Lynx

Background
For many years young men in the UK have been using the “Lynx Effect” to help them in the dating and mating game (Lynx is known under the brand “Axe” outside the UK). Then a new generation came along that prefers to spend their time flirting on social networking sites. Studies show that something like 50% of people online in Europe have asked someone on a date using email, and 20% of guys between 16-24 met their girlfriend online. This posed a serious threat to the brand promise, as even the Lynx Effect can’t work in Cyberspace.
Lynx needed to inspire guys to get out, get involved, get in there. BBH in cooperation with Golden Gekko developed a mobile campaign to equip guys with the right knowledge and tools to do so. Objective: make Lynx a Participation brand.

Solution
Initially a website was created at www.lynxeffect.com to deliver a cornucopia of tips, tricks and widgets to help with the seduction game, but at its heart are a series of mobile tools. Mobile was hit on as the only channel actually relevant and accessible to the situation in which the mating game is played. Having Lynx on your mobile is like having a wingman with you at all times.
The tools are downloadable applications which can be installed on the user’s phone and include: Lynx FX – the soundtrack to a guys night out, from locking the lambo to checking the girls for hidden piercings; and
Fit Girl Finder – the sat‐nav of love, navigating guys to the most attractive lady nearby.
Also include wallpapers and videos of how to use the service

Distribution is key
Achieving effective distribution for a mobile application like this is also something that is quite new. Peter Sells at BBH said that it was in fact one of the key learnings from the project. “It’s all well having good ideas, but we learned that distribution is as important as the creative.”
With no above the line activity to drive the download of the application, Lynx relied on a two part strategy. First was to leverage the Lynx web presence with a clear call to action, as well as good information and examples of what the mobile tools could do.
The second approach was to utilize existing content download sites such as Getjar. The target group for this application is very mobile savvy, so having them download the application and then side load to their phone was not unreasonable.

Result
The campaign has been seen as a great success by Unilever and Lynx receiving more awards and publicity than any mobile campaign before in the UK but more importantly vastly exceeding expectations in terms of reach.
Over 150k unique users downloaded the applications in the UK during 2008 with over 30% from Getjar.
Getjar was clearly a major contributor to the success of the campaign.
As a proof of the success Unilever has extended the campaign through 2009 with app-stores such as Getjar being included as a key element of the distribution strategy.