The campaign for the new Lynx Lower Body Spray product is an almost brilliant example of growing the core. The work from LOLA MullenLowe for Unilever is extremely well branded and drives emotional engagement. However, it falls short of true core growth greatness for reasons I explain below!
*Axe outside the UK
1. Drive new usage
The new Lower Body Spray taps into an opportunity to drive extended usage of Lynx. And the campaign does an excellent job of communicating this. The film has a clear message about the product “sausage”. It shows three product-in-use scenarios, including a basketball player spraying it in his shorts and getting attention down below as a result (see below)! The clear message, plus the distinctive style, tone and storyline are reflected in 97% of viewers quickly knowing the ad if for Lynx according to System 1 research (1). This shows the benefits of fresh consistency when launching a new product.
2. Sell with some sizzle
The product story is brilliantly told with plenty of emotional “sizzle”. The emotional intensity is “+50% more emotionally intense than the average fragrance ad” while leaving “viewers feeling 45% less bored than the average global ad,” according to System 1 (1). This demonstrates a deep understanding of how to cut through in today’s attention economy.
The style of communication is, not surprisingly, quite polarising. A fair proportion of viewers actually hate it. However, younger men in the core target love it for the boldness and humour.
3. Missing the Core Growth Opportunity
So, why does this campaign fall short of core growth greatness? The missed opportunity is launching a new product to drive extended use, rather than growing the core body spray.
Back in 2007 I posted here about how Lynx/Axe drove usage by focusing on the existing body spray, based on insight from the Latin American team. They discovered that consumption per capita in Argentina was much higher than Brazil because Argentine men were spraying their whole body, not just under their arms. This led to a core product consumption campaign, Spray More, Get More. It had a similar storyline of spraying Lynx down below.
The benefits of core product growth are that make what’s strong even stronger, without adding the complexity of a new product.
4. A Sequential Approach to Core Growth
The brandgym Core Driver Tool provides a structured approach that can help you work on growing the core in a sequential way. Importantly, the first 6 drivers add no additional products or pack formats at all, maximizing efficiency.The current Lynx campaign jumped prematurely to driver #8 (Product Extension). There was untapped potential in driving core body spray usage behaviour using drivers #3 (Distinctive Communication) and #4 (Distinctive Activation), as in the Spray More, Get More campaign.
In conclusion, Lynx’s new Lower Body Spray campaign demonstrates many principles of effective marketing: knowing your audience, building on existing memory structures and creating attention-grabbing content. However, Lynx could have delivered even greater core growth by driving usage of their existing range, encouraging consumers to “Spray More, Get More” rather than try something new.
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