Shoes and sheaths aim for expansion

A global player in sex could, in theory, move into a host of new markets. Photo / Dean Purcell

As World War II ended, Winston Churchill received an urgent message from Joseph Stalin. Thousands of Russian troops were on their way home from the front, eager to celebrate with their womenfolk the end of the conflict, but the motherland was desperately short on prophylactics.

Could the Prime Minister help? Spotting his chance to secure an early psychological advantage, Churchill told the London Rubber Company to make millions of over-sized condoms for the Russians, hoping to foster an inferiority complex in the East.

Six decades later, Garry Watts, chief executive of the condom and footwear group SSL, concedes that the story may be apocryphal, which is probably a good thing given the significance his company is now attaching to the Russian market.

Having made Russia its second most important market for condoms SSL hopes Scholl, the other half of its business, might also make the journey east.

Scholl, which makes footwear products, looks a curious fit with Durex. "The thing people always ask me about this firm is, 'What on earth have feet and sex got to do with each other?"' says Watts.

For starters, both product ranges are sold through similar distribution channels and there is plenty of crossover on packaging and raw materials. Also, Durex and Scholl offer demographic diversification. Traditionally, Durex was a product bought by younger men, while Scholl's customers have been women of middle age upwards.

Not that SSL isn't keen to broaden the appeal of its products, starting with Durex. The global condom market is worth £2 billion ($4.3 billion) but, for the sex industry, "you could double that figure and add a few zeroes".

A global player in sex could, in theory, move into a host of new markets, arriving at pornography or even prostitution at the extreme. "Contraception sits somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, and our aim has been to move a little way along it."

That movement began before Watts arrived at SSL, with flavoured condoms, for example, but has continued apace. The Durex suite now includes lubricants and a range of sex toys. "The vision is of Durex as a brand people talk about at parties, a light-year away from the days when blokes were embarrassed to ask for condoms in the chemist," says Watts.

The evolution of Scholl is at an earlier stage but could follow a similar trajectory. SSL is talking to Italian designers about producing footwear that customers might feel is not quite so unfashionable. Though it is not an official target, Watts reckons the size of the Scholl and Durex businesses could be doubled, which would make each one worth around £1b.

In the meantime, Watts is looking forward to a world that finally seems to be heading out of recession.

SSL has weathered the storm relatively well, in part because sex, and thus Durex, is hardly discretionary. "However bad things get, people still have sex and they still walk," says Watts.

- INDEPENDENT