Axe enlists Lil Baby to redefine premium through national push

Dive Brief:

• Fragrance marketer Axe launched a new campaign, “The Fine Fragrance G.O.A.T.,” in partnership with award-winning rapper Lil Baby, according to details shared with Marketing Dive. The effort is meant to promote the brand’s premium line of body spray.
• Key to the effort is a 30-second national spot starring Lil Baby, who is seen marketing the products, called the Axe Fine Fragrance Collection, while the rapper’s song “Drip Too Hard” is played in the background. The spot was directed by “Saturday Night Live” shorts director Mike Diva and taps into themes like gaming and anime.
• The campaign, made with The Martin Agency, is the latest by Axe meant to promote its premium fragrance line and sees the brand targeting Gen Z as it looks to tap into the obtainable luxury marketplace.

Dive Insight:

Axe’s latest campaign sees the brand looking to redefine the premium fragrance marketplace with an affordable luxury push geared toward Gen Z. The Fine Fragrance Collection, made up of five new fragrances, pushes back against the traditional costs associated with luxury, pricing the products at $5 to $7 per bottle.

The campaign’s 30-second ad shows a four-armed Lil Baby flying alongside a metallic goat head along with the new fragrances. Overcrowded scenery, meant to allude to the stuffiness of a traditional perfume shop, is transformed into a futuristic gaming experience, pulling in additional themes of anime, music and modern art.

The scents were crafted by some of the world’s top perfumers, like Givaudan, Firmenich and Ann Gottlieb. The luxury market has become of great interest to Gen Z and Millennial consumers, accounting for a large share of the the market’s growth in 2022. To reach the audience while pushing affordability, Axe conducted a study that pitted Axe fragrances against premium brands like Chanel and Ralph Lauren in a blind smell test, finding that 73% of those surveyed said they would replace their current cologne with an Axe Fine Fragrance.  

The “Fragrance G.O.A.T.” campaign is Lil Baby’s second with the company. Last year the rapper appeared in its “Fresh as Fr*sh” campaign, which debuted alongside a line of limited-edition products. Axe’s latest campaign rides on the heels of its multichannel “Ratio” campaign, which also promoted its Fine Fragrance Collection.