Results and Effectiveness

•45 days activity, 185 different communications, an average of 4.5/day, resulted in 4.1% market share in liquid soap category within 5 months from launch •Average monthly sales volumes doubled from 4 tons in Q1 to 8 tons in Q2 2012 post activity •Digitally created huge pull delivering 8 Million video views, 117 Million impressions and 1.8 Million page views on the microsite •Very high engagement metrics– The Axe Shower Anthem YouTube banner delivered a CTR of 3.18% against industry average of 0.3% •Average time spent on WeHaveJose(hacked MTV website) and FindJose microsite 3:41 and 2:11 minutes respectively

Creative Execution

On 10 Feb, India woke up to news of MTV VJ Jose being kidnapped. After a nerve wracking 96 hours the three female captors announced their demands “Launch Axe Shower Gel in India or Jose will bear the consequences”. Tension built up as the kidnappers hijacked MTV’s website, posting 40 videos of them torturing Jose, while audiences interacted with them. The hostage drama finally ended when huge pressure from Jose’s fans resulted in Axe officials relenting. The campaign concluded with the release of a 10 minute film and music video, revealing final twist at the Axe Shower Party. The story unfolded simultaneously on television and digitally, as a 10 part short film series. The microsite findjose was the primary hosting vehicle. Content was disseminated on social media, seeding conversations. Promotion was done on video sharing platforms. Print, radio, cinema and mobile were deployed to boost awareness levels at critical junctures.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Axe wanted to extend its portfolio by launching Shower Gel. The challenges – firstly, Axe is synonymous with deodorants in India. Secondly consumers are not familiar with the product format as India is predominantly a bar market. Our target audience, the urban-male youth, flirts with multiple media, actively deciding what he wants to consume. Content for him has evolved from one medium to a multi-platform interactive experience. Being a part of shaping content gives him a certain show-off value. Shocking, fast-paced, high-voltage drama dominates the content consumed. Hence we decided to launch the brand on the back of a kidnap drama involving a famous VJ from the leading youth channel of the country – MTV. The story was specially designed to accommodate the brand philosophy and demonstrate product format. To make it realistic, we made the VJ disappear from public view throughout the campaign and decided to take a Zero-TVC-Route.