On Thursday, Hatch maternity wear and Dame sexual wellness brand released a product collaboration aimed at a new kind of underserved demographic: mothers.
The limited-edition collaboration consists of Dame’s Arc vibrator and an exclusive Hatch underwear and bra set selling only through Hatch’s e-commerce website. The topic of motherhood and sex often do not go hand-in-hand in popular media or the cultural zeitgeist, and is still regarded in many ways as a taboo topic. But sexual wellness brands like Dame have actively worked over the last five years to combat stigmas around advertising limitations and the public perception of sexuality.
“Staying connected to your vagina and your genitalia, and finding pleasure as you’re becoming a mom is powerful,” said Alexandra Fine, founder and CEO of Dame. “This is a major life moment where your sexuality, relationships and self-identity become so important, and yet, we really don’t talk about it.”
Sexual wellness does butt up against some limitations, in terms of product development and innovation, given that most sex products are similarly designed, in one way or another. However, an area of expansion and innovation is the audiences sexual wellness brands serve. Cake, a 3-year-old brand focused on couples and individuals of all sexual orientations, is one such example. Cake’s founders launched the brand after being unsatisfied with the depictions of sex products and relationships and the outdated appearance and formulations of products like lubricants.
Ariane Goldman, founder and CEO of Hatch Collective, said there is a 360-degree campaign around the collaboration, including organic social media posts, email marketing and a series of stories on Babe, the brand’s editorial website. Babe will also host a virtual event titled “All Things Sex + Motherhood in Partnership with Dame” on June 20. The discussion will be moderated by Fine, alongside relevant experts in the space, and will dive into topics like sexual wellness during motherhood and how it evolves before kids, during pregnancy and post-natal. According to SimilarWeb, Babe saw an average of 20,800 unique visitors over the past three months (March-May), with an average visit duration of 5:37 minutes.
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Since 2018, Hatch has offered select beauty products, like a belly oil and pregnancy-safe deodorant, under its Hatch Mama brand on its e-commerce site. Goldman said one out of every three customers purchases a beauty product alongside maternity wear and represents a high growth category for the customer. With this being the first time Hatch is selling a sexual wellness product, the strategy is not to generate sales but to capture and evaluate interest in the category. Fine added that 70% of Dame’s customer base is in committed relationships.
“We know that our audience is curious about this moment,” said Goldman. “[This collaboration] is about building trust and continuing to push the envelope on the conversations.”
