Drop by the Lover's Choice website at LoversChoice.tv, and you won't see blaring ads for elephantine dildos, shakin' and quakin' vibrators, or the latest latex casting of a porn star's boobs and other parts. Instead, you'll see an erotic yet entirely discreet and tasteful site whose theme is "Love to Live. Live to Love."
Meanwhile, the Lover's Choice products featured on the site-and on the shelves of mainstream and adult retailers-emphasize upscale playful naughtiness, with not a leer or grope in sight.
Make no mistake: Lover's Choice does offer adult novelties like the Rock Chick massager and the Vibrafun 9 Tails riding crop and vibrator. But even these products are marketed in an elegant, classy manner.
It's a marketing approach that has defined Lover's Choice since the company began selling 10 years ago, says Dawn Conner, the company's vice president and chief marketing officer. "Back in the early 1990s, there were a lot of suppliers servicing the low end and some mid-range companies, but there really wasn't anyone serving the high end of the market," Conner says. "This was due to the historical roots of the adult industry: It was aimed at males, and so the products reflected this fact. But then things changed as women became more interested in adult novelties for their own use. We saw ‘female-friendly' adult stores start to spring up that reflected this new feminine demographic, which is precisely what Lover's Choice set out to serve. Our products are aimed at women and couples, with an emphasis on sex as romance rather than sex for sex's sake."
However, it isn't just Lover's Choice's discreet packaging that has set the company apart and won shelf space in both mainstream and adult-oriented retailers. It also is the company's genius for combining disparate products into erotically charged sets. For instance, the company's Kinky Cupid Kit brings together a soy-wax massage candle, an eye mask, a feather and candy handcuffs. "These products can be purchased individually from other companies, but it is the combination and packaging of them all as a lovers' package that makes them special," Conner says. "I mean, you could go out and buy a hundred silk rose petals yourself, but it wouldn't be the same as buying the experience of A Bed of Roses as an item to keep or gift."
At the 10-year mark, Lover's Choice is thriving, but that doesn't stop Conner from looking ahead to the Next Big Thing. "For us, there's real opportunity in the emerging honeymoon-gift market," she says. "In the old days, there wasn't much that you could buy in the way of adult-themed presents for weddings because most of them were simply gag gifts that were inappropriate. But today, there is a real hunger in the market for erotic yet classy honeymoon gifts, the kind couples will receive with appreciation and genuine anticipation. That is the opportunity that we are looking at now."
Conner also is bullish about the migration of adult-themed products into mainstream retailers. "Today, you'll find things in the mass market that previously would only have been found in adult stores," she says. "There is an acceptance of adult novelties taking place that is truly changing the market for these goods. But this doesn't mean that manufacturers such as Lover's Choice should forsake the adult market for the mainstream or give the mainstream better prices than adult. We believe that it is our duty to play fair with both sides and give both the kind of products and support that will help them both thrive.
"The real key to our success is that Lover's Choice doesn't really sell sex products; we sell sensual experiences. That is the real strength of our brand and why we expect to prosper and grow in the years ahead."
Lover's Choice Romance Products Inc.
3-5040 Mainway
Burlington, Ontario
Canada, L7L 7G5
905-335-9993
