HISTORY OF THE BRAND Axe/Lynx was launched in France in 1983 by Unile v e r , a m u l t i - n a t i o n a l corporation, formed of Anglo-Dutch parentage that owns

many of the world'sconsumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personalc are pro duc ts. It was inspi r ed by anot her of Uni l ev er's brands Impuls e. Impulse was a fragranced deodorant body spray for women that promisedwearers male attention. Unilever were keen to capitalize on Axe's Frenchs uccess and roll ed it out in the rest of Europe from 1985 onwards , l ater introducing the other products in the range. Unilever were unable to use then a m e A x e i n t h e U K a n d I r e l a n d d u e t o t r a d e m a r k p r o b l e m s s o i t w a s launched as Lynx. The European launch of the deodorant was followed bysuccess in Latin America and moderate impact in Asia and Africa. In the newm i l l e n n i u m t h e b r a n d h a s l a u n c h e d w i t h g r e a t s uccess in the USA andCanada. The company has a l s o c o n s o l i d a t e d i t s d e o d o r a n t p o r t f o l i o b y migratin g other over-lapping male deodorants into the Axe brand such asSouth Africa's Ego brand. INTERN AL PRESENCE Ax e brand produc ts areconsistently targeted to 18-25 year old males. As illustrated in Figure 2, theyare currently distributed in more than 40 countries SWOT Analys Strength 1. Each of the fragrances created by internationalfragrance diva Ann Gottlieb2. The

formulation is a base with higher efficacy3. Excellent advertising and branding targeting theyouth4. Good distribution, Promotions and campaigns forluring customers5. Also provides grooming range like shaving gel,foam, After-Shave lotion, and Cologne Talc Weakness 1. Only an urban market phenomenon2. High pricing reduces the target market3.Controversial advertising often leads to legalissues Opportunity 1. Coming up with Limited Edition fragrances2. Tie up with hotel chains and large organizationslike gym chains etc Threats 1. Deodorants sales are seasonal. Maximum saleshappen in the summer months (April to September)2. Competition from Premium Segment Deodorantslike Burberry, Body Shop CompetitionCompetitors 1. Set Wet2. Zatak3. Fuel Utility value of the product Axe offers guys a range of body sprays, shower gels and male grooming products alldesigned to help them look, smell, and feel their best.

AXE DEODORANTS : ROAD MAP TO SUCCESS From the humble beginnings of the Ego brand in 1974, to formation of Axe and penultimate rebranding of Lynx for distribution in Australia, Ireland and the UnitedKingdom. It is the mission that rings true, even today. Axe has become the world'sdefinitive grooming brand ranging from deodorants, body sprays, and shower gels available in a wide assortment of seductive fragrances. The next year will prove crucialin maintaining incremental global market share in over 40 countries. The primary targetmarket for the product line should remain focused on 18-24 year old males. Key tosustaining growth will be the ability to identify and isolate tightly focused promotionalefforts playing on the boy meets girl meme customers and competitors have come toassociate with the high profile of Axe. The element pertaining to success would beexploring new avenues of creativity to target social subcultures and ethnic groups moreeffectively in areas where these opportunities exist. It aims to achieve : transform Axe into an icon in the Game of Seduction .Increase the deodorants brand equity .Increase sales volume Creatively target subculture through specifically appealing to their niche interests incountries where market share for the targeted sub- culture age group is oligopolistic andits growth steadily increasing STRATEGY Essentially, the formation of the proposed brand is an merger of line extensions andmultibrands dependent on the area of target market: Line extension brand strategy would include addressing the marketing objectives of targeting younger males by promoting current brands to the new potential market byadjusting the product strategy to appeal to current affairs that interest this section of thetarget market still, however, preserving brand names. Line extension strategy mayal s o be highl y effecti ve i n targeti ng nic he s ub-

c ul ture markets by extending the Axe/Lynx brand to appeal to their unique interests such as the aforementioned Axe/Lynx Bi nary sublabel. Line extensions represent existing brand names extendedto new forms, sizes and flavours of an existing product category The use of multibrand strategy allows for new brands to be introduced in the same Axe/Lynx product categories of deodorants, and even body sprays and shower gelsunder new brand names, acc ompa nied by new produc t s trategi es (Kotl er). This particular s trategy can be incorporated into achieving the marketing ob jectives of penetrating new segments Therefore, a combination of line extensions under the Axe/Lynx brand name to include new fragrances like A xe/Lynx, adjusting currentmarketing initiatives through altering product strategy to appeal to younger age groups,a nd new brands owned by Unil ever named Shinx or Dune s erv e to s ati sfy al l outlined marketing objectives and increase the market share. CREATIVE STRATEGY The strategy had to build on the brand heritage, while rejuvenating Axes image to makecomtemporary. Passive seduction was still a real and motivating consumer insight. Theyoungs want to be seductive without being seen to try too much. Having women showan inerest gives them the confidence to go on. However, since all brands talk aboutseduction, Axe had to impose its own point of view in a clever and motivating way. Theexecution had to be new and different; it made a break with conventional publicity.Humour was used, considering seduction as a serious business. The setting andprotagonists used should be relevant and aspirational to the target audience. Thisinvolves moving from the traditional exotic male role model to an environment close to the consumers reality. The creative idea was to show the seduction effects of Axe onwomen, who is wearing it.

