This was much before the era of family planning, as my father believed India needed condoms.Shankaran explains how the company came to lose its prized condom brands. In the end, we bought out Reckitt’s 49.8 per cent stake and the entire manufacturing unit. We had the technology, we had state-of-the art machinery, and we had the resources.

We knew who sold condoms and how they sold condoms. We held ‘Skore Fashionista’ in January 2014, and it was quite an eye-opener, emphasizing that condoms were fashionable.‘We approached fashion design institutes in Mumbai to participate in the contest and the show. The bitter loss seemed like a sad repeat of the British taking the Kohinoor diamond from India.‘The Kohinoor episode reinforced our decision to focus on our core businesses. These two factors helped us achieve a 10 per cent market share in just three years of our launch.

The premium global brand, Durex, was rolled out in India in 1997, and we manufactured Durex for the local and export markets. ‘Our biggest blow was in the condom business when we lost our crown jewel, Kohinoor condoms.

We agreed to do so, as, if we didn’t make them, someone else would.‘The first condom factory in India was the one our Group set up in 1963, in Pallavaram, Chennai, as LRC India. We had three factories. We went on to supply the Nirodh brand of condoms at a subsidized price to the government for some years.Since then, our Group had consistently invested in factories, and from making 30 million pieces per annum in 1963, we had moved up to 2.1 billion pieces a year. This was a bold move by T.T.

As pioneers of condom manufacturing in India, and having been in the business for over fifty years, we knew the channels and had a great understanding of distribution. )‘We created a new condom brand, Kohinoor, in India in 1979. Our advertising agency, McCann, worked very hard, and we came up with ‘Skore’. India is also a major producer.

We wanted to do things that were different from what the existing players were doing and establish Skore as a fun and friendly product for the youth.‘In our bid to be different, we held India’s first condom fashion show, where all the clothes were made of condoms.

In 1968, my uncle, T.T.

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The Group had started LRC India, a joint venture between TTK and LRC, UK. We supplied 40 per cent of Durex’s worldwide demand.‘The JV continued without a hiccup even after LIG was acquired by SSL International Plc in 1999. SKORE believes that sex can be casual, but it should not be unprotected. View our gallery to find out hundreds of opportunities to skore. It is about making the perfect condom to start with.

The brand imagery we created around it was very different from what we had had for Kohinoor, which was advertised as a married couple’s family planning aid.We positioned Skore as a pre-marital pleasure enhancer, and it clicked. A great new way to score in bed is here- SKORE Condoms.

About SKORE. The JV was renamed TTK LIG when LRC changed its name to London International Group.

But Reckitt took away our prized Kohinoor brand from us. While dotted texture enhances your pleasure. Selling condoms was slow going initially, as the government’s position was that India’s large population was an asset and that we didn’t need population control. ‘In our bid to be different, we held India’s first condom fashion show, where all the clothes were made of condoms.

And TTK is a pioneer in this business.’Even after our split with Reckitt Benckiser, we continue to make Durex condoms for them. Condom factories are located primarily in south-east Asia, with Thailand, Malaysia being the major producers. But the young students came out with good ideas and made very interesting clothes out of condoms.’  I am particular that quality is not about making 100 condoms, applying quality standards and throwing out thirty condoms.