When great minds think alike, company owners join forces with sought-after professionals, and great things undoubtedly follow. In this case, the company is Nu Sensuelle, the pro is Patrick Lyons, and the great things include a completely refreshed brand identity and yet-untapped consumer potential.
Brought to life by seasoned sex toy marketer Lyons, Nu Sensuelle's re-brand aims to better align with the company’s mission and, according to Lyons, to more effectively demonstrate the breadth and depth of what Nu Sensuelle brings to the industry.
Nu Sensuelle is committed to perpetually innovating and will continue to search for new ways to satisfy consumers’ concerns and needs for empowerment.
While Lyons may be best known in the industry for his marketing prowess, perhaps less known is Lyons' sex-ed experience. Lyons has formerly served as a guest lecturer for a Sex in the Media class at Indiana University, home to the world-famous Kinsey Institute for sexuality research.
A little under one year ago, Lyons was appointed to his latest industry role as chief strategy officer of Nu Sensuelle. Company co-founders Barry Brinberg and Thao Luu-Brinberg handpicked Lyons to bring the company's brand recognition and consumer appeal to a strategic climax.
“Barry and Thao’s goals aligned with my skill set and my interests within the industry,” says Lyons. “The company was mainly a product-driven company, but what truly makes Nu Sensuelle special was unknown to most in the industry.”
Nu Sensuelle has long been renowned in sex and pleasure circles for producing some of the strongest luxury bullets known to retail. Now Lyons is responsible for making sure the whole world is enlightened.
Since taking his new post, Lyons has had his hands in product development, sales and marketing, and the company's overall corporate growth strategy.
“This challenge was exciting to me: to take their strong foundation in developing great products and add a consistent and cohesive marketing strategy,” continues Lyons, describing his goals. “Barry and Thao have given me the opportunity to truly lead this company.” Lyons reveals that his personal inspiration, entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, taught him the mindset that has underlined all of Lyons' career wins and subsequent reputation.
“One of the principles I learned early in my career is from Gary Vaynerchuk. He says, ‘The best strategy ever [is] care,’” says Lyons. “Whether working with manufacturers [as a distributor] to develop marketing plans, or being a manufacturer, care has always been at the center of the conversation.”
Under Lyons' watch, Nu Sensuelle has already grown from a team of two co-founders to include communications coordinator Lauren Schwartz, creative director Julie Jagger and director of sales April Hoopes.
Lyons says his newly minted co-workers have been instrumental in pushing Nu Sensuelle's business strategies to new heights, and he's eager to see what the team can accomplish. The group planned to initially focus on the aesthetics of re-branding, but first, Lyons wanted to zero in on why consumers and retailers already flocked to the company's products.
“What sets our company apart within the industry is that Thao Luu-Brinberg, our lead product engineer and co-founder, is continually developing proprietary motors for Nu Sensuelle’s use,” reveals Lyons. “This gives us an edge because we’re able to deliver extreme power to our customers that can’t be found elsewhere on the market, while conjointly ensuring that our products are diverse enough to appeal to a wider range of users.”
Among many exciting announcements coming this month, Lyons highlights Nu Sensuelle's newest motor, the 60SX AMP. Catering to serious power lovers, the motor produces double the intensity of the 60SX, a deeper, rumbly-style motor to be featured in another new product release. Lyons explains that the 60SX AMP motor generates a deeper gyration or rumble with a more prominent thumping sensation, featured in both the Aluminium and 60SX AMP Silicone Bullets.
The Aluminium collection, 60SX and 60SX AMP motors, and a third new release, the Deux Bullets, will all become available this autumn.
On the branding end, Lyons and his team prioritized their time to produce a redesigned logo and product packaging.
“Our first order of business was developing a new logo that satisfies existing values, while being more consistent with our new branding pillars of inclusivity, innovation and intuition,” explains Lyons.
“While Thao [Luu-Brinberg] is the heart and essence of the Nu Sensuelle brand, her proprietary motors are the heart of Nu Sensuelle’s products and help foster intimacy and true human connection,” says Lyons of the new logo. “Our new rainbow heart icon reflects this.”
In coordination with the company's fresh look, says Lyons, “the new packaging flaunts a more sleek, modern look that is consistent with the caliber of the company’s products, while also incorporating their new rainbow brand colors.”
In a marketing-meets-engineering mashup, Nu Sensuelle is unveiling a categorization system to help retailers guide consumers to the bullet that's best for their sensitivity needs.
“While Nu Sensuelle is a leader in the super-bullet category and prides itself on delivering extreme power, the company also understands that not everyone values extreme intensity,” says Lyons. “Every motor provides varying levels of power and ferocity.”
“To assist retailers and consumers in better understanding the sensation that each product produces, Nu Sensuelle motors are now classified by color,” he explains. “The motor is identified on the back of the packaging, which is additionally color-coded for easy reference.”
Patrick Lyons and Nu Sensuelle will be unveiling brand and product updates into the tail end of 2021, including a “for women, by women” vibrator design that was born of the company's whitespace study with consumers, educators and clinicians.
However high his team climbs, Lyons’ eyes remain trained on applying his cornerstone principle of genuine care to everything from customer service to R&D.
“While pleasure product users can look forward to these new developments, Nu Sensuelle is committed to perpetually innovating and will continue to search for new ways to satisfy consumers’ concerns and needs for empowerment,” Lyons concludes. “The company’s new branding, research efforts, and product releases are just the beginning of Nu Sensuelle’s journey in sparking a ‘NU’ generation of sensuality.”
