2012 Axe

GIRLAPRROVED GUY’S HAIRCARE CLIENTUNILEVER / AXE

RESULTS / 340 MILLION

GIRLAPPROVED CONTRIBUTION

AND COUNTING

NATIONAL DISTRIBUTIONS

S

S

$60 MILLION IN REVENUES

WALMART, TARGET, WALGREENS

ASIA, EUROPE, SOUTH AMERICA

IN ONLY 8 MONTHS SINCE LAUNCH

60MILLION

2009 AXE LAUNCHES FIRST MASS MARKET MEN’S HAIR CARE

AXE HAIR GOES GLOBAL

2011 AXE HAIR EXTENDS LINES

NEW

EXPLOSIVE GROWTH

AD AGENCY

AXE BRAND TEAM

DELIVERED DISTRIBUTED

PR AGENCY

RESEARCH + DEVELOPMENT

GA SERVICES SUMMARY

NEEDS RESEARCH

OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT INNOVATION

BRAND POSITIONING

BRAND STRATEGY

ACTIVATION CONCEPTING

EXPLOSIVE GROWTHAXE HAIRCARE BLUEPRINT

AXE + GIRLAPPROVED

GIRLAPPROVED + AXE / BACKGROUND STORYWhen Girlaproved met Axe they were only selling deodorants. With the recent surge in copycats and a growing number

of females associating their brand with “loosers who can’t find dates,” Axe needed a marketing breakthrough to regain

its market lead. Axe asked us, “Are there any untapped opportunities in mens grooming? And can we improve our image

with girls?” Girlapproved uncovered the natural deep link between a man, his hair, and his ability to get dates. All over

the world, bad hair was robbing perfectly good men of their mojo.

From primary research, opportunity identification, product development, brand positioning, packaging, to

communication strategy - we helped Axe create a brand that would give guys the hair girls loved. Girls got better looking

men, guys got the girls, and Axe launched a breakthrough product category (mass market men’s hair) that gained them

explosive growth and good will from female market.

GUY’S HAIRGIRLAPPROVED

GUY’S HA IRGUY’S HAIR

FEMININEFEMININE TRUTHS

1) Axe’s success validates the power of feminine innovation for the male market. Males have many unmet feminine needs.

2) Several major beauty brands have attempted to crack the male haircare industry but were not successful. They did not

understand the feminine dimension of males so they made men too effeminate. This was a turn off to most females. GA

showed the industry that if you express the feminine side of males more organically it increased a man’s sex appeal.

3) GA’s research highlights the dramactic perceptual difference between male and females. Axes research with men,only

identified 2 attributes (color + length), while girls identified 18. The 16 missing dimensions were the difference between

failure and explosive breakthrough.

4) In nature, females are the natural selectors in the mating game. Females’ ability to influence guy’s purchased has gone

untapped. Men are very willing to do what is needed to make them Girlapproved.

FEMININE INNOVATION AND MEN

MR. MACHO

MR. MEDIOCRE

MR. CONTROL

MR. VAIN


The opportunity that GA discovered could not have been identified

with men or traditional research and required our inside out approach.

Men had so little understanding of hair, they offered almost no

learnings. Traditional research couldn’t find the truth, because girls

didn’t see their true behaviors.

MR. MACHO

MR. MEDIOCRE

MR. CONTROL

MR. VAIN


When asked, “Do you make dating decisions based on a guy’s hair?”

she would say “No”. Why thats superficial, what makes a man manly is

much deeper - confidence, intelligence, courage, cultural interest . . .

MR. MACHO

MR. MEDIOCRE

MR. CONTROL

MR. VAIN

What females couldn’t tell you is that deep below the concious level

females actually read guys hair determine if he’s worth dating. Girls

around the world had developed an instinctive skill to appraise a mans

character and personality based on hair cues.


INSIDE OUT ANALYSIS

MR. MACHO

MR. MEDIOCRE

MR. CONTROL

MR. VAIN

If something was off with a mans hair, it meant he had personal issues.

Globally females shared a universal language of guys hair, what

properties made him dangerous or dateable. This language formed

the foundation of the Axe hair products collection.


ATT

RA

CTI

ON

OH YUM!I’D DATE HIM!


TRUTH #01GUY’S HAIR

Good hair makes a man sexier

and increases his likelihood to

score in bed.

ATT

RA

CTI

ON

OH YUM!I’D DATE HIM!NO WAY!HE’S BORING!



Bad hair turns a girl off and

handicaps a guy in the mating

game.

unstabledanger meek

bad in bedignore meboring

ATT

RA

CTI

ON

DATE HIM?NO WAY!



