Playing on a young man’s penchant for pretty girls and the irresistible allure of a great house party, Unilever created the perfect match to get its AXE deodorant body spray into the hands of the youthful testosterone-laced masses.
The storyline was simple: Boy meets girl. Boy smells nice. Girl likes boy. Boy buys AXE.
The product, already popular around the planet, arrived with a powerful promotional blueprint that needed to be translated for the American young male adult culture.
Using the tagline The AXE Effect, an online sweepstakes, sampling — including spritzes from attractive female models wandering the aisles of retail stores — in-store signage, media advertising and p.r. all hyped the centerpiece of the promotion: a blow-out party in March 2003 at a Florida mansion.
Beginning the prior December, communications took aim at millions of college students and young males ages 11 to 24 who received trial-size samples and information about the bash, touted as The AXE House Party: Hundreds of Girls, Rock Stars and a Beach House. A radio campaign and major online push called for young men to log on to play a video game on the AXE Web site. Participants applied their dating skills to score points as well as women. If the player reached a certain level, he could enter to win a trip to the party. AXE downplayed the sweepstakes element after research showed that young men have little interest in traditional sweeps, and focused on the intrigue and discovery of the party. Flyers — looking like those created for a keg party by a bunch of hung-over college students — were posted in relevant locations (such as next to urinals at night clubs). Print ads ran in Rolling Stone and Spin magazines.
“It was all about getting into the mind of the 20-something guy,” says Mary Drapp, manager of strategic alliances and sponsorships for Unilever.
And that they did.
More than 943,000 unique visitors went to www.axehouseparty.com, or 20% more than the goal. Some 100 lucky young men were flown in to attend the party held on a 52-acre estate near Miami. Hundreds of beautiful girls were invited to dance and enjoy musical acts from Nelly, Andrew W.K., Nicole and the Riddlin Kids. Guests could hang out at the pool, use the game room or play air hockey, cards or billiards. The party was filmed and edited into an hour-long show broadcast on TNN in April.
“To our knowledge, nobody had ever taken a consumer promotion and turned it into a television show,” says Steve Jarvis, senior VP for New Berlin, WI-GMR Marketing, the promotion AOR for AXE. “That was brand New World territory.”
Following the promotion, results included a 22% increase in general brand awareness among males 11-to-24 and a 3.0% to 3.7% dollar share increase in the antiperspirant and deodorant category.
In the afterglow of the party, AXE continued to capitalize on the event to keep the momentum moving. Some 500,000 special packs went on sale at retail offering two cans of the deodorant spray with a free AXE house party CD featuring songs from the musical artists that appeared at the party.
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