I can across these Axe girls while at the Dave Matthews Band concert this past weekend at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO. Axe Inc. (sells body sprays, deodorants, etc…) generates terrific brand marketing campaigns. Most people can very easily recall the commercials of one guy getting chased by hundreds of gorgeous girls because he is wearing Axe. Even though I have consciously noticed Axe advertising - I have still yet to purchase one of the products. Not sure why. Are thousands of other consumers also enjoying the advertising by not purchasing the products? I think Axe Inc. may suffer from a product and marketing quagmire that is costing them millions.

Beer companies, toothpaste companies, detergent companies, deodorant, and other companies approximately know how much the average consumer spends on these product staples. The average American may spend $250 a year on beer, netting Budweiser or Anheuser Bush $50 in profit per customer. The average American may spend $200 a year on tooth preservation products (mouth wash, dental floss, tooth brush, etc…) netting the dental hygiene companies an average annual profit of $30 a consumer. Product category leaders know how much the average American spends on average per purchase, and thus how much they spend annually, and how much profit they generate for the mega-corporation. How much does Axe actually expect to make from the average American consumer selling a second tier product? They can’t expect much.

Axe marketing is no longer even controversial or exciting. Axe’s marketing genre is sex, excitement, and desire - it’s no longer controversial or even interesting. I can’t remember the last time I saw a super hot girl ripping off a mans clothing and licking his chest. Too controversial? Hardly, hardcore sexual suggestions are what sell products. Below is a video of Axe girls at the Dave Matthews Band concert:

As you can see, the Axe girls are very attractive and love Axe! I threw out their crappy merchandise in front of their faces too! My ass they love Axe, they get paid to pass this crap out and help re-inforce the brand. But what self-discerning and intelligent consumer actually believes these girls love what they do? They love to look hot, and the money is most likely a secondary factor involved in their professional decisions. The Axe girls were passing out t-shirts that had holes in them, and a free product sample. I believe the t-shirts had holes in them because it was supposed to “mean” that girls will pull at you and make holes in your shirt if you use Axe. This marketing “idea” wasn’t early impossible to comprehend; especially after you are drunk and sitting in the sun for hours.

If I’m going to criticize Axe’s marketing initiatives, I suppose I should also offer some suggestions on how Axe can improve their marketing efforts:

• Stop hiring hot girls to pass out t-shirts and product samples in front of large sporting and entertainment venues.
• Stop advertising on television - it costs too much and you aren’t hyper targeting males
• Stop advertising in magazines - it costs too much, though you can hyper target males in magazines like Maxim, Stuff, etc…
• Shift a majority of your marketing and advertising budget into web development, ppc marketing, video production, viral video marketing, and search engine optimization (even though there isn’t too much SEO you can do).
• Through your online marketing efforts you need to begin developing a large email, mailing, amd mobile list to offer consumers discounts. Offering consumers anything other then discounts or free products are a waste of their time and detrimental to your long term purchasing relationship with consumers.

If your company needs to transition from expensive off-line marketing initiatives towards a more online focued marketing effort - please call: 312-281-8931 or email Support@BannerBlindness.com We look forward to discussing your online marketing and web development needs.

Tags: axe girls, Brand Name REcognition, Branding, busch stadium, Event Marketing, free t-shirts, sexy promotional girls, st louis cardinals, st louis missouri, Traditional Marketing

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
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