Unilever x AXE

One of the most recognisable brands under the Unilever umbrella is Axe (a.k.a. Lynx). Their target demographic is men between the ages of 16-24, but every 10 years, this cross-section of consumers completely changes.

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The youth demographic in particular is one of the fastest to adopt new trends, values, and tastes, and in order to keep up with them, big brands must talk to them and, more importantly, listen.

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This is where OneFinePlay comes in. We collaborated with Unilever to put together a video series where youth community leaders got the opportunity to have a seat at the table of one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies. The conversations that took place were enlightening, galvanising, and inspiring.

• Capturing Honest Moments: Curating such critical cultural moments is a privilege but also a great responsibility. We had to create the right kind of atmosphere whereby we could capture all that was necessary without getting in the way of such important conversations. We did this by creating the right atmosphere on set and positioning ourselves and our tools in such a way to get the most out of the experience without ever getting in the way.

• Providing Balance: When dealing with contentious issues, there is always the risk of muddying the waters rather than providing clarity. We did not want to curate a shouting match where both parties left with more questions than answers. So we carefully curated the format and crafted the right kind of atmosphere on set to provide balance, allowing both parties to express their ambitions and concerns. This way, we could ensure relationships were strengthened during the process, and we came away with compelling content that preserved the reputation and integrity of all involved.

• Making Courageous Content: We nonetheless did not want the content to veer into the bland. So we worked hard to strike the right balance between preserving a tone of geniality and making sure we held space for the youth leaders to voice their concerns and leave the process feeling like they had been seen and heard.

• We crafted a series of videos which document an urgent set of conversations between generations.
• The videos would go on to effect key decision making at one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies.
• We facilitated an open dialogue between stakeholders of two communities who rarely get the chance to converse.
• Unilever published the work on their platform for their staff worldwide. This meant that the insights discovered during the conversations were made accessible to all staff despite geographical, financial and/or any other kind of barrier.