K-Y Brand’s early success can be attributed to the simple fact that it was a superior product. Distinct from its petroleum-based contemporaries, K-Y was preferred by medical workers for its natural base, which made it stain-free and easy to clean up. This was the brand’s niche for roughly 60 years. Then, around 1980, when K-Y became available over the counter, things changed.

Why? Well, for one thing a brand’s identity can be open to interpretation. What the brand owner wants consumers to believe about a product is one thing. What consumers actually believe can be something else altogether. Witness Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Without expending much corporate effort, the brand became one of the hippest beers around. Or consider how a German digestif and cough suppressant became a favorite drink of partying college students. (Jägermeister, anyone?) Sometimes consumers hijack the brand for their own purposes, and the company can only hope it’s a positive outcome. In this instance, it was consumers who put the “personal” in K-Y Brand jelly personal lubricant.

It’s hard to say what altered consumer perceptions. No doubt doctor recommendations are a factor. What’s clear is that K-Y is now widely viewed as a sexual lubricant. Not coincidentally, the “naturally-based” ingredients that had appealed to physicians in previous generations benefited K-Y in its new role. As safe sex became a major concern toward the latter half of the century, the brand’s water-based properties were seen as a big plus, primarily because the product didn’t damage latex condoms.

Due to the firm’s initial refusal to embrace consumer attitudes, K-Y’s brand image became split. The “official” medical-uses brand didn’t square with the way consumers viewed the product. The confusion led to more than a few jokes, as evidenced by the K-Y “cameo” in the 2003 film comedy “Old School” and an obviously unauthorized MySpace profile.

But that’s changing. Recently K-Y has focused its brand image by catering to consumer tastes and preferences. Last year the brand introduced K-Y Brand Touch Massage, a scented oil line with “warming” features. K-Y’s personal lubricant line now includes K-Y Brand Warming Liquid, K-Y Brand Jelly, K-Y Brand Warming Jelly, K-Y Brand Silk-E, and K-Y Brand Sensual Mist—in addition to K-Y Brand Sensual Evening Wash and a K-Y Brand Touch Massage line of lotions.

By embracing its new identity, K-Y isn’t just promoting products for intimate couples; the firm wants to promote intimacy as well. The brand’s current “Summer of Intimacy” campaign aims to bring “great ideas to add intimacy and romance to your life.” And a recent press release for the brand’s Sensual Mist product states, “K-Y Brand Sensual Mist goes above and beyond being a product to use—it's actually a new activity.” The release adds, “K-Y Brand's products provide an opportunity for couples to be flirty and suggestive, and to surprise each other."

On its website, the brand has also updated its FAQ section to reflect its new identity. Two of the nine FAQ questions now directly address K-Y as an intimacy product.

Will K-Y’s new direction taint the brand? Hardly. In the minds of consumers, K-Y is already synonymous with intimacy products. What’s more, K-Y needs to bolster its market position and brand recognition given the swiftly multiplying array of alternatives in stores or on the way. The short list includes Eros, Wet, Sylk, Toros, Forplay, Aqua Lube, Probe and Astroglide—not to mention the bluntly dubbed JackOFF and Gun Oil.

Ultimately, the K-Y strategy is less about brand repositioning than brand self-actualizing. And it’s self-actualizing like a teenage boy. Boasting 90 percent brand awareness and a Number One market position in the lubricant category, K-Y has addressed a market reality with impressive results. Look for continued success despite increasingly stiff competition.

Abram Sauer lives in New York City.