Sign up for afaqs! Newsletters
Gotcha! Impact Media grabs eyeballs for Axe with 'latte art'
The brand uses a 'latte art' activity to create intrigue and interactions with coffee-shop customers
Deodorant brand, Axe, known for its bold, irreverent campaigns, has launched an intriguing out-of-home campaign for its latest fragrance, Axe Inxtinct. The activity has been conceptualized by Gotcha! Impact Media and is being rolled out across coffee shops.
Targeting the urban, educated, affluent youth, aged 16-35 years, the campaign consists of Axe Inxtinct's 'cross-hair' logo dusted into coffees and cappuccinos. The cross-hair sign, which signifies being 'marked and targeted and getting ready to play', is an important part of the TV campaign as well.
Moreover, along with each cup of coffee comes a special sticker card with Axe-branded peel-off logos. This completes the connect to Axe Inxtinct.
Bhrighu Rai, general manager – brand alliance and operations, Gotcha! Impact Media, says, "We are always trying to break from the clutter, mainly through innovation, to deliver unique tailor-made marketing solutions to our clients. So, when we learnt that Axe was breaking this campaign, we came up with the idea of putting the Axe Inxtinct logo in the least expected places. Cappuccinos/milk based drinks seemed unlikely enough, and the impact moment was perfect."
"Axe wanted to reach the TG when they are most relaxed and open minded -- in the mood to enjoy a cup of coffee -- and at the same time, bring it to the TG in a way that does not put them off. So, the special peel-off sticker cards were developed to add to the interactivity and connect the latte activity to the brand," adds Rai. He shares that the idea is very cost-effective too.
The activity began on November 01 and will continue for a month. It is being executed across coffee shop chains and a few restaurants -- such as Mocha, Mocha Mojo, Crepe Station, Craze Coffee, Wich Latte, Cuppastop and Casa Picola -- in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi & NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Chandigarh.
During this campaign, over two lakh milk-based drinks will be served with the cross-hair logo, while the sticker card with the peel-off logo will be distributed to over 5.5 lakh people. Gotcha! claims that these sticker cards will, in turn, multiply the impressions at least five times.
On the effectiveness of such coffee shop campaigns, Rai says, "I am not aware of any specific marketing campaign that has tried to connect a brand to the TG through latte art, so there are no benchmarks as such.
But we believe it will be memorable, because one always smiles when one receives a smiley or a heart-shaped logo on his/her coffee."
For the record, Delhi-based Gotcha! Impact Media has been set up by Noreen van Holstein (director and creative head) and operates brands such as Cards4U that deals with postcard advertising; ADtheLOO that reaches out to targeted audiences at washrooms across the country; SPOT, a mini magazine and Xtra!, which looks into other on-ground promotional activities using tent cards, coasters and table mats.