• February 22, 2012

Women have had a better perception of Unilever’s Axe brand than men since the company launched its first fragrance targeting both sexes, Anarchy, according to YouGov BrandIndex, a daily consumer perception research service for brands.

As a matter of fact, in the long run, women have mostly had a better perception of the traditional men's brand than men themselves.

Once the fragrance premiered its cheeky “Unleash the chaos” Anarchy ads showing both men and women succumbing to the “Axe effect,” woman’s perception levels nearly doubled before dipping a bit more recently. Men, on the other hand, showed a similar although less dramatic movement immediately after the launch, but have since settled back down to pre-launch scores. 

Axe was measured with YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score, which asks respondents: “If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?” 

YouGov BrandIndex measurement scores range from 100 to -100 and are compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback.