The teenage male target market for Axe fragrances are considered to be highly critical consumers. For this reason, the fate of every new launch is always decided in the first month. The key challenge for Axe Provoke, ahead of its 'So Tempting, Even the Angels Will Fall' campaign, was to keep the young teenage male target, known for their notoriously short attention spans, engaged enough. The platform of the mating game was no longer unique to Axe, and with the world delving into the digital market there was already enough to lure and attract them.
The promise of, 'amazing things happen when you smell good….with Axe', would need to come alive in a manner never done before. Axe's preferred channels were mobile and social media, in order to deliver outside the confines of the living room to encourage sharing and talkability.
The target males were the type to seek approval from their friends, family and greatest rivals. They challenged themselves to acquire more 'badges', experiences and girls. This was no different in their desire to outdo their friends with the latest gadgets, applications and content. Thai teens crave experiences to Lifecast, a minute by minute broadcast of their experiences from the virtual world. This device enables them to gain kudos from their friends and was therefore used by Axe to blossom into the Axe Angels mobile campaign. With 65% of the target audience; males between the age of 16 and 22, using an iPhone, Axe used it as the main source for its campaign. The iPhone was converted into a tool, that enabled them to get closer not only to girls, but to 'angels'.
The iPhone application, 'Get the Angel', was created to combine gaming with location based technology linked to Facebook. Participants could use the app to follow the 'Angel Trail' through Thailand and find online 'celestial angels.' The Trail ran through teen-oriented magazines, TV programmes and websites. Between July and August 2011, young men used the App to find and 'collect' angels from throughout Thailand.
To find and collect angels, users had to download the Axe Provoke application and then shake their iPhone. Users scoured different locations around the city for the different angels. When they found an angel on the Angel Trail, the user clicked on the Axe Provoke button to virtually 'spray' Provoke.
In seconds, the angel 'descended' from heaven into the iPhone, and onto the user's Facebook page. Players were then granted access to exclusive angels' secret galleries and video clips. The more they played, the more features they discovered, including a video alarm clock, allowing the player to literally be woken up by an angel.
Players could share the angel locations with friends on Facebook, and work together to make the angels fall in tandem.
In Bangkok, by working together, teenage boys made the virtual experience a reality. As each angel was found, players shared her location on Facebook. When 10,000 angels fell in one place, Axe sent in the Angel Troop, promotional models, to distribute free samples of Provoke.
When 1.5 million angels were retrieved, the Axe Angel Expo Party was launched. Players who completed the game by unlocking all of the features were granted VIP access to a secret party, and a chance to meet supermodel Elly Tran, who is very popular with the target audience.
Results
Axe Provoke's market share grew by 165%
The total Axe brand market share grew by 23%
More than 10,000 teens participated in the campaign during the four-week period
Over 200,000 'Angel Trails' were shared on FB, for an estimated total of 50 million impressions
Angel Troops were sent to more than 60 locations in Bangkok, and gave away 350,000 samples of Axe Provoke
The Angel Trails that spread across teen-oriented magazines, TV programmes and websites generated extensive free publicity (estimated at 10M Baht / USD $322,500)
More than 50 VIP guests, including journalists and 1,000 players, attended the Axe Angel Expo party, which featured international models including Vietnamese super-model Elly Tran.