Transforming a 100- year-old brand for digital.

KY came to us looking to update their web and social experience. Turned-on and intrigued by the possibility of reimagining such an exciting brand, we decided to go a little deeper. We crafted a bold new attitude for the brand. In our eyes they weren’t just ‘that lube brand’ they were THE ORIGINAL LUBE BRAND and this had power. Our goal was to reinvigorate a business that’s stood for sex positivity since 1904.

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KY / The Original Lube Brand

Our approach was to transform their entire digital ecosystem from something purely transactional into a world that could invite sexual exploration at every touchpoint. A task that would prove to be a journey through sex and time.

Pleasure you can touch

K-Y’s existing .com experience had all the sex appeal of a pharmacy catalog and did nothing to share the story of a brand that had played a hand in liberating sexual pleasure for over a century. Our experience solution? ’Pleasure You Can Touch.’ We elevated the design, romanced every inch of copy, introduced sensual visuals, incorporated immersive and playful interactions, and crafted novel opportunities for unconventional brand storytelling. Always with real people, and real pleasure in mind.

Come as you Are.

K-Y’s social left much to be desired. It was clear we needed to build their status from the ground up, starting with a Playbook with the power to redefine their brand. But, as people today come armed with an emasculate bullshit detector, we knew we needed to be honest.  Our idea centered around establishing a ROLE IN CULTURE for K-Y. One that they had a unique (and genuine) right to claim.  Lucky for us, the truth is, throughout the most exciting and, tumultuous century in sex history, K-Y has always been there, helping people of all persuasions enjoy more pleasurable sex. This was a story that K-Y had never owned before, but one that needed to be told. 

FACILITATE SEXUAL DISCOVERY

They weren’t ‘old’ they were ‘original’ they weren’t ‘practical,’ they were sexual ‘pioneers’.   With this, our cultural mission became clear, K-Y exists (as it always has) TO FACILITATE SEXUAL DISCOVERY for all.   We knew we needed an unapologetic personality to reinforce our worldview. We realized that as the sexual revolution today plays out predominantly online, it only made sense that our bold new visual aesthetic and tone of voice should be INSPIRED BY THE INTERNET. We developed a Playbook dripping with contemporary desires for authenticity, imperfection and intimacy, with the goods to inform years of groundbreaking content and experiences for the brand.

Social with personality — Shan Boodram.

Armed with our Playbook we went about establishing K-Y as one of the most dynamic players in the sexual revolution today. But we didn’t do it alone.  Central to our strategy was using the power of K-Y’s brand to elevate the voices of those already helping to change the culture of sex as we know it. 

We used elevated design, clever copy, and ‘sexpert’ partnerships to transform K-Y’s social from boring to bold, commercial to conversational. Our new persona was surprising, sexy, smart. All the things you want from a sexual partner. Through inviting, insightful and informed content we guided followers around the curious labyrinth of stories and people that make up the culture of sex today. Our climax came with the help of Shan Boodram - the undisputed queen of sex - who for the final month of the year took over K-Y’s Instagram in a series of live AMAs, which saw our follower count explode!