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Axe Introduces New Fragrance for Women

Axe, the body spray and grooming brand by Unilever, famous for its ads that turn average young men into heroic “girl-magnets,” recently launched the newest addition to its line of body sprays: Anarchy, a scent marketed towards men and women.

The campaign, by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, focuses on the idea of chaos and commotion, using dramatic online and print advertisements to stir up attention. The online promotion kicked-off with a teaser commercial, also seen in movie theaters, which featured the "Anarchy" concept without revealing the new product for women.

Social media, specifically the Axe Facebook page, played a key role in unleashing the “anarchist” scent. Up until the launch, Facebook users were greeted with a countdown to the fragrance release using the text “Anarchy is coming.” Free samples were distributed before the product hit stores for Facebook users who answered all of the questions correctly on an Axe quiz.

Axe also launched an original graphic novel in partnership with Aspen Comics, appropriately titled “Anarchy,” via YouTube and Facebook.  The graphic novel, “Anarchy Girl,.” Was created with fan feedback in real time, with Axe consumers voting on the comic’s plotline, characters and other aspects online through Axe’s social media channels. Some lucky fans also had comic versions of themselves featured in the novel after “liking” specific Axe Facebook posts or contributing their ideas.

To elaborate on their “Are you ready for unexpected attraction at every turn?” marketing campaign, Axe produced their usual suggestive commercial: a female police officer chasing a male robber through the city, only to meet with an incredible force of attraction at the end of the ad.

 A limited edition release, the question is will the body spray make women forgo their normal stand-by and make Axe Anarchy body spray their new choice? Barret Roberts, Senior Brand Manager at Axe, told the New York Times, “We’ve been hearing for some time that females have been asking for and looking for their very own scent of Axe.”

 At SA, we believe this is not anarchy, just smart marketing.

 

Marketing Blogger Danny Flamberg names The NEW Launch Plan as one of the Top “Beach Books” for Marketers

 

 

“The NEW Launch Plan,” written by Joan Schneider, President, and Julie Hall, EVP/Partner, of Schneider Associates, has just been listed as one of the five top “beach books for marketers” according to marketing blogger, Danny Flamberg. 

A well known marketing strategy consultant who has represented top-tier corporations such as American Express, General Motors, Federal Express, and Morgan Stanley, Flamberg praised authors Schneider and Hall for touching “on every topic, from positioning, messages, advertising, social media, sampling, and measurement, to keep marketers focused on the process and the prize” and commented how “tips are detailed, enumerated and illustrated with case studies, advice and imagery.” Flamberg manages the blog Manhattan Marketing Maven and discusses relevant news, topics, trends and techniques related to PR and marketing. Please click here to read the review in its entirety.

If you would like help planning your next launch, contact us at launch@schneiderpr.com or on Twitter @SchneiderPR.

Create Key Messages

  Tip 41: Create key messages

“If you put together messages without a framework, you will probably be mired in wordsmithing before you know it. Instead, begin by working logically from questions to answers. Assemble key individuals who will be involved in your launch, such as the brand manager, thought leaders from your public relations and advertising agencies, internal personnel with marketing savvy, and consumers. Ask each individual to write down any questions they think might be asked about the product, from the global to the specific. How does this work? What’s new about it? How much will it cost? How long will it last? Where can I buy it? Why would I buy this when the competition already has a better product on the market? Who tested the product to prove its efficacy? At this point, all questions are important to consider and none should be disregarded as irrelevant.

“Working with a trained facilitator (from your PR agency or a resource within the company), write all the questions on a flip chart or whiteboard so the group can see them. Review the queries to learn what the group thinks about them. Then ask the participants—working either alone or in teams of two or three—to group all of the questions into buckets. These will most likely address the product’s benefit to the consumer and what is new and different about it. We suggest having two or three buckets, one for each subject. 

“Now comes the hard part: the facilitator needs to keep a relatively tight rein on the participants. Break people into groups and ask each team to formulate one sentence with the dominant answer or statement about the subject matter addressed in each bucket. Compare the input from the groups. You will find that the answers are usually very similar and will give you the essence of your key messages. Test each message you formulate by asking this question: If people hear, understand, believe and act on each key message, will it drive sales of the product and make the launch a success? If the answer is yes, you have likely formulated effective key messages.  Be sure to take a break at various intervals, as messaging requires time and perspective that can be gained only through discussions about each message and its meaning.”

 

Read more about creating key messages on page 100 of The NEW Launch Plan: 152 Tips, Tactics and Trends from the Most Memorable New Products. If you would like help planning your next launch, contact us at launch@schneiderpr.com or on Twitter @SchneiderPR

How Social Media is Changing Launch – Joan Schneider and Julie Hall discuss ideas from “The NEW Launch Plan”

 

 

Follow this link to watch Schneider and Hall talk about how social media is transforming new product launches, and discuss their favorite social media case studies.

   

 

 

 

 

“The NEW Launch Plan,” available at BNPmedia.com and at Amazon.com, is a business book for brand and marketing professionals, written by Joan Schneider, President, and Julie Hall, EVP/Partner, of Schneider Associates.  Authors Schneider and Hall draw upon decades of experience launching new products and showcase real world strategies and tactics used in highly effective product introductions. “The NEW Launch Plan” is replete with case studies from brand managers on the front lines of the battle for market share, and demonstrates how creative, integrated marketing ideas fuel and sustain launch success.

David Meerman Scott, author of “The New Rules of Marketing & PR,” commented: “In today’s always on, YouTube-infested, Twitter-centric world, it’s much tougher to launch a new product than even a few years ago. If you’re ready to launch a new consumer product into the national market, ‘The NEW Launch Plan’ is your blueprint for success.”

 

If you would like help planning your next launch, contact us at launch@schneiderpr.com or on Twitter @SchneiderPR.

Introducing “The NEW Launch Plan” – Joan Schneider and Julie Hall discuss topics from their new book

Follow this link to watch Schneider and Hall talk about the book, upcoming trends, key findings from the Most Memorable New Product Launch survey, their favorite case studies, and the concept of B2E – Business to Everyone.

“The NEW Launch Plan,” available at BNPmedia.com and at Amazon.com, is a business book for brand and marketing professionals, written by Joan Schneider, President, and Julie Hall, EVP/Partner, of Schneider Associates.  Authors Schneider and Hall draw upon decades of experience launching new products and showcase real world strategies and tactics used in highly effective product introductions. “The NEW Launch Plan” is replete with case studies from brand managers on the front lines of the battle for market share, and demonstrates how creative, integrated marketing ideas fuel and sustain launch success.

David Meerman Scott, author of “The New Rules of Marketing & PR,” commented: “In today’s always on, YouTube-infested, Twitter-centric world, it’s much tougher to launch a new product than even a few years ago. If you’re ready to launch a new consumer product into the national market, ‘The NEW Launch Plan’ is your blueprint for success.”

 

If you would like help planning your next launch, contact us at launch@schneiderpr.com or on Twitter @SchneiderPR.