Advertising strategy and campaign of axelynx brand report

AXE/LYNX BRAND

INTRODUCTION

Advertising strategies are the campaign tools which are developed to communicate ideas about products and services offered by a certain company to its current customers and potential customers. The main aim of advertisements is to convince the customers to buy the products of the company. When the strategy is built in an intelligent and a considerate manner, it will reflect a better image of the company hence convincing the customers and eventually boosting the sales. Most advertising strategies focus on the following goals.

i. Promote awareness of a business and its products

ii. Stimulate sales directly and attract competitors customers

iii. Establish or modify the image of a business.

The main aim of advertising is to inform, persuade and remind a consumer about the availability and productivity of a given product.

When conducting the advertisement strategies, it essential that one starts with a SWOT analysis. The following is the SWOT analysis for AXE/Lynx

STRENGTHS

• Market leadership – they are the market leader for deodorants and sprays
• Famous for creative messages
• Their products are available at affordable prices
• They have a wide extension around the world
• They have successful and effective advertisements campaigns
• They have a strong emotional touch

WEAKNESSES

• The men featured in the advertisements are comparatively slim
• Objectification of provocation, showing a rude attitude thus weakening the reputation of the brand
• Concrete target public
• Subliminal publicity as the AXE effect does not really exist
• They have unrenovated and an old design of packaging
• They only advertise spray products yet the AXE line of products is much more than just as set of spray products
• They have a chauvinist publicity.

OPPORTUNITIES

• Create new products targeting female customer
• Maintain better quality standards
• Unified advertising campaigns throughout the world
• Continuous innovation

THREATS

• Risk of being a brand for enhancing the men sex-appeal
• Copy by competitors
• Undermining the aspiration of consumers
• Spray emits damages to the environment

The brand name Axe/Lynx was launched in 1983 by Uniliver in France. They deal with consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Axe/Lynx was inspired by Impulse which was a female product that was very appealing to the users. After being launched in Europe, it was later rolled out in Latin America where it became very popular. The Axe’s brands are targeted mainly by 18-25 year old males.

Axe has increased its sales all over the world by a continual and successful distribution of branches in different countries. The strategic timing of introduction of new products has also increased its overall market share.

Axe is a brand name for one of Uniliver’s hugely successful male toiletries brand. It is now being marketed in more than 60 countries worldwide. It has been established as one of the company’s most high profile brands as a result of eye catching and prolific marketing which offered an often absurdly exaggerated view of the product’s effect on women. Axe’s lead product is a deodorant body spray. Some of the inclusions in the brand are; deodorant sticks, roll-ons, anti-perspirants, aftershaves and shower gels. Axe is known under the alternative name, Lynx which is the name used in the UK, Ireland and Australia due to the conflicts regarding the trademark. It is the world’s best selling male grooming product and the number two deodorant world wide behind Uniliver’s lead brand in that sector, Rexona/Dgree/Sure.

Some of the products that are available in the Axe list of brands include:

• Deodorant aerosol body spray
• Deodorant stick
• Deodorant stick
• Antiperspirant aerosol spray
• Antiperspirant stick

For a product to be successful there is need to have the highest standards of corporate behavior towards everyone involved both directly and indirectly in the production of the brand.

ADVERTISING AND CAMPAIGN STRATEGY ON AXE/LYNX BRAND

Social Media: The Lynx has used several social networking sites like the facebook for advertisements. The best example is Keeley Hazell and Jesica Jane Clement. These adverts have been welcome by many especially the youths who are fond of visiting facebook for interaction purposes. Another advertisements in the social media include is the Excite Angels advertisement. Lynx rolled out an interesting experiential campaign which featured the Lynx Excite Angels. It has Augmented Reality twist that sees people interact directly with the angels through a digital video billboard. In the Excite Angels clip, the Angels literally fall to earth in the digital billboard and then interact with who ever is standing on the marker. This play generates the brand interaction and connection in a very big way. The play is very interesting and attractive hence plays a very important role in attracting the attention of viewers hence the main goal of advertisement is achieved. (Harris, 2006)

TV advertisements: The television advertisements featuring several celebrities like Kelly Brook. Lynx uses this form of advertisement to attract the viewers. The TV advertisement featuring Kelly Brook was dubbed “ Lynx Excite Fallen Angel.” Lynx used a very beautiful lady – Kelly Brook for their new deodorant brand scent called “ Excite.” Kelly Brook was used for this advertisement. The lady plays a part of a naughty angel who will have you on a one-way ticket straight to hell within seconds of thinking about her. This results into an eye catching advertisement which helps in achieving their campaign strategy of getting attention.

Online videos: Other campaign strategies used by Lynx is the use of online videos. This was used in the advertisement for Lynx Rise that showed what happened when a person didn’t use the product.

Winning of tickets: Lynx offered their fans a chance to win online tickets to the Lynx All Nighter, where they’ll ‘ Party like a Musicstar’, alongside acts like Prof Green, Roll Deep, Mylo and Wiley. This also helped in promoting the brand as many customers participated in the campaigns so as to win the tickets for different events.

Some of the areas that can lead to further success of AXE include:

• Increase the deodorant’s brand equity
• Increase sales volume
• Transform Axe into an icon in the “ game of seduction”

Targeting the sub-culture group by appealing to their interests in the countries where the market share for the group is increasing.