Men with bad hair are wearing

a billboard on their head that

says “DO NOT DATE ME”.

Their mating game ended

before it began.

THE HAIRCUT NOW MAKES HIM LOOK WORSE.



Most guys look worse after a

haircut. Most hairdressers hurt

a guy’s sexual appeal because

they do not know what hair

turns a girl on

SENSUALITY

AMBITION

OCCUPATIONINTELLECT

CONFIDENCE

VALUESDRIVE

GENEROSITYCREATIVITY

SO THAT’SWHO HE IS...



Girls read a guy’s hair to

determine his identity. His

character shapes his hair.

MR. MACHO

MR. MEDIOCRE

MR. CONTROL

MR. VAIN



Girls share a common, yet

unspoken language of men’s

hair, and what hair says about a

guy’s personality.

INSIDE OUT ANALYSIS

EXAMPLE: RYAN HAS STRINGY HAIR

Girls think he’s too relaxed to be reliable

EXAMPLE: JAMES HAS OVERGROOMED HAIR

Girls think he’s vain and egocentric.


EXAMPLE: TOM HAS BORING HAIR

Girls think his life is mediocre.

EXAMPLE: CHAD HAS OVER GELLED HAIR

Girls think he overdoes things.


EXAMPLE: JEFF HAS OVERDONE HAIR

Girls think yikes! What’s he compensating for?

EXAMPLE: DAN HAS OVER SHEARED HAIR

Girls think yuck! He’s a control freak!


CARINGTOO MUCHABOUT MY

HAIR?THAT WILLMAKE MEFEEL GAY.



Guys need an authority to tell

them that it is a-ok to care

about their hair, and that

caring doesn’t make them gay.

GUYS WITH BAD HAIR ANDDON’T KNOW HOW TO FIX IT



The majority of men in

America today are needlessly

suffering from bad hair.

98%CLUELESS

BAD HAIR CRISIS



Guys have no idea that their

hair is ruing their game, or how

to fix it. We are in the midst of

a bad hair crisis!


STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

90% of girls are at more likely to go out with a guy if he has good hair

90% of girls wish guys would wash their hair more often

70% of girls think guys don’t know how to style their hair

88% of girls agree that greasy hair is repulsive

90% percent agree that hard, over-gelled hair turns them off

Axe quantitatively validated our Girlapproved truths and standards using a strategic-one.

Here are some of the results that they found.

QUANTITATIVE VALIDATION

GUY’S HAIRGIRLAPPROVEDQUANTITATIVE VALIDATION

GUY’S HAIRGIRLAPPROVEDOPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION

GUY’S HAIRGUY’S HAIRCARE

EXPLOSIVE

S BREAKTHOUGH OPPORTUNITY


SPECIALCARE

MEN’S HAIR LOSS

MASS MARKET STYLING AIDS

DANDRUFFTHERAPY

PREMIUMSHAMPOOS

MASS MARKET SHAMPOOS

too shiny, sticky + greasy

feminine + vain

good but smelly

we appreciate the effort

feminine + vainfeminine + fussy

ain’t a complete solution

PREMIUM HAIRTREATMENTS

PREMIUMSTYLING AIDS

MANLY

NOT MANLY

DAILYGROOMING

OPPORTUNITY SPACE

MEN’S HAIRCOLORINGwhy does it exist?



SPECIALCARE

MEN’S HAIR LOSS

MASS MARKET STYLING AIDS

DANDRUFFTHERAPY

PREMIUMSHAMPOOS

MASS MARKET SHAMPOOS

too shiny, sticky + greasy

feminine + vain

good but smelly

we appreciate the effort

feminine + vainfeminine + fussy

ain’t a complete solution

PREMIUM HAIRTREATMENTS

PREMIUMSTYLING AIDS

MANLY

NOT MANLY

DAILYGROOMING

EXPLOSIVE

To date, there is no mass market product designed to make men manly.

OPPORTUNITY SPACE

MEN’S HAIRCOLORINGwhy does it exist?


EXPLOSIVE OPPORTUNITYIntroduce the first mass market hair grooming line for men.

SUPPORTING OPPORTUNITIESMake men sexier for women and win good will from the female market.

Eliminate the bad hair crisis that is demasculating men.

Be the authority across the entire spectrum of men’s hair needs.


BRAND PROMISEAxe hair promises to give guys what they need to get their hair read right.

BRAND POSITIONINGGet girlapproved hair and send the right mating game signals.

MARKETFocus on core Axe demographic, but can apply to all men.


GUY’S HAIRGUY’S HAIRAXE HAIR

EXPLOSIVE

STRATEGY

GUY’S HAIRGIRLAPPROVEDPRODUCT AND BRAND STRATEGY


GUY’S HAIRGUY’S HAIR

How can Axe deliver on its promise of giving men girlapproved hair?

