MEMO
To: Bob Basil
From: Daniel Margarit
Date: September 28th, 2012
RE: AXE Online Audit
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your request for an online audit of AXE. Upon searching for
AXE product information through specific online marketing tools, I have determined this product is
popular amongst online influencers who generally provide positive feedback. The main target audience
being young males are receptive to the advertisements and enjoy the themes. There are also critics who
are branding AXE advertisements as offensive and sexually suggestive.
The AXE Background
AXE products were introduced in France by Unilever, in 1983. Following early success in France, Unilever
launched the brand in Europe in 1985. Following the AXE’s success in Europe, Unilever broke into the
North American and Latin American markets. Due to some trademark issues though, the product is
called Lynx in the UK, Ireland, and Australasia.
The lead product for AXE has long been the aerosol deodorant body spray. Although this was its
trademark product, the brand is succeeding with many other products available. In earlier days, AXE
successfully launched annual fragrance lines. From 1983 until about 1989, AXE introduced such
fragrances as Musk, Spice, Amber, Marine, and Oriental. From 1990 to 1996, AXE used geographical
names for their fragrances such as Africa, Inca, Nevada, Java, and Alaska. From 1996 until 2002 Unilever
worked closely with its Calvin Klein fragrances to further develop AXE. In 2009 AXE branched out with
other products such as men’s shampoo, shower gels, aftershaves, and hairstyling. AXE has just recently
launched products for women.
Research the Brand Online
A major growth initiative and strategy for Unilever has long been e-commerce. Unilever has stepped up
its use of the internet throughout the past to improve brand communication and online selling. Unilever
has formed many partnerships to enable a faster adoption of global e-commerce opportunities. In
February of 2000, Unilever formed a new internet company and committed £130 million to e-business
initiatives. AXE will surely have sufficient funding for its online marketing channels. For this online audit,
the medias utilized are, Axe official website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Review Sites/Blogs
and Wikipedia.
Axe Official Website
The AXE website is very interactive for users searching product information. The website appearance is
clearly geared towards the use of sharp aggressive marketing which targets younger men. The website
has links to their Facebook page, Twitter page, YouTube and LinkedIn. The main advertising campaigns
are displayed on the homepage but not in much detail. The links to Twitter and Facebook is where the
viewer will find further details about the campaigns. The website doesn’t provide company background
or information about history. The website offers consumers the option to purchase products online.
Facebook
The official Facebook page is a big platform for AXE. Their Facebook page is liked by 3,648,874 people as
of September 24th, 2012. There have been 224,030 people who talked about AXE products over
Facebook. The content on this page, however, mostly consists of links to other contest pages without
much information. The posts are mainly humorous jokes with funny pictures and some promotional
details. Facebook is the largest social media platform with major potential and AXE’s official page may
not be utilizing it for the best reasons, it’s mostly there to create a buzz and keep interested consumers
involved.
Twitter
The corporate Twitter account is mostly about brand promotion. This Twitter account has 82,457
followers and generally tweets once to four times a day. Most the tweets are from AXE talking about
new promos, contests, and product updates. There aren’t any real influencers on this Twitter account as
majority of all tweets are from AXE themselves. This account seems to be largely dedicated to their new
campaign, “Find your Susan Glenn” (Axe. 2012), which promotes using AXE products to boost your
confidence so you can finally talk to your dream girl.
YouTube
The official AXE YouTube site is largely dedicated to promotional videos such as their TV commercials
and product showcasing. Most videos are oriented around the high sex appeal a man gets when using
AXE products. The “AXE Effect” (AXE 2012) promotes the product by using men who have success with
beautiful women by “Staying Clean”. This page has 17,114 followers and their videos/commercials have
well over 27 million views in total. The videos have many comments all ranging from positive feedback
to pure criticism- but for no particular reasons.
Review Sites
There are many search engines that can be used to find specific Blogs, Social Media posts, and sites
dedicated to reviewing consumer products. When searching the web for AXE related web pages,
multiple results are available and there are some mixed opinions about the marketing style for AXE
products. For instance, on Social Mention (2012) the consumer sentiment towards AXE was neutral for
the most part, although, it was also apparent that some consumers and reviewers were expressing
negative opinions. One of the first results from searching “Axe Unilever” was a video linked to YouTube
which was created by an Executive Career Coach who is essentially “calling out” the CEO of Unilever
accusing AXE commercials of objectifying women. This video has only received 233 views.
The consumer audience mostly finds the advertisements used for AXE products amusing. Another search
result from Social Mention is from the New York Women in Communications who tweeted,
“Showerpooling is the latest craze.... follow Unilever’s extraordinary marketing! ow.ly/dO7dd”
About.com which is an information super site returns with a top search result of an article called, “A
review of the Axe hair line of styling products” by Dave Alexander. The article provides full details about
the product lines and customer ratings for each. The AXE hair products scored well and received good
overall reviews.
