: Salad Founder Aruna Chawla on the importance of sex education in selling condoms #IndiaNEWS #Interviews To create a judgement-free shopping experience for condom users, 26-year-old Aruna Chawla started

Salad Founder Aruna Chawla on the importance of sex education in selling condoms #IndiaNEWS #Interviews
To create a judgement-free shopping experience for condom users, 26-year-old Aruna Chawla started Salad, redefining contraceptive marketing along the way.

Condom brands often focus on pleasure while marketing their products. For years now, it has been their way to try and up the adoption rate of condoms. A big part of the issue is the lack of social accessibility. People are hesitant in buying condoms because they do not want to reveal themselves as sexual beings. Enter Salad — a brand that seeks to create a space where one can buy condoms without hesitation. Started by Aruna Chawla, Salad is a digital-first condom brand with a sex ed-led social media strategy.

Condoms are the cheapest contraceptive in the market and, they protect not only from STIs but are also not non-evasive. They do not affect hormones and are easily discardable. You do not have to visit a gynecologist for it and it is not an irreversible procedure. They are also the only contraception that has last-mile availability. Yet, people are not using condoms.

As a Buyer Psychologist, Chawla was intrigued by this phenomenon. She started Salad trying to understand why people are not buying condoms and to do her but towards increasing that adoption rate.

Aruna Chawla, Founder, Salad tells us: With Salad, we want to create a shopping experience for condoms that is judgment-free, safe, secure, and where one could educate themselves. The goal of Salad is to create a space where buying a condom is not a nightmare.

Read excerpts from our candid conversation.

Could you tell us a bit about Salad’s overall social media presence and strategy?

For a brand like ours, imagery is everything. For condoms in general, as an industry, a lot of focus is on the imagery. We had a specific goal in mind on how we wanted to use our packaging and assets. Instagram has worked the best for us because it is a visual-first platform. Also, here, we get to connect with the new-age generation. Much of our audiences are not active on Facebook. They use Instagram to not just stay in touch with people but also to learn.

We can do performance marketing or any other kind of marketing we want, but everything has to focus on building the brand.

If we have followers who are not sexually active at the moment, the goal is they would choose our products whenever they do become sexually active.

By talking about Salad and what its like to be a woman founder, I am also building my personal brand.

What is it like to be a young condom brand?

The industry is small because there is a huge barrier to entry. Condoms are a distribution-first medical commodity that requires a lot of investment.