WAKE UP SERVICE

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TitleWAKE UP SERVICE
BrandUNILEVER JAPAN
Product / ServiceAXE DEODORANT
CategoryA07. Best Use of The Internet/New Media, Including Mobile Phones, PDAs etc.
EntrantBBH ASIA PAC Singapore, SINGAPORE
Entrant Company:BBH ASIA PAC Singapore, SINGAPORE
Advertising Agency:BBH ASIA PAC Singapore, SINGAPORE
2nd Advertising Agency:ADK Tokyo, JAPAN
Media Agency:MINDSHARE JAPAN Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Credits

Name Company Position
Steve Elrick BBH Asia Pac Regional Executive Creative Director
Tadashi Tsujimoto BBH Asia Pac Associate Creative Director
Craig Howie BBH Asia Pac Copywriter
Yohey Adachi BBH Asia Pac Art Director
Frank Reitgassl BBH Asia Pac Planning Director
John Connell BBH Asia Pac Strategic Planner
Suzie Hoban BBH Asia Pac Engagement Planner
Hirotaka Kuki BBH Asia Pac Account Director
Midori Watanabe BBH Asia Pac Account Manager
Avex Hawaii Production House
Junpei Kojima Director
Kiyoshi Okumura Production Co Producer
Yasuo Nakajima Music Composer
Toru Midorikawa Melody Punch Music Producer
Kazuki Yuzuki Stylist/Wardrobe

Results and Effectiveness

The website received 3.5 million page views and over 27,000 guys called to download the mobile application. Additionally 20,000 single-use mobile alarm services were set up via the website. (Source: Unilever internal data, confidential – not for publication.) We successfully effected the behavioural change we set out to achieve. Purchase repeat rates increased significantly. The percentage of Axe users who had purchased more than once increased from 25.7% before the campaign to 29.8% after. The percentage who had purchased more than twice rose from 14.2% to 36.8% over the same period. (Source: Unilever internal data, confidential – not for publication.) Clearly young Japanese guys were waking up to the benefits of spraying Axe on everyday.

Creative Execution

The centrepiece of this campaign was a mobile alarm-clock application. Guys could download the application from the Axe website, or by dialling a number. Upon opening the application, guys were asked to choose the Axe Angel he would most like to wake him up. Then, he simply set the time and every morning for the next three weeks he received a sexy video wake-up call from his Axe Angel who of course, reminded him to spray Axe. This application was developed like a Tamagotchi pet so the experience was different every day. The more you used the service, the friendlier your Axe Angel became. If you ignored her, she became sulky and upset until you reinstated your wake-up calls. This application enabled us to speak to the consumer at just the right time of day to enter his morning routine with a reminder to spray Axe.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Axe launched in Japan in 2007 to great success however we soon discovered that Japanese guys used it like a fine fragrance – spraying only on special occasions. If we could get the consumer to use the product like a deodorant and spray Axe everyday, we could almost double our sales. The challenge was to break into their morning routine of “Wake-Up –> pee –> brush teeth –> shower –> (shave) –> breakfast –> leave home” In exploring this routine more closely, we discovered an invaluable channel insight: 67% of young guys in Japan use their mobile phones as an alarm clock (Source: JNN Databank, 2006, confidential – not for publication). The mobile phone was consistently the first channel our guys interacted with each morning. Based on this insight, we created the “Axe Wake-Up Service” and built a campaign around the fantasy of being personally woken by a team of gorgeous girls.