MARKETING SITUATION When launched, Axe created a new product category: deodorant body spray for men.Over and above the classical deodorant promise of odour prevention, Axe also offeredfragance, which allowed it to be positioned as a seduction tool, easing the transitionfrom adolescence to manhood. Axe has established itself as the leading male toiletriesbrand in Europe. Central to the brands success was its innovate character, creating itsown category, which situated it at the leading edge of fashion. However, the brandseemed to have aged with its initial consumer and didnt follow youth fashion trends.Research indicates that the Axe man was seen as dated James Bond in a safari suit.The communication format was unable to go up the current values of the youth target. TARGET CUSTOMER PROFILE In order to understand the proposed target market effectively, particular evaluationneeds to be given to the demographic, psychographic and behavioural features evidentin the sample size: -The targeted age range should consist of 15-25 years of age- The target market is also male, unaffected by race or ethnicity although differentmarketing initiatives may appeal to different ethnic groups- Targeted consumer is of a lower socio-economic status given the income distributionof the age group and education levels- The status of the proposed candidate is that of a bachelor or most likely involved inshorter term relationships- The dominant portion of the target consumers exhibit heterosexual orientation, giventhe success of previous campaigns portraying the protagonist of this sexual orientationThe following profile can therefore be established; Age : 15-25 Gender : Male Mentality : Mainstream.

THE LIFE CYCLE OF AXE DEODORANT SPRAY The product life cycle (PLC) is the course of a product's sales and profits during itslifetime segregated into product development, introduction, growth, maturity anddecline. Every Axe/Lynx product is accustomed to the first four stages of the PLC.However, as soon as the decline stage is reached and a declination of profits observed,a reiteration process is commenced with the introduction of a new product under thebrand name. The maturity and decline phases are judged based on customer perception of brand equity in over 40 countries worldwide. The product life cycle of thepast to the recent present, tied in with perceptual brand equity factors, and subsequentline extensions are as follows: 1983 Amber (Axe/Lynx Amber 2008), Spice (Axe/ Lynx Spice 2008), Musk (Axe/LynxMusk 2008) 1985 Amber, Spice, Musk introduced into the United Kingdom1987 Orient (Axe/Lynx Orient 2008) 1989 Marine (Axe/Lynx Marine 2008) 1995 Africa (Axe/Lynx Africa 2008) 1998 Apollo (Axe/Lynx Apollo 2008) 1999 Voodoo (Axe/Lynx Voodoo 2008) 2000 Phoenix (Axe/Lynx Phoenix 2008) 2001 Gravity (Axe/Lynx Gravity 2008) 2002 Apollo, Kilo, Orion, Phoenix, Tsunami, Voodoo introduced into the United States 2003 Pulse (Axe/Lynx Pulse 2008), Essence (Axe/Lynx Essence 2008) 2004 Touch (Axe/Lynx Touch 2008) 2005 Unlimited (Axe/Lynx Unlimited 2008) 2006 Click (Axe/Lynx Click 2008) 2007 Vice (Axe/Lynx Vice 2008) 2008 Dark Temptation (Axe/Lynx Dark Temptation 2008), and Sharp Focus (Axe/LynxSharp Focus 2008) AXE DEO : THE AXE EFFECT ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS The advertisements are very slick and usually display a normal (read: not Greek god)male but with oodles of self-assurance as an Axe user. The females (right out of JamesBond movies) get irresistibly drawn to this

male implying that Axe acts like a nasalaphrodisiac.The Axe brand of deodorants is from Hindustan Unilever and is primarilytargeted at 15 to 25 year old males. The brand portrays normal yet cool, trendy andconfident, a positioning that is aspirational to the target segment. And the portrayedoutcome where the girls flock to the Axe user is, well lets just say very desirable. At amore subtle level, the Axe Effect also acts on the confidence levels of the user. Thevery act of being associated with the brand serves to boost the ego.In the past couple of years, we have seen a slew of copy cat brands hit the market. Butthe theme for the advertisements remains the same. Guy sprays himself with thedeodorant. Girls find themselves inexplicably drawn to the guy. There are slight variantsbut for the most part, involuntary seduction forms the core. The one notable differencehough is that all these newbies use hunks as opposed to the regular guys which are astable for the Axe advertisements.This strategy has proven very effective for the brand. It comes across as approachableand it acts like a confidante and friend to its users. While everyone would love to befriends with a celebrity, there would still be a distance or an aloofness that wouldprevent a close relationship. Axe bridges this very gap effectively, and yet keeps thedream of getting a Charlies angel some day. It is for this very reason that Axe continuesto be the market leader in its category.

Delivering significant value

:During 2009 Unilever launched a single strategyfor the supplychain-1 Unilever supply chain-putting customer and consumers at the heart of everything it does.Its principle objectives aresupplying top quality products with world classservice at competitivecosts. Unilever supports top-line growth throughspeeding up the roll-out of global launches Ensures products are constantly on the shelf

Increases profit by simplifying structure andreducing waste Improve cashflow by reducing stock and better payment terms.

Axe reliesonlocationanddistributionchannels.InIndiasupermarket and hypermarketshaveonly2%market, organized retail has 13.9% market large part of it is in metro cities so inmetros distribution channel is malls and bigorganized stores but in tier 2 & 3 citiesdistribution is done through localkirana shopsonly.