Girlapproved identified 18 distinct hair parameters that girls use to

determine a guy’s sex appeal. To optimize success, the Axe brand

must account for all 18 hair dimensions.

(The guy team was only capable of identifying 2 parameters.)

PRODUCT AND BRAND STRATEGY


GEL QUANTITY

CUT & SHAPE

PRODUCT USE

HIGHLIGHTS

PERSONALITY MATCH

BATHROOM TIME

HYGIENE

BANGS

GROOMING SKILL

AROMA STRENGTH

ESTIMATED EFFORT

VOLUME CONTROL

BOUNCE

SIDEBURN BALANCE

Girlapproved discovered that universally, girls

subconsciously analyze guys based on 18 hair

parameters. Even if one of the parameters is

out of range, she will notice and feel turned off.

THE 18 HAIR PARAMETERS

STRATEGY



STRATEGY

TOO MUCH

NOT HOT

UNIVERSAL SWEET SPOTHOT

TOO LITTLE

NOT HOT

Across all hair parameters, girls share a range of what

makes a guy sexy. If his hair falls outside the sweet

spot, he’s got issues and he’s out of the mating game.

THE UNIVERSAL SWEET SPOT



STRATEGY

TOO LITTLE GELLIVES LOUD AND TACKYHIS LIFE IS MESSYTOO MUCH GEL

TOO LITTLE EFFORTTOO LAZY TOO VAIN

TOO MUCH EFFORTTOO LITTLE STYLE TOO MUCH STYLEHIS LIFE IS BORING SEARCHING FOR IDENTITY

For most men today, some aspect of his hair falls

outside the sweet spot. This warns girls about his

personal issues.

THE OPTIMALLY HOT MAN KNOWS HOW TO ALIGN EVERY DIMENSION OF HIS HAIR.



STRATEGY

TOO MUCH

UNIVERSALSWEETSPOT

TOO LITTLE

GREASETEXTUREBANGSEFFORTSHINE

...

18PARAMETERSGUY’S HAIR

AXE HAIR MUST HELP EACH MAN ALIGN HIS HAIR TO THE SWEET SPOT

Invent a comprehensive new grooming line

capable of helping men optimize all 18

essential hair parameters. To do this requires

designing a range of products, in addition to

creating packaging, educational programs +

communication.

THE BRAND STRATEGY


GUY’S HAIRGUY’S HAIR STANDARDS

™FEMININE

(the deliverable included standards for all 18 hair parameters, here is just a sample)


STANDARDS (GEL) =

Bad gel can singlehandedly destroy a guy’s love poten-tial.

we never want to see it + we never want to feel it + we never want it rub-

bing off and greasing our pillows + should not leave dandruff + should not

make hair look wet, or stiff and hard


PRODUCTInvisible, no sheen. Doesn’t harden when dry. Hair must remain touch-able. Water soluable, doesn’t leave oil marks on fabrics. Doesn’t flake or create dandruff.

PACKAGINGMen have bad control with gel - dispenser should release quan-tity in premeasured doses so the guy doesn’t over do it.

Educate men the hazards of guido hair and teach him how to use gel to manage his hair with-out making it goopy

COMMUNICATION

HA

IR

HAIR GEL


STANDARDS (STYLING) =

Style is the entry point to the mating game. Get it wrong, and it’s game over.

highlights, mohawks, and other extreme trends - just say no + more than 7

mins on your hair will make you seem vain + spend at least 5 mins on your

hair + never let your hairdresser get creative + all haircuts should comply

with the pre-certified girlapproved hair database


HA

IR

STYLING

Tell guys that taking care of their hair does not make them gay, but turn girls on.

Guys can’t handle too much se-lections and instructions; keep your line simple, limited and mistake free.

A good cut is a foundation for hot hair. Include images of hot, basic cuts for men to take to the hairdresser.

PRODUCT

PACKAGING

COMMUNICATION


WE APPLIED THIS GIRLAPPROVED INVENTION OPTIMIZATION PRO-CESS ACROSS ALL OF THE 18 HAIR PARAMETERS . . .


GUY’S HAIRGUY’S HAIRAXE HAIR FINAL PRODUCT

GUY’S HAIRGIRLAPPROVEDFINAL PRODUCT

PRESS RELEASE

GUY’S HAIRGIRLAPPROVEDCOMMUNICATIONS : COMMERCIAL

ISOFFICIALLY

GIRLAPPROVED

Date post:	16-Nov-2014
Category:	Lifestyle
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2012 Axe

Lifestyle