Creative Marketing Strategies of Axe by Unilever

Introduction

Brands have understood that there is no blue ocean; every market is a red ocean and hence extremely competitive. In the sense that consumers are spoiled with choices. There are similar and identical products for every product line, and what can set the companies apart is their marketing communication or their price differentiation.

Axe, as a brand, has proven that effective marketing communication and channels can make a difference. Let us see in this article the birth and growth trajectory of Axe, the brief of the Unilever brand, and the excellent marketing initiatives of Axe by Unilever.

Image 1 − AXE logo 2021

A Brief Introduction to Unilever

The Lever brothers formed a partnership that eventually became Unilever as a business in the 1900s. The brand Unilever has made a number of acquisitions and has made significant early investments in product development and research and development initiatives. Unilever aspires to improve the community and the lives of its customers through the use of its products and services because it cares about both its workers and the general public. Unilever began hiring everyone who returned from the war during the Second World War. Unilever is a brand that is recognized today in the food, home care, and skin care sectors.

There are several brands and product lines under Unilever that dominate the market, and some of them are as listed here.

• Axe

• Dove

• Pears

• Life Bouy

• Vim

• Horlicks

• Ben & Jerry

• Comfort, and many others.

The Birth and Growth Trajectory of Axe

Image 2 − Bottles of Axe deodorant

Axe as a brand is the most popular grooming brand and is available in more than 70 countries. Axe was founded in 1983 and introduced in the United States in 2002. Axe sells men’s grooming products, which range from deodorants, soap, hair gel, body gel, shampoo, conditioner, beard grooming kits, and others. Axe mainly focuses on what young adults want and what they need for grooming. The men’s grooming industry is growing by leaps and bounds because of generational change, and Axe is not just a brand that has been in the market for a year but a brand of trust.

Excellent Marketing Initiatives of Axe by Unilever

Marketing communication strategies that Axe as a brand took over to position itself in the saturated spray market and men’s groom market are −

Sensual Advertisements by Axe

Axe wants to target young adults. Most of the advertisements by Axe focus on a young adult who is not that attractive, generally very thin and unattractive, applying the Axe deodorant, and then the girls or ladies get attracted to him. Just like how honeybees swamp over like honey. The advertisements are very sensual and show that a man who wears Axe deodorant is irresistible to ladies. The brand’s aspirational, approachable, and light-hearted tone attracts young males.

Furthermore, humorous advertisements by Axe are also impactful and the talk of the town. Axe started coming up with longer videos because Axe, as a brand, wanted to create and develop a bond with the customer by going beyond a 30-second advertisement.

Marketing Communication Channels

Axe understood that classic and traditional channels would not be as effective with the audience. Hence, Axe used all the male-dominated marketing communication channels to attract customers. Video games, mating tool kits, chat rooms, mobile applications, TV networks like MTV, ESPN, Spike, Comedy Central, the NBA, NCCA, and the Super Bowl commercials Axe launches print advertisements in Playboy, Rolling Stone, GQ, and Maxim.

Celebrity Endorsements by Axe

Virat Kholi, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, and Ranbir Kapoor are just some of the Indian celebrities featured in Axe Spray. These celebrities help in reinforcing the masculine, cool, and stylish brand image of Axe.

Refreshment of the Brand and its Advertisements

Axe understood that young male customers of Axe are fickle-minded and will switch brands easily. Hence, Axe came up with new fragrances every year to keep the customers engaged; more innovations like Axe perfume were also introduced, and through the same, Axe also came up with new advertisements to keep the audience engaged.

Conclusion

Axe portrays a masculine image, perfect for young adults or their male counterparts who want to look stylish and cool. Axe has more than 81 types of fragrances for its customers. The brand Axe uses colors like black, red, and blue to show power and dominance. Axe defines sensuality, aggressiveness, and assertiveness.

The Axe brand is working great in the market and has major competitors like Dive, Fog, Gillette, Nivea, and others. What sets Axe apart from its competitors and various other brands in the market is the fact that it has positioned itself differently. The marketing communications and strategies are what set it apart and make it a preferred brand for the target customer. Axe clearly shows that effective marketing communications can level up brands.