High fashion lingerie proves a hard sell in Kenya

The Sapph store at the Galleria mall. It has faced an uphill task in advertising and selling high fashion lingerie in a conservative society. COURTESY 

By Aamera Jiwaji

In Summary

• While Sapph had entered the market with high fashion designs in vibrant colours, the Kenyan woman was not open to these styles. So Sapph Africa was forced to tone down not just its marketing strategy but also its product offerings and colour options.

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Red, pink and luminous green triangles of lace cling to the curves of truncated mannequins in the store front window of Sapph at the Galleria mall. A large A0 poster of a half naked woman glistens from behind the reception wall.

It is a bold opening statement by the Dutch lingerie line that entered the market six months ago, but Sapph’s gambit seems to be paying off and just six months down the line, the flagship store is turning over Sh500,000 by targeting the lingerie and swimwear needs of plus sized women.

When the brand first opened in Kenya under a franchise agreement between the Amsterdam-based company and two Kenyan businesswomen — Lorna Nyatome and Millicent Odongo — the two were apprehensive of how to market a lingerie line in a country that is predominantly Christian and conservative in its approach to sex.

Their tame pull up banners at the Galleria entrance were criticised by some mall goers as verging on pornographic. This, coupled with the public outcry that greeted the Vaseline billboard that suggestively posed radio presenter Sheila Mwanyigha, put paid to their plans to replicate their parent company’s provocative advertising strategy.

“Sheila was hardly naked but the media went into a frenzy,” said general manager Lorna Nyatome explaining how she questioned whether the advert would have been more acceptable had it been a white or foreign model.

Sapph Africa’s decision not to use mass media is a significant departure from the ethos of its parent brand, which established a foothold in Europe and North America through advertisements that capitalise on shock value.

The lingerie label, which has a presence in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Denmark and the Czech Republic, is renowned for splashing the female figure on billboards and coupling it with slogans that shout “Let’s get wet” and “Dress less to impress”.

One of Sapph’s adverts even had a complaint unsuccessfully filed against it with the European Advertising Commission for promoting violence against women. The picture shows a black man in boxer shorts making a kicking motion towards the rear end of a white woman in lingerie.

But while the aggressive approach may have worked for Sapph in Europe — the company hit a turnover of 10 million euro (Sh1.2 billion) in 2010 just five years after inception — the owners of the Africa franchise have been quick to admit that a similar marketing strategy will not work here.

Instead they opted for target marketing: “We know who our clients are. We know where they shop, go to the gym, have a massage, do their hair. So we go to these places. I don’t think billboards would reach that person. When you have a niche brand, you need to do it directly.” Theirs is a mantra that advertising agencies preach to multinational clients.

Ms Nyatome’s decision to pursue traditional channels in marketing was mirrored when making stock choices, since she realised that Kenyan women were conservative when it came to lingerie.

And so while Sapph had entered the market with high fashion designs in vibrant colours, she quickly realised that the Kenyan woman was not open to these styles.

“Kenyan women are still very shy. They buy underwear for themselves. Because they need it. It’s not a fashion item for them like a pair of shoes or a dress that they want to be seen in. The local market is used to the basics, the necessities,” she said.

And so Sapph Africa was forced to tone down not just its marketing strategy but also its product offerings and colour options.

Ms Nyatome readily admits that the experience of introducing a European lingerie line in Kenya has been a learning curve, but believes that because the original precept continues to hold true — that the lingerie and swimwear needs of plus sized Kenyan women are not being met in the local market — sales will pick up.