Taking the Axe to market

Launched in 1983, the Axe brand has travelled an interesting and topically current journey, moulding its stories to its identity and matching that identity to the identity goals of its target market.

It started with the phenomenally successful ‘Axe Effect’ campaign – a tongue-in-cheek (and slightly misogynistic) appeal to men, implying (or stating flat-out) that using Axe would attract women to you.

© Fast Company

Love it or hate it, it definitely worked. Business Insider describes the brand’s meteoric success: “The result? Axe became the number one male antiperspirant/deodorant brand. It actually worked too well - they had to backpedal a bit from the image, because Axe had gained a reputation as a product that only losers use. Also, high school kids would even douse themselves in Axe, getting the brand into trouble with some school districts.”

Changing course

With disarming humility and grace, Fauconier gave a clear-sighted summary of both the brand’s success and failures. He showed the growth and success of the Axe Effect strategy, and the stories that were told as part of that campaign.

He described the realisation that their audience had evolved and the way they tackled the new needs of Axe men. As he put it: “Masculinity has evolved from what it once was.”

He took us through the rocky terrain between the old campaign focus and the new. While the work from this period was entertaining and engaging (award winning, even), Ryan offered a sobering look at how a lack of clear strategic focus can dilute a brand message, and confuse the audience.

Now, the brand has evolved along with its audience. The ‘Find Your Magic’ focus positions Axe as the perfect odour-control solution for any man, showing that what really makes someone amazing is not what they put on the outside of their bodies, but who they are within. The implication is that Axe helps unlock that inner magic, with stories to support and subtly show this idea.

He then showed us the culmination of this new approach in the #YouGottaDry campaign, featuring Xzibit. The story created in this campaign supports Axe’s new message: You are cool already. Axe helps people see that.

Ryan wrapped up his presentation with a summary of what he’s learned as brand manager for Axe:

• Learn to be flexible;
  
• roll with the punches;
  
• push your limits (and your agency’s limits);
  
• get comfortable with uncomfortable; and
  
• most of all: Build a strong brand-agency relationship.

Read Davies' coverage on Tomfoolery co-founder, David Leslie's talk at the Digital swarm event and read more of her work on the Jellyfish blog.