VS.
Keith Bergh
January 23rd, 2009
MSCO 292.02
Assignment #1
Sophisticated Masculinity vs. Making Fantasy a Reality
(Found in ESPN the Magazine)
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(Found in Maxim)
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(Found in Sports Illustrated)
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(Found in GQ)
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(Found in Fortune Magazine)
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(Found in PC Magazine)
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Old Spice Commercials under the same advertising campaign:
Youtube.com – keyword “Old Spice Brian”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNUCsUUaevk
keyword “Old Spice LL”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-XBvuwLuEc
keyword “Old Spice Doctor”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TusJ8HSLaUs
Axe Commercials under the same advertising campaign:
Youtube.com – keyword “Axe Prostitute”
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=axe+prosti
tute
keyword “Axe Power”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqQW89NrFoo
Product Differentiation
Product differentiation is defined as unique product attributes that set off one brand from
another. The male deodorant market is interesting, as there is little product differentiation. Most
all brands provide the same basic effects with the same ingredients used, as fragrance is the only
physical attribute that differentiates. Therefore, advertising plays a huge role in grabbing market
share, based on the elements of positioning, target market, and the manner in which they convey
their message. Both Old Spice and Axe are in the competitive stage of advertising.
Old Spice has a larger product line, with a wider variety of gels, solids, body sprays, and
aerosols than Axe. The consumer perception of Old Spice is that has been in the business for a
while, and therefore has the best product that works the greatest. Through having humorous
advertisements that also detail the effectiveness of the product and how well it works, also sells
Old Spice. From the brand image being mature, stylish and effective, Old Spice has been able to
keep market share in the industry.
Axe meanwhile, focuses on the product appealing towards women. Through a new scent
of “Dark Chocolate”, which was based on the statistical belief that 74% of women love
chocolate, the product aims at guys looking for more attention. The brand image of Axe is one
that is fun, youthful, and sexual, leaving an “effect” on those that walk by you and get a whiff of
you. Axe, a brand of Unilever, has been in the market much shorter than Old Spice and therefore
has tried to leverage their “newness” in their advertising campaigns.
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Brand Equity
Old Spice is viewed as being a brand that is more professional and mature than similar
products, and will help the user be that way through using the product. It will help the user also
reach their potential and be more masculine, which as a result, will allow them to attract women.
Since Old Spice has been around for the longest, and having this implied in the brand name
(“Old”), users associate that the brand knows what it is doing and will help make the individual
sophisticated and intelligent.
Axe, on the contrary, is viewed as being a brand that is more fun and seductive compared
to similar products, and will help get woman and make the user‟s wildest fantasies come true.
The youthful and often sexually humorous campaigns demonstrate the reason anyone should be
using their deodorant is for sex appeal.
Positioning
Old Spice has positioned their brand to be more of a masculine and life-changing spray
for men, with focus on the before and after. In most of their advertisements today, they show
how “The scent has made a difference” such as Brian Urlacher going from a scrawny nerd to all
that is man. It is positioned as more of a professional and sophisticated product compared to Axe,
as the after results in the advertisements usually show the person in a suit and tie. They also try
to position the brand as being for those who are “athletic” mostly to drive the large percentage of
men who play sports. That is why they have a handful of advertisements in sports magazines.
Axe has been consistently positioned as a fantasy spray for men and that Axe will help
with the ladies. They demonstrate in their advertisements that their intoxicating, seductive affects
of smell on the female population can make just about any of your wildest dreams come true.
Sex appeal in the advertisements demonstrates this, in a fun and festive manner. Some of Axe‟s
advertisements have been criticized for being too over the top with some commercials even
being banned in various countries.
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Target Market
Old Spice‟s target market is men ages 18 to 34. The brand also seems to target athletes,
between commercials with sports stars, sponsorship of NASCAR driving and the AND1 Street
Basketball Tour, and placement in sports video games. Old Spice used to be known as “the
shaving and deodorant of your father” due to its longevity in the market and having been targeted
in the early 90‟s as more of a vintage, elder father brand. That changed in the late „90s, when the
brand focused on targeting kids in middle school. In fact, in 1999, P&G handed out samples to
fifth-grade health classes, covering 90% of the nation‟s schools. The brand also wants to
maintain a large portion of their user to be young adults and thirty year-olds, and has
demonstrated this through their professional, yet humorous, advertising.
Axe, meanwhile, also targets the youthful demographic, between the ages of 15 to 24
years old, with a handful of users as young as 11. Since the positioning of the brand is on
“picking up women” it appeals to young kids who are encountering the opposite sex more
frequently. For the brand, college is the sweet spot, as it is the time in a male‟s life that they
establish grooming habits. As seen on the print advertisement mentioning a “sorority girl”, this
shows their target market is college students. Since sex sells, Axe properly has put a majority of
their print advertisements in magazines such as Maxim, Playboy, and GQ, which convey similar
material.
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Name: Keith Bergh
Date: Friday, January 23rd, 2009
Class: MSCO 292.02
Assignment #1: 9 points
Branding, Ad Stage, & Target Marketing
1. Assignment work is complete (thorough, required assignment complete, all
work complete, work done in completion/final as though submitted to a client)
Excellent | Good | Satisfactory |
3
2
1
2. Assignment work is accurate (no errors in explanations or descriptions)
Excellent | Good | Satisfactory |
3
2
1
3. Packaging of work (includes clarity, computer generated work, no typos, no
grammatical errors, organization of work, packaged professionally)
Excellent | Good | Satisfactory |
3
1
.5
Comments:
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