Excerpted from Advertising Age, “The Battle of the Brands: Old Spice Vs. Axe” by Jack Neff, November 17, 2008
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One of the crowning achievements of…P&G…has been the rebound of Old Spice in the battle for hearts and minds of men…
“Old Spice was in decline. They’ve now turned that around. It’s growing. Axe has not only stopped growing. Axe is in decline.”
Unilever, of course, begs to differ.
Needless to say, there’s some controversy about that in a battle that’s been a flashpoint in the global struggle between package-goods behemoths. Unilever says Axe continues to grow in body spray and beyond, most recently with the launch of Dark Temptation body spray…
Rather than trying to run away from its grandfatherliness, Old Spice instead embraced a big-brother persona and a purpose…described as “helping guys navigate the seas of manhood” by offering experience…
In practical terms, that’s involved a lot of funny ads from offering campy voices of experience…As a result, Old Spice is no longer declining. Sort of. The publicly available numbers don’t quite make a forceful case for an actual rebound. They do show Axe slowing across most of its business, which had been until the past year or so one of the biggest marketing success stories of package goods, or anything, of the decade…
Edit by SAC
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While these two brands battle it out in deodorants and body spray, the market for men’s grooming products continues to grow. P&G’s Gillette extended its brand this year with a line of body washes, shampoos and conditioners earlier this year. Unilever’s Vaseline also recently entered men’s grooming with Body & Face and Hand Lotions specifically for men. As the market grows Old Spice and Axe are sure to face increasing competition from one another and new entrants.
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Full Article:
http://adage.com/article?article_id=132559
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