DKT uses digital, social and mass media to change behavior and influence target audiences to adopt healthy products and services. DKT frequently experiments with new marketing approaches to reach young and under-served populations, and tailors its campaigns for specific cultural contexts.
For many years, DKT has promoted its contraceptive brands and clinical services through mass media—TV, radio, print, outdoor and digital advertising. More recently, many DKT programs have started active Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube platforms to promote their programs and brands. Here are a few examples of DKT’s use of both mass and social media:
Mass media
DKT leverages mass media to communicate the benefits of family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention on a local or even national scale. DKT frequently takes risks to reach young people and couples, whether we’re addressing taboo topics in conservative countries on a very public stage, or showcasing the sexy potential of IUDs as a tool for intimacy. We share some of our favorites—old and new—below.
- In Francophone West Africa, DKT produced a TV advertisement for emergency contraception (EC)—the first-ever mass media promotion for EC in the region—to challenge silence and stigma around the method.
- DKT Indonesia introduced two ground-breaking TV ads to promote IUDs to married couples for sexual pleasure. In a country that values discretion, these commercials linked IUDs to sexual pleasure and other benefits of using a long term, reversible method. One ad targeted women and the other targeted men.
- In India, DKT aired a pioneering advertisement on medical abortion that, to our knowledge, is the first and only TV advertisement for medical abortion in the world.
- In Brazil, DKT produced an advertisement for the combined use of an Andalan IUD (for her) and Prudence condoms (for him).
DKT’s YouTube page features our all-time favorite ads from many countries.
Social media
Building on the success of its use of social media to promote its condom brands, DKT Mexico started using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to engage with young consumers and market its contraceptive products.
In the past few years, social media has emerged as an invaluable tool to engage with young people. DKT has made Thiloyarmay (a youth-oriented platform in Myanmar) and Batela Lobi Na Yo (DKT DRC) part of the national lexicon. Platforms like these give young people a judgement-free place to get information on contraceptives, advice on the best method for their lifestyle, and information about where they can access our products. Explore our social media resources around the world here.
Text messaging and other communications
In Nigeria, TV and radio program listeners are directed to text their sexual health questions to a secure number run by DKT’s Honey & Banana Connect call center. Doctors and certified health professionals call them back with answers to their questions and can even refer them to nearby clinics. DKT has rolled out similar SMS messaging programs in DRC and Liberia.
DKT operates contact centers around the world, including in Mozambique, DRC, Francophone West and Central Africa, Anglophone West Africa, and Indonesia. Much like Honey & Banana Connect, operators at DKT’s contact centers address callers’ questions about family planning and provide referrals. Contact centers are accessible by phone and social media messaging applications like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.