The Campaign

AXE rolled out a promotional campaign that ended up being an elaborate setup. An original fashion brand was launched in collaboration with a designer that’s hugely popular among targets. Then, a physical store of the brand was opened, rigged with a few gimmicks. First, the front door to the store only opened via scanned data of the customers’ faces. Then, when customers were about to leave the store, they were met with a huge surprise; a digital version of themselves wearing the brand’s clothes, with a snazzy new hairstyle styled with AXE products, all made with real-time computer graphics.

Execution

Two weeks before the release of AXE HAIR, people began talking about the launch of a new fashion brand by a famous designer. A physical store of the new brand opened on the same day that AXE HAIR products launched. Unassuming consumers who came to the store to check out the fashion brand were unexpectedly subjected to a deep, surprising experience. Through this, we were able to prompt them to voluntarily spread the word about their astonishing experience via SNS, thus spreading news about the campaign itself.

The unexpected twist proved to be a deeply engaging experience for targets. Visitors were astonished when they suddenly saw an alternative version of themselves with a different hairstyle in front of them. The experience had a huge impact on targets, prompting them to voluntarily upload SNS posts about it. The subsequent flood of “Likes” to posts featuring themselves donning a different hairstyle led many users to actually change their own hairstyles in real life. Media exposure: 3 million dollars 144% sales compared to previous year

The Situation

The campaign generated a buzz through strategic PR activities across multiple phases. First, we released the news that a fashion brand is being launched in collaboration with a famous designer. Then, news of the brand opening a physical store was revealed, followed by a press conference inviting designers and celebrities. Media outlets and users flocked to the store to see the new fashion brand’s clothes, and were surprised when they found out that the whole thing was a setup to promote a “hair styling” brand, leading to a flurry of media articles. This tightly controlled exposure of information was key.

The Strategy

When Japanese university students graduate and leave their carefree days behind for life as a company worker, most people end up wearing the same kinds of business suits, and don the same kind of generic “salaryman” hairstyle. Many still enjoy playing around with fashionable clothes outside of work, but even then, their keep their “salaryman” hairstyles. AXE HAIR attempted to get targets to rediscover the joy of trying out different hairstyles.