Axe Canada is taking its mission to get guys some hair action on the road with a technological twist.
It’s called the ‘Axe Virtual Hair Action Experience,’ and the brand will be sending out a truck, outfitted with augmented reality technology, on a month-long road trip between Toronto and Montreal in July. It’s the first time that AR technology has been used in a (literal) mobile context in Canada. The goal, explains Greg Major, brand building manager, Axe, Unilever Canada, is to extend the brand’s ‘Hair Action’ platform, engaging guys with its line of hair care products by being more cutting edge.
‘Our target is someone who really embraces technology and we know that this will be an innovative way to really engage him to bring [‘Hair Action’] to life,’ says Major. ‘It’s really us pushing boundaries on new things and it’s something that we really think that our guy is going to like and engage with.’
The rolling AR execution – with content developed by Toronto-based Capital C and facilitated by Oakville, ON-based Monster Media – uses facial-recognition tech to allow dudes to get some hair action (girls gettin’ all up in their dos) via five cheeky 30-second scenarios, all with accompanying sound effects. One, for example, involves women competing to get their hands on the guy’s hair. Following their virtual hair hop, the participants are treated to some product sampling, so they can test their luck when their reality is a little less augmented. The truck will make 11 stops throughout the month, five in Toronto, six in Montreal, appearing at events including Canada Day celebrations, the Warped Tour and the Montreal Jazz Festival.
Axe is supporting the experience online with a Facebook contest, developed by Zig in Toronto, for the chance to win $10,000. ‘Get the Most Hair Action’ allows contestants to enter in a unique code to a Hair Action application to create a profile. They then choose a picture from their existing photo albums, upload it to the app and send it out to their friends for tagging, with each tag representing one ballot. The top 10 most tagged are then entered into a draw for the grand prize.
