20 adverts that made the “Axe/Lynx Effect” famous. A thread.
The values are clearly outdated, however it’s undeniable that the “Lynx Effect” was a powerful long term comms platform for Axe/Lynx in the 90s & 2000s
(Lowe Brussels/2003)
The “Axe/Lynx Effect” was born when Unilever realised that the brand's men's body spray had lost their appeal. In 1995, a decision was made to move the account to BBH London.
(BBH London/1999)
(Lintas Poland/1999)
(BBH London/1998)
One of the first campaign executions with the new positioning was called “Dream Date” and it featured Jennifer Aniston at the height of her fame from Friends.
(BBH London / 1997)
(Lowe Lintas & Partners, Brazil/2000)
The “Lynx Effect” was a global campaign, but it was @BBHblacksheep that pushed most to the boundaries of the strategic proposition and did most of the famous work for the brand during this phase.
(BBH London/2005)
(Ammirati Puris Lintas, Netherlands/1999)
The ‘Lynx Effect’ ads were mainly targeted to 15-25 yo males. The adverts portraits confidence as the aspirational attribute for the audience, which the product provides.
The solution is then dramatised to the extreme in the adverts.
(GingKo Lower & Partners, Uruguay/2002)
(BBH Singapore/2003)
A lot of ads were created by Rosie Arnold at BBH London. “One of the nice things about taking over an account aimed at young boys was that I managed to temper the approach, I think; bring more of a female perspective to it.” she said.
(BBH London/2000)
(BBH London/2006)
“Billions” is one of the most adverts made for the “Lynx Effect” campaign. Not surprisingly, it’s one of the most controversial one as well.
(BBH London / 2006)
(VegaOlmoSponce/2000)
(Lowe Lintas & Partners, Brazil/2000)
(BBH Singapore/2003)
“Sporty Girl” was a film develop for the Lynx shower gel line of products highlighting how the product helps you keep the girl you love. The writing on this ad is so good.
(BBH London / 2013)
A thread explaining one of the most entertaining ads of all time.
1/ ‘In the Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins starts to play. Suddenly, we see the face of a gorilla. We watch his facial expressions. He takes a deep breath. He stretches. We see a drum set. The gorilla is preparing for something… And we all wonder what is about to happen.
2/ Those were the feelings the British public was going through in 2007 when Cadbury’s ‘Gorilla’ was on TV for the first time.
The ad with a gorilla playing drums, which almost never got made, made advertising the topic of the country.
A thread explaining how the words of a serial killer inspired the most impactful slogan ever created.
1) Nike only reached their level of global domination as a sports brand because of ‘Just Do It.’
The tagline opened the doors for Nike to talk to every single person remotely interested in fitness.
2) ‘Just Do It.’ unified all of the brand's consumers under one idea. No matter if that was a grandmother going for a walk or Lebron James working out to get an NBA title.
A thread explaining how the best ad ever made came to life against all odds.
1) Some say that if you work in advertising, you have a moral obligation to say Guinness’ ‘Surfer’ is your favourite ad. They are not wrong.
2) That’s because ‘Surfer’ is the perfect ad. The 60’ film is one of those pieces of advertising that inspires a generation to join the industry to make ads that are not shit.
A thread explaining the impact of the most influential advertising campaign of all time.
1) The advertising industry would be a different industry today if ‘Think Small’ had never existed. Likely our rich creative history would be a bit poorer.
2) The ads served not only to sell a car, but also showed the potential of the advertising industry to the general public. We see its effects to this day every time we pitch an idea to our sweet clients.
A HUGE thread with Sir John Hegarty’s incredible advertising wisdom.
Sir John Hegarty is one of the founders of BBH London, one of the best ad agencies of all time. The success of brands such as Audi, Levi’s, Axe/Lynx, The Guardian and many others can be traced back to John’s incredible creative mind.
1) “Always remember: a brand is the most valuable piece of real estate in the world; a corner of someone's mind.”
How the Beatles helped Nike to become a marketing-focused company.
1. On March 26 1987, TV viewers in America were shown a strange-looking ad.
Short clips of people exercising flashed while “Revolution” by the Beatles played in the background. A “Nike Air” logo closed the ad.
It was Nike’s first dive into TV advertising. And it made history.
2. Years before however, Nike was in trouble. In the early 80s, still a long way from being a worldly recognised brand, the company was struggling to grow.