Gaining mainstream acceptance of a "taboo" product requires mass marketing, celebrities and testimonials. Here are some ways disgrace can get an about-face.
It seems like every day I hear of a newly launched social networking site or niche dating site offering to help find and maintain relationships. Not only can we shop online for products and services, we can now effectively "shop" for compatible friends, pets, lovers, doctors and more.
Through the primary research I've been conducting for an online dating company, as well as through reading hundreds of profiles in which people make statements to justify their use of online services, I'm convinced that this new media approach hasn't entirely been accepted by the mainstream. Many people still believe online dating users are strange, socially inept or desperate.
One 32-year-old male in San Francisco said, "I was browsing through Match.com and came across the profile of a girl I work with. Immediately, I thought, 'Crap, I hope she doesn’t find me.' But then I thought, 'Oh wait, normal people are on this site. That's pretty cool.'"
Sure, the stigma may be dissipating, but it is not gone. It has caused me to wonder how brand managers market solutions to a problem or topic that is considered taboo. How can they break down the barrier of embarrassment over a common issue?
After studying several examples of products, I've identified four ways to achieve mainstream acceptance.
1. A strong marketing blitz establishes "normalcy"
"America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration."
Although this was said a century ago by America's 29th president, Warren Harding, it still holds true for our society today. From childhood, our minds have been conditioned to pass judgment quickly based on differences, instead of seeking to understand ways to relate to others. We've also learned to avoid being stereotyped because of a fear of public humiliation.
But in many cases, all that is required to normalize a topic or lifestyle is massive exposure in mainstream media.
Let's look at erectile dysfunction as an example. Over half of all males between 40 and 70 years of age experience erectile dysfunction, making it the most common chronic condition affecting men. However, up until recently it was considered too embarrassing to talk about. When Pfizer began devising its marketing strategy for Viagra, it recognized an opportunity to rename the disorder "E.D.," instead of impotence, in order to reinforce its status as a medical condition versus a personal failure. Various advertising messaging demonstrated the confidence men would feel once they spoke with their doctors about Viagra, and another campaign featured NASCAR's Mark Martin -- an association that aimed to make men respond by thinking: "If this stud can acknowledge his condition and seek help, so can I."
Shortly after, Bob Dole revealed on "The Larry King Show" that he experienced E.D. after he battled with prostate cancer, and that Viagra had helped him. The media frenzy earned the industry mass exposure, and Viagra sales soared (as did sales from competitors Levitra and Cialis). Nowadays, both men and their partners comfortably talk about the positive impact E.D. products have on their relationship and emotional health, and the "little blue pill" has gone down in history as the savior of the sex lives of millions of men.