Excerpt
Table of contents
1 Brand Overview
2 Survey Target Group
3 Maslow Theory
4 Freudian Personality Theory
5 Involvement Theory
6 Conclusion
References
Internet Sources
Enlargement Range
1 Brand Overview
AXE is a brand of male fostering products, owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever and marketed towards young males in over 60 countries all over the world. Unilever were unable to use the name Axe in the United Kingdom, South Africa, New Zealand, Ireland and Australia due to the trademark problems, so it was named Lynx. British soap maker Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Union formed the company Unilever in 1930. The combined unit formed two separate items known as Unilever Plc in London and Unilever NV in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (Wikipedia.com, 2010).
Launched in 1983 in France, Axe is successful in Europe from 1985 onwards. You can buy Axe in different fragrances, in which there are 13 variables on the US-market and 15 on the remaining markets. The variant names between 1983 and 1989 were descriptions of the fragrances, for example Musk, Spice, Amber, Marine or Oriental. From 1990 to 1996 geographical names were used, like Africa, Alaska, Java, Nevada or Inca (Wikipedia.com, 2010). Beside deodorant, Axe’s product line included grooming products for men such as body sprays, aftershave , shampoo, skin care and shower gels and since the beginning of year 2012 there are also hair care and styling products dispersed. Failed extensions include Underwear, Barbershop and razors and Lynx also ships a shower scrub tool called the Lynx Detailer (Axe, official homepage, 2012)
Within the new millennium axe has launched in Canada and the United States with great success. Therefore, and as a part of global expansion, Unilever has now launched its first product for women in the UK.
Background to the launch of the axe brand in the US:
In 2002, Unilever introduced the Axe range of deodorant body sprays into the United States. The success of the launch surpassed all expectations. Within two years, A Nielsen had recognized that Axe had become the number one male deodorant brand in the country. A position it still holds today. However, Axe’s arrival in the marketplace changed much more than the share composition of the deodorant market. Competitive male grooming brands took notice of the new product form that Axe introduced to the US (deodorant body spray) and launched competitive (and in the case of TAG, Gillette’s new body spray identical looking) products. Additionally competitors began to mirror the ‘emotional’ approach Axe had taken to communicating. Before Axe, the category spoke very rationally toguys, showcasing gloriously sweaty armpits and high tech solutions to keep you sweat free. Axe differentiated itself by speaking emotionally, with no mention of product efficacy in any communication. The promise of the ‘Axe Effect’ was incredibly simple. Spraying on this product will can help get girls. Girls simply love the smell of it. The ‘Axe effect’ became part of our targets vernacular, and strong fragrance credentials were established for the brand.
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Over the years, Axe's innovative promotional efforts had been focused on the 'Boy gets Girl' theme. The campaigns focus on how the product increased the sexual appeal of young men and highlight the strong fragrance which helps men attract women. The brand themed under the device “AXE is and make you sexy”. The advertisement promises men an increased popularity of women, which is called “The-AXE effect”, in addition to a guaranty of 24 hours safety of sweat and stench.
2004
The advertisement of Axe Pulse showed, how this fragrance give geeky men enough confidence to dance with women and to get them.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIVqLa8xooU (Received May 9, 2012)
2007
Axe Vice was marketed on a theme of making “nice” women becoming “naughty”, when they smell this deodorant.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqRyktpveOo (Received May 9, 2012)
2008
In July 2008 Axe launched a carwash-themed campaign called the “Guywash” following the launch of the Detailer. This campaign conceptualized the shower device as a car wash for men. The different cleaning stations are different parts of the body. This campaign reportedly increased the sales of Axe Shower Gel in the US by 17% and won the Gold Effie Award for the most effective marketing campaign in the New Product or Service Category (Effie Award, official homepage, 2010).
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaPauEyi3mM (Received May 10, 2012)
AXE also launched with the fictitious rapper Dr. Stay Dray and the song Don’t Sweat That (The Whistle Song) a viral campaign in 2008, which allowed the company some broadcasting time at music stations like VIVA and MTV.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uGJ-dE_nCw (Received May 9, 2012)
2009
Axe partnered with the mobile advertise Greystripe Inc in February 2009 to support the launch of the Axe Detailer Shower Tool with a flash game called “Dirty Night Determinator” on iPhones. The users could interacted with the ad to calculate how dirty their last night had been.
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2011
There are kind of instruction written on the bottles of the shower gels for use made of two pictograms. On the first one a man is rubbing himself with the shower gel and on the other one the same man is surrounded by women. Beneath you can read the slogan “Unlimited Female Attention”.
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Brand personality
Axe/Lynx use brand values like being cool, fashionable and stylish. Their products use colours like black, red or blue to suggest power, intensity and dominance. Male consumers see these as “masculine” traits and also want to be described as aggressive and assertive.
2 Survey Target Group
Date: 9th of May, 2012
Time: 12-4 PM
Area: Newcastle, Hunter Street
Sample Size: 26
Target Group: 12- 30 year old men
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