Online Influencers
A search for online influencers should determine who is creating the influence on how consumers are
thinking. I am trying to determine whether the online mood is generally neutral, negative, or positive.
This research is best conducted with such media outlets as Google, Bing, Facebook and Blog search
engines. The determining factors will be weighed based on the importance of the influencer, the
amount of followers, and if they are credible.
Facebook
Social media has been a major player in influencing the consumer’s way of thinking. For example, as per
an article from the Huffington Post, South Africa banned the AXE commercial, “Angels will Fall”, due to
complaints from Christians that the advertisement was offensive. The complaint was regarding the
portrayal of angels renouncing their heavenly status for mortal desires. Axe later launched a campaign
on their South African Facebook page to help get the advertisement back on air. The page has 158,351
likes and 21,543 people talking about it. The mood is generally supportive and in favor of AXE’s
marketing strategies.
Review Websites & Blogs
There are many review websites available which include comment threads that are great for opinions
and hot topics. A product review site such as ProductWiki shows the majority of internet users who
commented on this page are fairly neutral towards AXE. There were also some users who loved the
advertisements and some who hated them, just for the sake of hating it would seem. This trend was
mostly consistent across other review sites. There were some exceptions where consumers argued the
advertisements are offensive.
There is a fair amount of talk regarding AXE commercials coming from the Blog world. The positive Blogs
were often made for marketing reviews speaking of the success AXE has earned with its creative and
aggressive campaigns. Many of AXE’s competitors have recently launched similar strategies to keep up.
There are Blogs which attack the AXE strategy as well. It would appear that the TV commercials have
offended some religious followers with the sexual depiction of angels. Others offended include equal
rights advocates who accuse the advertisements of portraying women as objects. These influencers
have created a small stir in the grand scheme of things, and aren’t necessarily darkening the mood of
online participants.
Recommendations
After thorough examination of AXE’s presence online, it’s fair to determine that AXE has a large
following and the mood is generally neutral. Most consumers that are talking about AXE perceive the
brand as smart, unique, and amusing. In fact, AXE has won multiple marketing awards in recent years for
their bold and aggressive campaigns.
There are however consumers that are trying to criticize AXE advertisements for being to sexually
suggestive and offensive to their beliefs. Two types of consumers in particular are strict religious
followers and women’s equality advocates.
I personally recommend that AXE do not let themselves be pushed around and recommend they
continue to promote their products in the same fashion. The majority rules and its proven that AXE
advertisements are a success with their target market which is youth males, and young adult males. The
general opinion from their target market matters most because they are the consumers purchasing the
products. AXE also receives positive feedback through marketing awards, their sales figures, and public
interest. The small group that criticizes AXE’s advertisements are fairly in consequential to their success.
The online presence of AXE brand is largely credited to their YouTube success. Axe also has multiple
Facebook pages for individual countries which all seem to generate a modest following. This strategy
shows AXE has a deeper interest in its customers worldwide. YouTube has really helped AXE’s
advertisements blow up. Their popular commercials are available for internet users and have been
viewed over 27 million times, (YouTube).
My recommendation for AXE’s online strategy is to stay strong with their Twitter account, but perhaps
work to strengthen their official website and official Facebook page. The AXE website lacks the sensation
of being their online home base. There is sufficient product information but their contests and
campaigns aren’t divulged in detail. The official Facebook page should have more content for marketing
purposes opposed to social humour and pictures.
Bibliography
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, AXE (brand) sourced September 24th 2012 fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axe_(brand)
AXE registered website (2012), sourced September 24th 2012 from- www.theaxeeffect.com
Lynx registered website (2012), sourced September 24th 2012 from- www.lynxeffect.com
AXE Newsroom (2012), sourced September 24th 2012 from – www.axenewsroom.com
Corporate Watch, London UK, sourced September 24th 2012 fromhttp://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=257
The Huffington Post Inc (2012), article by Jessica Misener 10/28/2011, sourced September 27th 2012
from- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/28/axe-deodorant-ad-banned-angels_n_1064150.html
Social Mention (2012), search Unilever Axe brand, sourced September 24th 2012 fromhttp://www.socialmention.com/search?t=all&q=unilever+axe+brand&btnG=Search
Twitter (2012), New York Women in Communications, sourced September 24th 2012 fromhttp://twitter.com/NYWICI/statuses/249180452991164417
Twitter (2012), Axe official Twitter account, sourced September 24th 2012 from- https://twitter.com/AXE
About.com (2012), searched Axe Products, sourced September 24th 2012 fromhttp://menshair.about.com/od/menshaircare/gr/A-Review-Of-The-Axe-Hair-Line-Of-StylingProducts.htm
Facebook (2012), Axe South Africa Facebook page, sourced September 27th 2012 fromhttp://www.facebook.com/AxeSouthAfrica?sk=app_174687555953081
Facebook (2012), Axe Facebook page, sourced September 24th 2012 fromhttp://www.facebook.com/#!/axe