How Axe used mobile to build its brand

The mobile phone is the most pervasive media device in our history. There were 3.3 billion mobile subscribers globally in 2007 and nearly half of them in Asia. Mobile subscriptions outnumber television sets 2 to 1 and PCs almost 4 to 1. So why is it lagging as a marketing and advertising channel?

The majority of mobile campaigns to date are promotions such as discounts or competitions. These campaigns, while valuable, are short-term sales drivers and account for a small chunk of a marketing budget. I’m loath to repeat the maxim, but mobile has far greater potential for advertisers than this. It can be a powerful brand-building tool that communicates, engages and empowers your consumers with your brand.

There are two questions to ask before deciding whether or not to use mobile How does my target market use their mobile phone? And does this behaviour help communicate, engage or empower consumers with my brand?

Axe, a men’s body spray, asked these questions and developed two highly engaging campaigns.

Japan successfully launched Axe early in 2007. However, Japanese men perceived the product as a special-occasions cologne, rather than a daily fragrance. The challenge was to convince young guys to spray Axe every day.

We discovered that almost 70 per cent of guys aged 15 to 24 in Japan use their phone as an alarm clock. So BBH created the ‘Axe everyday wake-up service’. Guys who downloaded the application received a ‘wake-up call’ and a reminder to spray Axe from the Axe Angel of their choosing. The application worked like a Tamagotchi pet; the more you used your Angel’s service, the friendlier she became. Ignore her and she became sulky and upset. By enhancing an existing mobile behaviour, Axe engaged Japanese guys every day for three weeks with the message ‘Axe is an everyday fragrance’.

Lynx, as Axe is known in the UK, faced a different challenge. Social networking had become the primary tool for flirting which posed a serious threat to the brand - fragrance has no effect online. Lynx needed to encourage guys to get out into the real world and rediscover the thrill of meeting girls face-to-face.

To achieve this Lynx offered a range of mobile ‘pulling tools’ that helped guys break the ice with girls. These were a simple array of sounds like a metal detector click that went crazy when in the presence of an attractive girl, or an electronic car lock beep so guys could claim

to own the nearest luxury car. For Lynx the mobile phone was not just the device that delivered the brand message, it was a device that delivered on the brand promise, empowering guys to get the girl.

The time is long overdue for mobile to realise its potential and play a central brand-building role. This is not only possible, it’s quite simple: study the way your target market uses their mobile phone and find the synergies with your brand, then let the 3.3 billion mobile users do the rest.

Suzie Hoban
Engagement planner, BBH Asia-Pacific