Axe employs internet ratios to promote its new fragrance line

The term “ratio” is an inescapable part of comment sections across social media platforms. The word has evolved into a sarcastic way for a user to compare the number of “likes” on their comment—often simply the word “ratio”—to the success of the original post they commented on. 

So, with the concept of “ratioing someone” a ubiquitous part of internet slang, Axe chose to use the term in the marketing around the launch of its new men’s fragrance line, in an effort to connect with the brand’s primarily Gen Z audience.

The Unilever brand partnered with The Martin Agency to translate the results of a blind smell test that revealed 73% of participants preferred Axe’s new fragrances to luxury competitors such as Chanel and Ralph Lauren into a “real-life ratio.” To do so, Axe deployed a 3D Times Square billboard that reads “Ratio + new Axe smells better than Chanel.” This text emulates the typical format of “ratio” comments on social media, which can include other points besides the word “ratio” to drive home the self-proclaimed superiority of their comment over the original post.

“‘Ratios are a really big thing amongst our audience. We’ve been ratioed as a brand, in fact—MrBeast ratioed us some time ago,” said Caroline Gregory, global brand director at Axe, referring to a July 2022 tweet from the mega-influencer. His “ratio” response to an Axe tweet earned over 13,000 likes, compared to the 3,200 likes Axe’s post received. 

“That’s why we’ve done this—ratioing Chanel—to show the fragrance superiority of our product, but in a very cheeky, Axe way,” she added. 

To further connect with Axe’s young male audience, the brand kicked off a TikTok challenge on Feb. 23 inviting users to create their own “ratios” of things that the new Axe fragrances smell better than. Consumers can use the hashtag #AxeRatioChallenge—which gained over 732 million views in a single day—and an AR effect that transforms them into a bottle of Axe to supply their own answers to the prompt, for a chance to win a t-shirt emblazoned with the ratio they concoct. Axe partnered with three TikTok creators—Preacher Lawson, Adam Conover and Chanel West Coast, who have a combined 6 million followers on the platform—to launch the challenge with their own takes on a ratio.

Embracing and incorporating internet culture has been a significant part of Axe’s recent marketing and a key part of its efforts to reach Gen Z consumers, Gregory said. For example, last year, the brand partnered with rapper Lil Baby to create a short anime-inspired video series to appeal to the popularity of anime among Gen Z audiences. 

“We run the kind of always-there approach to social media, where we're out looking at what our audiences are talking about and jumping into those conversations,” Gregory said. “We do really use social media to not only be where consumers are, but also to feed up into our overarching campaigns. We’ll bring through [internet] subcultures into our holistic campaigns on TV, etcetera.” 

Beyond using ratios to underscore the fact that smell test participants preferred the smell of Axe’s new fragrances, the social media push also aims to emphasize the lower price point of Axe’s products compared to luxury brands such as Chanel. Additionally, though young male consumers do use cologne, they often save it for special occasions, Gregory said—but Axe’s new products are a combined cologne and deodorant, which are designed to appeal to these consumers as a more “casual” alternative to a pure cologne. 

The 3D billboard and TikTok challenge are just the first phases of a larger campaign surrounding the launch of Axe’s new fragrance line, she added. The overarching marketing push—which Axe will unveil in the coming weeks—will continue to incorporate “the world of social media” and the “absurdity” that social media content can veer into, Gregory said.