The Axe Effect has been at the heart of the brand’s advertising for over 15 years.But by the end of 2010 the whole ‘use product, get girl formula’ was started to feel a bit predictable. So we did what no one was expecting.

We launched the very first Axe fragrance for girls. Paired with a male variant, it became the basis for the biggest Axe campaign to date.AXE Anarchy. For him and for her.

We started with the most disruptive product proposition we could think of, AXE for guys and girls. During concept development we asked ourselves what double the AXE Effect would be like, the answer was obvious – chaos. From there we developed our product name, campaign idea and creative executions.

Weeks before more than 100 countries launched the products, we seeded the fact that AXE was making a fragrance for girls. We leaked pack designs, and special introductory cans were auctioned on Ebay. We teased the official launch on TV and when the cans hit the shelves the campaign spread across all channels and was amplified through activations out on the street and in social media.

Weeks after the launch the percentage of female fans on Facebook measured over 20%. And our total worldwide fan base on Facebook hit the 12.8m mark.We had over 30m impressions about the product launch on Twitter in the first 3 months of the campaign.

And Anarchy is on track to become the most successful product launch in the history of AXE. In some national supermarkets it even outsold water. Strangely enough we cemented AXE’s status as the No.1 men’s grooming brand - by introducing its first female fragrance ever.