Re-Emerge into the New Normal with a Little Help from Lynx

Unilever’s AXE, the No. 1 men’s fragrance brand in the world*, launches its new ‘Smell Ready’ campaign today through IPG’s MullenLowe in London.

‘Smell Ready’ uses humorous insight to make its point. It is a lively and engaging take on how young guys have coped with the Covid 19 quarantine from start to end. Simply told, the campaign goes through the three main stages of quarantine: the initial unknown phase, the awkward phase and finally the challenge of re-emergence into normal life; the final pay off shows the great ways of using AXE’s products. AXE knows readjusting won’t be easy and is therefore perfectly placed to support the male of the species as he re-emerges, with its range of awesome fragrances and shower gels.

In the face of significant production challenges, the brand campaign has set new standards for content and creativity. The extraordinary circumstances of life in a pandemic meant AXE and MullenLowe had to adapt their processes to cope with the lack of production sets and the basic tools normally used to create a successful campaign. Through a clever combination of shooting and production techniques such as remote self-shooting using self-installed green screens, the use of existing footage and CGI, ‘Smell Ready’ is a fantastic example of what can be achieved in abnormal circumstances and under extreme pressures. 

The ‘Smell Ready’ campaign has been designed to showcase the range of fragrances available from AXE, with new product launches also being heroed depending on the market. 

Caroline Gregory, Unilever AXE’s brand director, said: “We know that our guys found the world of attraction pretty awkward even before all this happened. Now they may feel even more hesitant or overwhelmed as they face this new journey. AXE is here for them, to make that transition easier with a range of fragrances that help them smell ready and get back out there with a new sense of confidence. But being authentic to our brand and relevant to our guys, we’ve brought this to life in a more light-hearted and humorous way.”

Jose Miguel Sokoloff, MullenLowe Group UK’s chief creative officer, said: “AXE is an iconic brand that has a long history of great communications. The post-Covid “new-normal” and how we are learning to adjust to it presented an incredible opportunity for the brand, and timing was of the essence. I am incredibly proud of how this very tight client-agency team seized the moment, created, approved and produced this global campaign in the most bizarre of circumstances. AXE is back.”

Media is being handled by Mindshare and launches in the USA today across television, digital and social.