2021 Brand Experience & Activation

AXEINATION

Short List
TitleAXEINATION
BrandUNILEVER
Product/ServiceAXE
Category G04. Social Behaviour
Entrant LOLA MULLENLOWE Madrid, SPAIN
Idea Creation LOLA MULLENLOWE Madrid, SPAIN
Credits
Name Company Position
Caroline Gregory UNILEVER Global Brand Director, Unilever
Jamie Brooks UNILEVER Global Brand Manager
Tomas Ostiglia LOLA-MullenLowe Executive Creative Director
Federico Duberti IPG Global Team Global Business Leader, IPG
Gerard Crichlow IPG Global Team Global Strategy Director, IPG
Tom Elliston Lola-MullenLowe Managing Director
Jorge Zacher Lola-MullenLowe Creative Director
Kevin Cabuli Lola-MullenLowe Creative Director
Manuel Castillo Lola-MullenLowe Creative Supervisor
Enrique Torguet Lola-MullenLowe Creative Supervisor
Oscar Fernandez-Baca Lola-MullenLowe Global Account Director
Ezequiel Scarpini LOLA-MullenLowe Art Director
Lucas Rodriguez Lola-MullenLowe Head of Planning
Felipe Calviño Lola-MullenLowe Head of Production
Kiki Holshuijsen Lola-MullenLowe Copywriter
Kristen Cavallo IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency Chief Executive Officer
Danny Robinson IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency Chief Creative Officer
Ashley Marshall IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency SVP, Executive Creative Director
Mik Manulik IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency VP, Creative Director
Tasha Dean IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency EVP, Head of Production
Brett Alexander IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency SVP, Executive Producer
Evan Frank IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency Producer
Jaclyn Ruelle IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency SVP, Managing Director, Cultural Impact Lab
Keith Gordon IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency Cultural Impact Manager
Taylor Wiegert IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency VP, Planning Director
Stuart Hayhurst IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency Strategic Planner
Gillian Merrill IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency VP, Group Account Director
Samad Hussain IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency Account Supervisor
Natalie Meyer IPG Creative Agency: The Martin Agency Senior Project Manager
LEE Films LEE Films Video Production Company
Ángel Recio LEE Films Executive Producer
Iván Fernandez LEE Films Executive Producer
Irma Borrell LEE Films Producer
Chalo Bonifacio Cooke LEE Films Producer
Agustín Berruezo LEE Films Director
Charlie Gómez LEE Films DOP
The Lobby The Lobby Sound
Big Sync Music Big Sync Music
Raquel Torres Post Pro Post Pro
The Experiential Group The Experiential Group Experiential Production Company
Frank Moran The Experiential Group Founder, Managing Director
Janna Ferner-Bell The Experiential Group Director of Production
Adam Daniel Weiss The Experiential Group Project Manager
Edelman Edelman Edelman PR Agency

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

“Get Axeinated” deserves to be awarded because it takes advantage of a trend among young people to join in with a product and brand proposal in a relevant context for both Axe and its consumers. The campaign manages to treat a sensitive topic with humor and continues building the territory of attraction for the brand. At the same time, it plays a social role in helping more young people trust vaccination campaigns, especially where there is more reluctance from their side. All that, by reinforcing the product benefit in a way that only Axe could.

Background

In the middle of the vaccination debate in the United States, we noticed that young people were using the hashtag #vaccinated on their Tinder profiles and other dating apps to get an edge. But being vaccinated is not enough to get back in the ring, you also must smell good. That's why we launched “Get vaccinated, then Axeinated”. The goal was to be part of the conversation in a pandemic context and to be able to continue building the territory of attraction for the brand. With the humorous and close tone that represents the brand, “Get Axeinated” puts the theme of attraction back on the table, giving visibility to one of the concerns of its target audience.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The campaign sought to motivate young people to make the decision to get vaccinated. At a time when fake news flooded social networks and generated mistrust, Axe supported the vaccination campaigns promoted by the WHO and the United States government. Always being faithful to the identity of the brand. We deliver a parody of the PSA campaigns people were seeing everywhere. But being vaccinated is not enough to get back in the ring, you also must smell good. That's why we launched “Get vaccinated, then Axeinated”.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The campaign sought to motivate young people to make the decision to get vaccinated. At a time when fake news flooded social networks and generated mistrust, Axe supported the vaccination campaigns promoted by the WHO and the United States government. Always being faithful to the identity of the brand. We invite Gen Z youth and Millennials to get vaccinated and then “axeinated” to get back in touch with all the safety measures. The campaign began with an official statement from Axe and the chance to order “Axeination kits” on a website for free. In addition, we installed an “Axeination Center” next to a vaccination center in Atlanta, the city with the lowest percentage of vaccinated youth in the country.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

First, we launched an official Axe statement inviting young people to get vaccinated and then get axeinated. With a strong investment in television and digital media, this message reached the entire country. We created “Axeination kits” and young people could request them on our website and receive them at home for free with an official “axeination” certificate. In 24 hours, they sold out twice. The general response was very positive. That's why we doubled down and installed an “Axeination Center” next to a vaccination center in Atlanta, Georgia, the city with the lowest percentage of vaccinated youth in the US. The activation featured in every major news network, including CNN, CBS, FOX, NBC.

List the results (30% of vote)

This campaign managed to once again put Axe at the center of the conversation. The most important media in the country echoed this campaign, generating an earned media of 4.4 million dollars. Additionally, the campaign had a total of 456 million global impressions. The kits available in the online store were sold out twice in 24 hours, resulting in more than 10,000 men being killed. And while we don't know the exact number of “swipes right,” we do know that millions of young Americans were able to get close again with ALL the security measures. The overall result of the campaign was so positive that it is being replicated in other markets around the world. Very soon, everyone will have an “Axeination Center” in their country.

Please tell us about the social behaviour that inspired the work

Nearly 80% of vaccine-hesitant Americans won’t get the shot. In the middle of the vaccination debate, Axe discovered an unusual behavior: young people were using the hashtag #vaccinated on their dating app profiles, which gave them more chances to get a match. This phenomenon gave birth to a social media movement called #hotvaxxsummer. But, as we know, being vaccinated was not enough to get close again, you also have to smell good. So, while vaccination campaigns in the US were targeting our target audience (Gen Z and Millennials), we decided to support this initiative by launching “Get vaccinated, then axeinated”.