AXE fragrances are often labeled cheap and overpowering. So, they launched a new Fine Fragrance Collection of more premium and subtle scents to combat this negative perception. These new fragrances weren’t just an improvement on AXE’s old products, though – they tested better with consumers than many high-end fragrances. 73% of guys prefer the AXE Fine Fragrance Collection to Bleu De Chanel, a cologne that costs nearly 12x more. When you have a superiority claim like that, you make some noise about it. So we set out to do just that – to launch the new Fine Fragrance Collection in a way that proved we were better than Chanel and got guys’ attention on a national stage.

To tell the world that new AXE smells amazing and is even better than Chanel, we had to go big. We wanted to come after the giant in a way that would get Gen Z’s attention and make them love us, reversing the generational hate that was getting to them. So we posted up outside of Chanel’s headquarters in NYC and ratio’d Chanel. What’s “ratio?” It’s a Gen Z internet term that means “I owned you.” Technically, it’s when a reply gets more likes than an original post. But we took it so much further and brought it into the real world, showing Gen Z that our new product smelled better than Chanel, and in Gen Z vocabulary.

AXE needs to appeal to, and ultimately recruit, Gen Z guys who may be buying fragrances for the first time. And in Gen Z guys’ world, when you’re better than someone else you don’t just say you’re better. You ratio them. A ratio is when a social media reply gets more likes than the original post. So to prove AXE Fine Fragrance Collection was better than Chanel in a way that would get Gen Z guys’ attention, we did just that – we ratio’d Chanel in a way that was bigger and better than any ratio ever had been.

We needed a big ratio to get gen z guys’ attention. First, we had the 2 biggest billboards in Times Square display the words “Ratio + New AXE Smells Better Than Chanel.” Then we partnered with gen z TikTok creators @sidetalknyc to go live in front of Chanel HQ with a ratio truck, get people to smell AXE, and ratio Chanel IRL. On the same day, we had an aerial banner fly over the Design District, a floating banner sail down South Beach, and a truck drive around Atlanta. We also had digital bus stop ads near Chanel stores and online digital ads near Bleu de Chanel bottles. We then created the #AXERatioChallenge on TikTok with the world’s first customizable type branded effect and got over 10 billion views. Finally, we gathered gen z fragrance influencers and did a smell test, flipping them from AXE haters to AXE lovers.

Gen z guys had a huge reaction to the AXE Fine Fragrance Collection when we Ratio’d Chanel. The #AXERatioChallenge got 10 Billion+ views on TikTok. We experienced a 9.2% sales growth, which reversed a decade of decline. The Fine Fragrance Collection was the #1 new Unilever product in Walmart, and it was the #1 AXE product launch in more than a decade.