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Tim Geoghegan/Caprice Yu, art directors/writers
Justin Nuttall, interactive writer
Emil Lanne/Andre Massis/Andy Tider, interactive designers
Agatha Sohn, designer
William Gelner, creative director
Paul Bichler, interactive creative director
Kevin Roddy, executive creative director
The Barbarian Group, programmer
Caprice Yu, illustrator
Lisa Setten, agency producer
Stacey Duda, The Barbarian Group, producer
Chris Berger/Phil Tavares, interactive producers
Phil Poynter, online video director
The Lab, retoucher
Art Department, production company
Bartle Bogle Hegarty New York, ad agency
Unilever, client

We invented and marketed an entirely new brand from scratch so that AXE could enter and compete in the high-end of world of men's fine fragrances. We created Axelab, a fine fragrance 'Born out of Pharmasexual Research.' Our creative platform was that Axelab was born out of years of late-night, in-depth 'Pharmasexual Research' studying beautiful women's reactions to scent. Using the visual language of 'experimentation', all aspects of the campaign were designed to be interactive. The key was to strike a balance between serious scientific analysis and overt AXE sexiness, more appropriate to our older, slightly more sophisticated target. We enlisted the help of renowned product designer Kareem Rashid to create the bottle's shape. The fragrance itself was developed by noted perfumer Ann Gottlieb. The print, outdoor and collateral components—a series of mildly suggestive Rorschach tests—were designed so that at the very moment the viewer saw the ads, they were already unwittingly taking part in a 'Pharmasexual experiment. The internet component of the campaign housed several pseudo-scientific experiments where users could further study the effects Axelab scent had on women. Whereas the print components highlighted the Psychological reactions, the online applications focused on the Physical and Neurological effects with two applications; 'Dirty Mind Control' and 'The Stimulation Chamber.' By adjusting the dosage of the Axelab scent, users could find the perfect balance of scent needed to prove effective. Use too little, and there is barely a reaction. Use too much, and you may cause overstimulation–making lips drool or thighs begin to rub together and smoke. We then created pop-up 'labs' in major cities where male 'test subjects' were invited to experiment with the profound effects Axelab scent was hypothesized to have on female participants. The pop-up labs then led a lucky few to attend the ultimate research laboratory located at the Playboy Mansion, where the guys more than willingly donated their bodies to the rigors of probing Pharmasexual studies. The Axelab brand halo helped bolster the fragrance credentials of the parent AXE brand. In a matter of months, we brought Axelab from sketch phase to the #1 selling men's fragrance at Wal-Mart during the campaign launch.

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