when things didn't quite go to plan.
Tracksmith is successfully developing a high-integrity brand
The word ‘brand’ is often (incorrectly) used where ‘business’ would suffice. True brands have a distinct point of view; an outlook on the world that acts as a filter for all of their creative and operational decisions. Independent running brand Tracksmith is a best-in-class brand in the making. Their dedication to “the running class” is unwavering, and viscerally comes to life through their creative, comms, product and grassroots coverage of local track meets.
Roger Federer leaves Nike for On Running
Roger Federer left his $10 million a year Nike sponsorship, to invest in On Running (and co-produce a line of tennis sneakers). This is a great example of how the ‘new guard’ are using novel (less restrictive) financial structures to partner with creators and celebrities. It's great timing for On, who are speculatively on track to IPO for up to $5 billion.
SCIENCE
Repeat raises $6M Series A for it's ‘a la carte’ re-ordering tool
Last month, I took stock of all of the subscriptions I had, and the final sum was in the hundreds. Not pretty. Post-purge, I'm now hyper-cautious of subscribing to anything new. Repeat just raised a $6M Series A to help brands serve customers like me - those that don't want to subscribe, but still need a (personalised) nudge to replenish every once and a while.
Reframing marketing as the ‘digital supply chain’
Every consumer brand should view creating demand for their product, in the same way they view manufacturing their product: through the lens of supply chain efficiency. This argument suggests that at the core of the ‘digital supply chain' is an in-house media operation.
How Missguided doubled their sales with influencers
Fast-fashion and the hyper-relevant, one-click-shop nature of social media go hand in hand, so it's no surprise Missguided is reporting outsized success with influencer marketing. Their approach (influencer content going live almost every day (!), with larger pushes for new collections) has landed them an ROI of 6x and 165% increase in sales month-on-month.
Facebook CPM's are dropping “like a stone”
This is one to share with your paid social teams - in the past 4 weeks CPM's have dropped by 21%, returning FB costs to 2019 levels, and presenting an opportunity for brands with the know-how to take advantage.
