Putting the power in her hands: Lion's Den case study

Women own their sexuality. They are initiating sexual conversations with their partners and discussing experiences and trends with their friends. So when Lion’s Den, a 48-store adult retail chain determined to evolve into a top-of-mind sexual wellness brand, said publicly that they wanted to shift their focus to women and couples, Fancy knew who to seduce next. We knew this would be the perfect opportunity for us to elevate a valid and important part of women’s lives that has historically been either misrepresented (in a category dominated by ideas and images meant to tempt and titillate men) or flat out ignored. So as an agency that knows women and what matters to them, we brought a fun, female perspective to sex toys by celebrating the fact that there’s no time that‘s not a good time to connect with your partner—or yourself.

50 Shades of Sexual Empowerment

The success of Fifty Shades of Grey brought women’s sexual fantasy and fulfillment to the masses. As more and more women felt permission to take control of their sexual pleasure, Lion’s Den was seeing a demographic shift in store from men quietly making a purchase alone to women coming in with their friends or leading their partner into the store. These newly sexually empowered women are open and excited about their sexuality, and they want to connect with a brand that makes them feel good about that.

Lion’s Den wanted to shift from “a store selling porn to guys,” to a lifestyle brand that would welcome sexual exploration, fun, and empowerment from everyone. They wanted to, but they also had to.

It’s Not All About Content

In the past, sales were driven by “content” purchases: books, magazines, DVDs, VHS tapes (remember those?). Once the internet made all that basically free online, Lion’s Den needed to sell merchandise, and thanks to these women who were suddenly taking their sexual satisfaction into their own hands, they realized that they to appeal to that huge untapped market.

Celebrating Their Own Satisfaction

We needed to create a campaign that would position Lion’s Den as a company that understands and respects women, that sees them not as passive recipients of men’s pleasure but as active participants in control of their own satisfaction. And we had to do it in a way that would pass network and digital censors.

Saying It All While Saying Nothing At All

We had a few…handcuffs… First, we had to celebrate sexuality and make a trip to Lion’s Den just as “normal” as a trip to the supermarket, without ever mentioning what you can purchase at Lion’s Den! And of course, we had our own creative standards to live up to. We weren’t going to do anything demeaning, or tacky, or that made us wince. We wanted to be proud of the work—as creatives and as women. And fortunately so did our client.

The campaign idea, “Do it. Every day.” was born. Via completely #sfw work we highlighted everyday moments, be they an otherwise mundane family gathering or your morning workout, and demonstrated that if you “Do it. Every day,” the everyday can all of a sudden feel a whole lot better (pun intended).

Hey, Ladies!

Tongue in cheek posters, print, and radio also ran to bring women into the stores for dedicated Ladies’ Nights where women could shop, ask questions, and discuss tips, tricks, and other burning questions, in a safe, judgment-free space with their friends.

Don’t Stop

Lion’s Den’s commitment to women extended with a celebratory original poster designed for International Women’s Day, which was hung in all the stores and distributed widely on social media.

The customer reaction was so positive, Lion's Den has decided to commission a new International Women's Day poster every year.

That Felt Good

Lo and behold, women liked the work, and people who never would have considered entering Lion’s Den started flocking to the stores. Valentine’s Day sales (which is the category’s holiday season, wouldn’t you know) were significantly higher than a year ago, the click-through rate was two and a half times the goal. And spot completion rate was nearly 100% for both spots.