This weekend, viral sexual wellness brand Hello Nancy partnered with tennis legend Nick Kyrgios for a two-day activation designed to spark conversation around female pleasure, putting it in ‘centre court’ during one of the UK’s biggest sporting moments.
On the surface, it looked like a fun celebrity campaign Nick Kyrgios and his partner Danai Stamati, openly and playfully discussed female pleasure across Hello Nancy’s social channels, while the public engaged with a giant pink ice cream truck, took on Nick head-to-head on a bright pink pickleball court and creators delved into many experiences raising much-needed conversations around female pleasure in Regent’s Park.
Behind the scenes, however, the event almost didn’t go ahead as the campaign revealed the commercial realities of marketing in one of the UK’s most restricted consumer categories.
Even with Hello Nancy operating in a fast-growing consumer category, the brand lost the support of not one but two venues, despite one contract being signed and the organisers already briefed on the nature of the brand. Then, just 24 hours before launch, a commercial ice cream vendor withdrew from the campaign after payment had been made.
At short notice, the team rebuilt the activation with Park Village Productions in Regent’s Park, who stepped in alongside Hello Nancy to help deliver the campaign in just 48 hours, with friends and volunteers also rallying to make the event happen.
The final campaign, ultimately attracted more than 1,000 members of the public, gave away 1,000 products, generated national media coverage and culminated in an intimate creator dinner attended by Labour MP Samantha Niblett and Dr. Tara Suwinyattichaiporn.
The campaign and the events surrounding it highlights a wider contradiction facing the sexual wellness industry.
Hello Nancy has sold more than one million products in under two years. Its latest customer data, based on more than 146,000 post-purchase surveys and 18,000 verified reviews, shows that men are now its fastest growing customer segment, accounting for one in five purchases. While consumer attitudes towards sexual wellness are evolving, brands in the category still face advertising restrictions, content moderation, reduced social reach, commercial hesitancy and, in this case, venue cancellations and the loss of a commercial partner.
Rachana Ramchand, co-founder of Hello Nancy, said: “We are a sexual wellness brand, but we are also a discreet, mainstream consumer brand. There is no sexual imagery in what we do. Our goal is to normalise the conversation and make it feel accessible to as wide an audience as possible.
“The irony is that male performance products can be advertised in mainstream public spaces, while brands trying to support female pleasure and wellbeing still face restrictions. That tells you a lot about where the stigma still sits.”