Attract ethnic potential customers in the countries where traditional marketing efforts may be in conflict with the collective conscious native to that particular country.

Adjusting the age group not necessarily serving the age bracket of 18-25 years old.

STRATEGIES

The formation of the proposed brand is one major strategy that the AXE is using in order to promote its sales. Some other strategies that can be implemented in order to boost the sales further include:

i. Line extension brand strategy: This includes addressing the marketing objectives of targeting the younger males who are between 18-25 years. There is need to take into consideration the new potential market. This can be done by adjusting the product strategy to appeal to the current affairs. The line extension strategy may also be seen to be effective when targeting niche sub-culture markets by extending the Axe brand to appeal to their unique interests. The line extensions represent existing brand names which are extended to new forms, sizes and flavors of an existing product category so as to fit a particular kind of market.

ii. Use of multibrand strategy: This allows for new brands to be introduced in the same Axe/Lynx product categories. It also allows for incorporating body sprays and even shower gels into the same initiative but with new brand names which are also be accompanied by new product strategies. The product strategy can be incorporated into achieving the marketing objectives of penetrating new segments.

A combination of the two strategies under the Axe/Lynx brand name to include new fragrances helped in adjusting market initiatives by altering the product strategy so as to appeal to the younger age groups and also manufacturing products like Shinx which appealed to all the other groups of in the market.

CREATIVE STRATEGY

The strategy should be built on the brand heritage while at the same time reviving Axe’s image to make fashionable. Passive seduction is one of the motivating consumer insights that were still evident at this point. The younger men want to seduce without making too much efforts to do the same. They therefore used the products and once the women showed some interest they became more courageous for the confrontation. This strategy worked especially to those young men who looked shy and could not easily approach a lady. (Harris, 2006)

Axe imposed some new strategy on top of the seduction strategy that could see them appear to be on top of all the other brands in the market. Axe decided to employ the use of humour whereby the setting and character is very relevant and aspiration to the audience being targeted. It involved moving from the traditional exotic male role model to an environment which was closer to the consumer’s reality. (Harris, 2006)

MARKETING STRATEGY

Axe also implemented a marketing strategy in order to get hold of the consumers and improve their sales. They created a new product category called deodorant body spray for men. The deodorant did not only offer odor prevention but also offered fragrance which made be classified as a seduction tool easing the transition from adolescence to manhood. This strategy boosted the sales especially from young men who were within the age bracket of 18-25 years old. (Harris, 2006)

The packaging of the product is very attractive as it has a distinctive look thus making it easy to be recognized by the consumers. The black exterior compliments packaging and a striking short, block lettering exemplified thereon setting it apart from the generic competitor ensures that a person does not buy a counterfeit as it has outstanding features.

The augmentation of the product makes it easy for customers to interact with the various promotional campaigns through a series of websites which are scattered with images of attractive females. This helps in attracting young men who are the main target consumers for the product.

Other advertisement strategies which are used here include use of free-air television advertisements, newspapers, magazines, cinemas and outdoor advertising. All these forms of advertising revolve around a major theme of seduction where a girl makes the first move.

The advertisement used has subliminal implications whereby the brand assumes that men want women to seduce them. The feeling gives men a boost of self confidence. Many men who lack the virtue of self confidence will try to give this brand a test as they believe that seduction will be very easy if they use the brand. The brand is made more approachable considering the kinds of men featured in the advertisements who are skinny but once they use the product, very beautiful girls start approaching. In as much as other brands also use this kind of situation, Axe just makes it perfect thus more attractive and hence boosting its sales. (Baker, 2008)

The use of the internet based marketing also brings about a boost in the marketing initiative with Axe. The internet based marketing strategy is cheap to the company and reaches every corner of the globe thus boosting the sales of Axe in other countries outside Europe.

Axe also uses print media in advertising. They employ a fascinating type of advert which is very appealing. Print Ads of Axe has won several awards in various ad events. The brand also uses other outdoor forms of advertisements. They have a common message across over 70 countries. The mode of outdoor advertisements employed in the Axe brands are exceptional thus making it easy to consumers to recognize hence adopts the use of that brand. (Baker, 2008)

Axe/Lynx is planning to launch an Apple iAd mobile advertising network. This will help find more innovative ways to engage with its audience

Controversies

There has been an adverse publicity that has been generated by the product’s advertisement which tends to encourage immorality.

The chemicals used for manufacturing the spray can cause suffocation especially when sprayed in places that are not well ventilated. An example is a case of a 12 year old boy who died after spraying large amounts of lynx in a confined environment. (Harris, 2006)

Lynx can cause multiple injuries as the spray is highly inflammable.

The company later created two advertisements which warned the public against the dangers that one can face if he/she does not use the product wisely. The first warning was cautioning the public against using Lynx as an inhalant and the other one was warning the public about the inflammability of the product. (Baker, 2008)

REFERENCES:

Baker, Michael. The Strategic Marketing Plan Audit: 2008.
Harris, Paul The Menaissance: The Observer London: Guardian. 2006.
Lynx Blow interactive artefact www. lynxblow. com/2007
Miles, Raymond Organizational Strategy, Structure, and Process. Stanford: Stanford University Press: 2003
Tennenbaum Theoretical Foundations of Multimedia, Computer Science Press, New York: 1998
Ze-Nain and Drew Fundamentals of Multimedia, Pearson, London: 2004