"What WERE They Thinking?" Wednesday - Axe Anarchy
- Panel from 'Anarchy - The Graphic Novel', by Axe
It's no surprise that Axe deodorant body spray and its marketing is successful among men. Any straight male loves the imagery of bikini babes clamouring over one another to get closer to that hypnotizing scent. While not the most progressive idea, men are clearly entertained by it. So, naturally, when Axe's scent for women was launched, there was much anticipation as to what the ladies were in for. Unfortunately, Axe's efforts marketing to a female sensibility fall flat. A polite golf clap is all I can give them for trying so hard.
The new scent is called Anarchy, for Him and for Her, and the 30-second spot has already made its viral tour around the internet with mixed reviews. It features men equally drawn to women, and they come close, but never touch. All this, in front of a backdrop of chaos that would make Michael Bay pants-happy. While I'm sure that men, with an insatiable lust for destruction, found this to be entertaining, (the sprinkling of a sexy female sport team emerging from an overturned bus didn't hurt either.) But, I had to squint to see the appeal to the female audience. I'm not really sure how the women play into this marketing plan. They seem to be more of an after thought.
This product is positioned as the scent of seduction for men, but for the ladies it's more of, "I didn't have time to shower after the gym." It would be pretty hard to convince her to give up that special bottle of expensive perfume for something more common to wear while on the prowl. In this commercial, Axe fails to demonstrate any sort of benefit to the ladies other than male attention. And women only care about the true benefit of any product they purchase. In the past, Axe has gotten away with the repackaging of the same idea of desire when their target was strictly male, but now the brand has to be aware of changes that need to be made to get the ladies buying this for themselves.
The commercial isn't the only idea Axe has released in order to gain more of a buzz for this product. It's taken farther with the inclusion of a web-comic called 'Anarchy - The Graphic Novel' on the company's YouTube page. It too seems to cater more to the masculine ideal of action-adventure comics, with barely-empowering roles for women. While the story does feature female lead characters, the artists still found it necessary to outfit them with tight and shiny catsuits and above regulation-snug uniforms. They are all twisted into a user-generated plot line that is less than compelling, without showing any signs of real character development. It's more like an improv comic routine where a new sexy character is introduced when things start getting flaccid.
I will, however, give a nod to the best part of this campaign. Users, who submit valid ideas to the story line will have their image drawn into the pages as an extra. Men and women have actively participated in submitting plot twists and characters ideas, later finding themselves tagged on a panel. The artists have done a good job featuring both genders equally. Undoubtedly, there is a vast female audience for all types of comics. But this particular example still seems to favour men. This is clearly a big idea that is very unique and inspires users to get involved. Unfortunately, as a product marketed to both men and women, Axe failed to see that it is most likely that women would be the one plucking it off the shelf, and therefore making their approach more female-friendly.
So Axe? What Were You Thinking?
You clearly weren't thinking that straight women would want to see just as many sexualized men featured.
Or that a smell still isn't enough to have a women succumb to her baser instincts.
Or that women had a problem with that branding in the past and that your new product didn't listen.
Or that women would want to feel the power their gender might have with a mighty Axe, equipped for battle.
That's OK, you're still new to marketing to women, so we'll cut you some slack. Next time maybe bring in a few M2W experts to show you the ropes.
- Tell us what you think of this campaign in the comments below.