If there's a group of consumer goods that can afford to be playful with their marketing strategy, it's the purveyors of prophylactics. And for Durex, the brand owned by U.K.-based business Reckitt Benckiser, a lighthearted approach was certainly the underlying concept of a press event at the Gansevoort Park on Wednesday. The evening event at the hotel's rooftop lounge was designed to introduce journalists to the condom company's new consumer campaign, a Facebook competition dubbed "Get a Room" and launched in partnership with former Girls Next Door star Bridget Marquardt. Littered with Durex's portfolio of products and signs with phrases like, "...meeting a stranger in a hotel bar and..." the gathering played up the online contest, which invites adults (ages 18 and up) to share their thoughts, tales, and fantasies about sexual adventures on the Durex USA Facebook page.
"The Durex 'Get a Room' program celebrates the naughty and nice that hotels inspire in all of us by encouraging people to try new sexual experiences and make 'hotel sex' a part of their go-to romantic repertoire," said Reckitt Benckiser's marketing director of U.S. personal care, Kevin Harshaw, in a press release. Running from August 1 through September 12, the contest will put the stories to popular vote on Facebook and the winner will receive an all-expenses paid two-night stay for two at the hotel's "Durex Sex Suite."
Before being whisked to the hotel suite to meet Marquardt, reporters grabbed drinks and checked out a series of vignettes placed around the lounge. One area, manned by aromatherapist Donna Shepper, guided guests through aphrodisiac essential oil blends, while another showcased, ahem, toys, including latex necklaces, edible body paint, and games. There was an photo op area where attendees could pose on a swing and, naturally, a section devoted to Durex's line of products—from lubricants to flavored items.
As a fun way to tie-in the consumer promotion, each guest received a key attached to a tag, which they could redeem for the night's gift bag. Whimsical and tasteful, the container for a sampling of the brand's products was a metal lunch box bound by a strip marked with the "Get a Room" tagline.
