AXE

COMPANY PROFILEAxe (grooming product)

Lynx Africa deodorant body spray and shower gel. Axe, or Lynx, is a brand of male grooming products, owned by

the British/Dutch company Unilever. Axe's lead product is a deodorant body spray. The brand also

includes deodorant sticks, roll-ons, anti-perspirants, aftershaves, shower gels, and, more recently, shampoo. The

brand is named Axe worldwide, except in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, where it is named

Lynx.

HISTORY• Axe was launched in France in 1983 by Unilever. It was

inspired by another of Unilever's brands, Impulse. Impulse was a fragranced deodorant body spray for women that promised wearers male attention.

• Unilever were keen to capitalize on Axe's French success and rolled it out in the rest of Europe from 1985 onwards, later introducing the other products in the range. Unilever were unable to use the name Axe in the United Kingdom and Ireland due to trademark problems so it was launched as Lynx.

• The European launch of the deodorant was followed by success in Latin America and moderate impact in Asia and Africa. In the new millennium, the brand has launched with great success in the United States and Canada. The company has also consolidated its deodorant portfolio by migrating other overlapping male deodorants into the Axe brand such as South Africa's Ego brand.

• Axe was first launched in India by Hinduatan Unilever in1999 and has become a leading male deodorant brand within just one year of its launch

INTODUCTION TO 4 P’S PODUCT: The product aspects of marketing deal with the

specifications of the actual goods or services, and how it relates to the end-user’s needs and wants. The scope of a product generally includes supporting elements such as warranties, guarantees, and support.

PRICE: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts. The price need not be monetary; it can simply be what is exchanged for the product or services, e.g. time, energy, or attention. Methods of setting prices optimally are in the domain of pricing science.

PLACE : This refers to how the product gets to the customer; for example, point-of-sale placement or retailing. This third P has also sometimes been called Distribution, referring to the channel by which a product or service is sold (e.g. online vs. retail), which geographic region or industry, to which segment (young adults, families, business people), etc. also referring to how the environment in which the product is sold in can affect sales.

PROMOTION: This includes advertising, sales promotion, including promotional education, and personal selling. Branding refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company.

PRODUCT

• Axe deodorant is available in five fragrances: Java, Pulse, Dimension, Voodoo and Phoenix

• Although Axe's leading product is the fragranced aerosol deodorant body spray, other formats of the brand exist

• Within underarm care the following are available: deodorant stick, deodorant roll-on, anti-perspirant aerosol spray (called Axe Dry), and anti-perspirant stick (also called Axe Dry)

• In 2009, the brand launched an 8-centimeter container called the Axe Bullet. It is intended to be portable so that it can be carried in the pocket and used whenever and wherever needed. In Axe its available as Click, Essence, Vice, Dark Temptation & Instinct. In Lynx its available in Vice, Dark temptation & Instinct.

• The brand has also extended into other areas such as shower gels, aftershaves, and colognes, skin care, shampoo, and hairstyling products. Failed extensions include Barbershop and razors

PRICEAxe is priced at an affordable range:• Axe Skin Contact Hydrating Shower Gel

$16.47 • Axe Tsunami Deodorant Body spray, Twist it $7.99

• Axe Armor Anti-Dandruff Shampoo + Conditioning $17.97

PLACE• International presence - since its launch in 1983, Axe has been marketed globally with the proposition that its

application will bring uncanny luck with the ladies

• Axe brand products are consistently targeted 18-24 year old males

• Now present in more than 60 countries around the world• Axe’s main target is urban areas

PROMOTION• Unilever attributes Axe’s success to its tightly viewed

promotional strategies: dramatizing “boy gets girl” benefit resulting from product usage. Axe received Clio’s 2006 Advertiser of the year award for its creative leadership; with its edgy individual commercials receiving numerous creative prices- including 10 Cannes lions.

• Axe marketing emphasizes “on-line” promotions- websites, instant messaging, blogs and games

• Additionally, Axe campaigns frequently involve collaborative promotions and orchestrated events carefully targeting adolescents and young adults. Unilever’s highly innovative and imaginative promotional events have generated a distinct high profile Axe image, while furthering brand equity. Moreover, Axe’s promotions have contributed to extensive- positive and negative – press coverage and word of mouth communication both within and beyond its target market

Axe Body Products Puts Its Brand on the Hampton Club Scene

• Axe had sponsored a Hampton nightclub for the entire summer

• There was Axe branding on the D.J. booth, menu and valet tickets; an Axe-themed drink; and Axe products in the men’s and women’s bathrooms

Sustaining Growth• Axe has increased sales worldwide by successfully

expanding distribution into one country after another; while the strategically timed introduction of new fragrances has increased overall market share. Notwithstanding competition from global marketers, i.e., Proctor and Gamble as well as from regional producers either promoting their own brand or/and supplying “private label retailer brands” remains intense. As the market matures Unilever must now address new market opportunities- specifically ethnic multi-cultural markets located throughout the world- where it can realize incremental sales

S.T.P• Segmenting

Demographic – on the basis of gender and age

Geographic – on the basis of areasPsychographic – on the basis of mindset

• Targeting Demographic – Male population aged 12-25 Geographic – Urban areas Psychographic – Fashion conscious

• PositioningAxe has positioned itself as a male deodorant that always succeeds in attracting the opposite sex by making them irresistible by creating “THE AXE EFFECT”.

MARKETING STRATEGIES• Video Ads during prime time

• Controversial print ads on a large scale

• Special offers

• AXE Land

• Dual Effect Sprays

ADS

•PRINT •VIDEO

CONTROVERSY Adverse publicity has been generated by accusations of:• Sexist and degrading advertising, and contradictory

messages versus Dove marketing, which is also owned by Unilever.

• Being seen to encourage sexual promiscuity Potential for solvent abuse and subsequent death amongst

young people: On January 12, 2008 a 12 year old boy in Derbyshire, England died in hospital five days after collapsing at his home. The medical coroner ruled that he had suffered from cardiac arrhythmia and died from heart failure as a result of excessive inhalation of Lynx.

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