Men’s Lingerie Comes Out Of Closet In Marketing Coup

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The two Aussies behind the men’s lingerie brand HommeMystere have certainly made a name for themselves around the US and the UK.

The brand launched its online site in March this year, initially starting off in 2008, and has been garnering much media attention in recent weeks, particularly in the US as about 40-50 per cent of its purchases come from the States.

However, with the website explaining the brand was too out there for mainstream retail stores and not risqué enough for adult shops, advertising and marketing the male lacies is tricky.

Speaking to B&T, Krause explained how retention and word-of-mouth were the best areas for the brand.

“I haven’t done anything, or very little, for a few years,” he said. “We have about an 80 per cent retention rate. And that tends to keep it going.

“If you make the right product and you hit your market, word gets around.”

Above the line advertising such as TVCs and print ads don’t work for HommeMystere.

“It’s such a niche market and yet so broad,” said Krause. “If I advertised in a magazine I might only hit 0.1 per cent of their readership.

“I’ve really got to be wary of where I spend the money and I’d rather do a nice video and put it up on YouTube and spread the word.”

Shows and events work well for the brand though, such as a catwalk in Las Vegas in 2012 which is when the brand really hit the ground running.

“We get a lot of requests for sponsorship and advertising, but I’d rather spend it doing a show in the US or create something nice,” said Krause.

Launched in 2008, Krause explained how initially he had wanted to develop the mainstream men’s underwear, boxers, briefs and the like, using the fabrics usually used for women’s underwear.

“We started off with that and then demand pushed us into guys emailing asking us to do bras,” he said.

While a lot of people express gobsmacked disbelief that there’s even a market for this kind of thing, Krause said there’s a demand now with the web and it’s reaching a global market.

“It’s small, it’s niche, but you can still have thousands and thousands of customers.

“I’m not surprised by anything now.”

Images courtesy of HommeMystere.

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Advertising Standards Bureau autumn allen Bill Shorten