Maybe the brand managers at Axe, the perennial blue ribbon fragrance for teenage boys and underdeveloped young men, are huffing the fumes.
In an effort to capture more consumers they’ve decided to expand their line offering. Now, Axe will carry Anarchy, a fragrance for women.
Glimpsing at the advertisement below, Anarchy will disrupt the “women chasing men like crazed and hypersexed vixens” narrative and create a new world.
In this new world, men and women will meet half way. He will have Axe; she will have Anarchy. Man and woman will meet at a crossroads of desire. She will put him in line, and the rebel male will help her let her hair down. Sex will ensue.
But all I smell is the scent of a delusional marketing strategy. Anarchy won’t work if connected to Axe because Axe has too much equity in boy, and even more in hyper-hormoned boy. Anarchy’s endorsement by Axe stifles its potential because the stench of Axe’s brand meaning won’t bring women to the shelf.
Women (read girls) want to smell like a pop star. They want to smell like JLo, Spears, and Taylor Swift. The demographic who will purchase this product want something both feminine and sexy. They don’t want anything even closely related with Axe because Axe is a euphemism for getting laid, which appeals to boys 14-19. These are the same boys that watch late night comedies like American Pie 5 and have SI swim suit posters on their walls (I used to work at a boarding school).
Women in this age group want to date, but the Axe equity and approach isn’t going to make a 15 year old girl feel pretty or desirable. Axe’s approach is too direct, too pornographic, too over. Axe will just make young potential customers feel dirty, and not in a fun Ke$ha way.
Time will tell, but my guess is Anarchy reeks of a product fail.
