Smell great, stay fresh and get in the game

With a TVC debuting our latest fragrance and starring Nasty C, AKA The Goldfather, about to drop into heavy rotation, we needed to pre-empt it with the message that using body spray with an antiperspirant is when you really Level Up.

THE BRIEF

AXE antiperspirant keeps you fresh. AXE Body Spray makes you smell great. But what guys weren’t getting… is they work best when used together.Grab guys attention long enough to land the message that Body Spray and Antiperspirants should be used together. It was an education job.

THE CAMPAIGN

We took the “Level Up” metaphor to a literal conclusion and made a game. On Instagram, because that’s where our audience is. Except… you can’t play games on Instagram.
Fortunately, you can fake it. Which we did, using Instagram Stories’ tap-to-proceed navigation to create an endless runner-style platform game. 
It looked, sounded and behaved like something from an arcade in the 80’s, except it was right there in a newsfeed.
No downloads, or registration, or high scores. Just a bit of fun.
The game extended the universe of the TVC, featuring an 8bit version of Nasty C.
The soundtrack from the commercial also got the retro treatment; a monophonic rendition of his hit “Strings and Bling” made from scratch, using the restrictions experienced by console audio designers of the 80’s and 90’s.

THE results

Having the campaign star Nasty C share it everywhere was a big help. Integrating your elements and channels doesn’t always mean putting the TV ad on Youtube. Here’s a few notable stats from the campaign:

  • 17% increase in sales figures from Jan to March 2019 in antiperspirant sales 
  • 1 300 000 Impressions
  • 1 100 000 Views

Overall, we achieved a 4:1 ROI

AWARDS

BOOKMARKS 2020
SILVER – Craft (Use of Sound)

NEW GENERATION 2019
GOLD – Most Innovative Gamification Campaign
SILVER – Most Innovative Use of Digital

SMARTIES 2019
BRONZE – Use of New Technologies / Innovation