On Aug. 22 Canadians were finally inducted into the exclusive club of 60 countries where Unilever’s Axe deodorant body spray is now available. Since then, the men’s product has been flying off the shelves, in spite of its hefty price tag ($6.99 to $7.99).

The goal

Axe is one of many new men’s products launched to take advantage of new male insecurities about hygiene. The body spray comes in six manly scents – Voodoo, Phoenix, Kilo, Tsunami, Orion and Apollo – packaged in sleek, black aerosol cans. More than just a deodorant, the instructions on the can suggest spraying it ‘on your underarms, chest, neck – all the hot spots.’ To succeed, Axe needs to create a refined sense of smell in young men. That means getting samples of all six scents into their hands.

The strategy

The Canadian product launch started with television advertising, mainly spill from the U.S. Spots demonstrate ‘the Axe effect,’ in which hot women are seen throwing themselves at whatever male specimen happens to smell of Axe. The launch is now continuing with cross-country promotional events, designed to generate excitement and awareness among young men aged 18-24.

The execution

The first promo took place in Toronto on Aug. 22 when Axe brought superstar house DJ Sander Kleinenberg to the Guvernment nightclub. Some 13,000 people attended the event, which featured product sampling, banner branding and specially costumed Axe go-go dancers in the club.

The Axe account team at Edelman PR in Toronto and Montreal co-ordinated the Montreal leg of the tour with Montreal’s Segal Promotions. They threw a huge street party at Crescent and De Maisonneuve streets from 7-11 p.m. on Nov. 30. Canadian acts Treble Charger, the Rascalz and Montreal hip-hop rhymster Spek played free to an audience that Edelman senior account co-ordinator Patty Chung estimated at 10,000 in number. Quebec emcee Caroline Neron hosted the night and played interactive games with the audience.

‘We’ll actually have Axe Angels and they’ll be giving out samples,’ said Chung shortly before the event. ‘That’s a big initiative of Axe – to actually get it in the hands of the consumer. We’re not spraying it in the air. We give out samples at the end so people don’t go spraying six different scents in everyone’s face.’

Following Montreal, the tour will move on to five other cities in Canada.

The results

In the U.K., Axe is already firmly established, with 59% of young men ranking it as a brand designed specifically ‘for them.’ One out of every two young men has at least one can of the body spray in his medicine cabinet. While Canadian sales figures are not yet available, in September Axe was the number-two-selling product in Wal-Marts across the U.S. The Canadian launch is expected to produce similar results.