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When people think about sexual health, they tend to think about healthcare, prevention, and treatment, not the everyday factors that shape it long before anyone enters a clinic.
Confidence, stress, relationships, self-image, connection, nutrition, and overall wellbeing all play a role, which means many of the brands influencing those factors may have more impact than they realise.
Apple influences how connected we feel, employers influence stress levels and work-life balance, dating apps shape how relationships begin, gyms can build confidence, skincare brands can influence self-esteem, and supermarkets influence what we eat and, ultimately, how we feel. None of these brands set out to influence sexual health, yet all influence the conditions that support it.
The more interesting question is whether they're already influencing sexual health without realising it, and whether that creates an opportunity to contribute more meaningfully than they think. That was the thinking behind our latest Health Applied® speculative concept featuring Tesco.
Food has long played a role in how culture depicts attraction and intimacy, whether through seductive food scenes in films, date-night chocolate advertising, or even the emojis 🍆 we use every day. What is less well known is that the science often backs the myth. Dark chocolate stimulates the release of dopamine and endorphins, the same neurochemical response associated with attraction. The oyster's long-held reputation as an aphrodisiac is rooted in zinc, a mineral that directly regulates testosterone in both men and women. Restrict it and levels can drop by 75%. Replenish it in those who are deficient, and they can nearly double. Watermelon contains a compound that activates the same biological pathway as Viagra, and two weeks of daily pomegranate juice has been shown to increase testosterone levels by 24% in both men and women. All of it is available at your local supermarket.
Brands have long used indulgence and desire to create associations with sexuality, but what's perhaps more interesting, and admittedly a little less sexy, is that what we eat can influence energy, mood, confidence, and overall wellbeing, all factors that contribute to healthy relationships and healthy lives. So, if a supermarket can influence so many of the building blocks of sexual health, are we looking in the wrong places for the brands that have a role to play?
Brands often have permission to enter people's lives in ways healthcare organisations can't. And when a brand discovers a health role that nobody expects it to play… people pay attention, because it's unexpected. It creates a new way into a conversation that people may have heard many times before. The brands that create the most value in the future may not be the ones trying to own a category. They may be the ones brave enough to recognise the role they already play in people's lives and build from there.
That's the thinking behind Health Applied®.
Finding health value where others aren't looking.
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