ABOUT THE COMPANY
Axe Brand Universal Oil is made from a unique formula and has been used worldwide, distributing to over 50 countries globally. It is mild yet suitable for relieving giddiness, headache, blocked nose, cold, stomachache, insect bites, rheumatic pain, and muscular pain. It is Singapore’s heritage homegrown medicated oil brand with over 90 years of history. It has been regularly featured globally as the Brand of the Year Winner (2019-2020) at the World Branding Awards.
CHALLENGES: DIMINISHING AWARENESS & DILUTED MARKET SHARE
With globalization and the advancement of technology, Axe Brand Medicated Oil realized that the younger generation in Singapore is paying lesser attention to the use of traditional medicine or remedy leading to a diminished awareness of products like this. This is especially prevalent when it comes to the younger audience where people tend to look towards western medication when faced with any bodily discomfort for a “quick fix”.
There is also the rise of other brands and differentiated medicated oil products (for example roll-on ointment with new fragrances) that have more attractive packaging attracting the younger audience segment and leading to a more diluted market share.
THE SOLUTION: A WHOLISTIC OMNICHANNEL STRATEGY FILLED WITH UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES
At the start of 2021, we used a combination of Search Marketing, Google Display, and social media to reach and enhance awareness of its target audience. Please refer to the below on the various ad messages and formats we ran.
However, in July 2021, an unfortunate and unforeseen incident happened and made headline news throughout Singapore and that was the teenage killing incident that happened in River Valley High School where an axe was used as the weapon of assault. This seemingly unrelated incident caused our client to draw a lot of online criticism because a scheduled newspaper print ad of Axe Brand Medicated Oil (print media buy not by OC Digital ) was placed on the front page and right below the high school killing article. As the client’s official digital and social media agency, OC Digital was quick to respond to the negative online reviews which had been brewing for a few hours now.
To solve this problem, we advised the client to swiftly acknowledge the unfortunate incident and wrote a post explaining that the ad placement was pure coincidence and was never intended as a marketing stunt since the print ad placement was bought almost a year prior to the killing incident.
We also advised and helped our client to actively reply to any legitimate questions and queries from members of public through that came in through their social media platforms namely via Facebook to better explain the company’s position should there still be any uncertainty from members of the public.
What turned out to be a post to address an unfortunate coincidence turned out to be the most engage and best performing social media post in 2021 for Axe Brand Medicated Oil generating over 2,600+ likes, 700+ comments and 700+ shares in 1 post alone. Amongst those comments, we were also heartened to see some of the brand’s loyalists speaking up for our client and also the public’s tone had turned from an angry one to a more softened and understanding one. This had indirectly helped our client gained new followers and attention especially to those who might have been unfamiliar with the brand before this.
After the incident we went continued on our campaign by creating more engaging post revolving namely around:
- Different ethnic festivals and holiday
- Major National celebrations [eg. National Day]
- Uncommon Tips & Uses of Axe Oil
- Common Myths About Using Medicated Oil
- Page Like Ads to Increase Engagement and also Gain New Followers
Some of the top performing post and ads could be seen below:
THE RESULTS: STRONG RISE IN FOLLOWER NUMBERS BY OVER 238% ACROSS MULTI-CHANNELS
Overall, we from the SEM campaign. Given the drop in media budget in 2021 this year, OC Digital still managed to achieve a higher CTR of 2.8% in comparison to the previous year’s CTR average of only 2%. This simply meant that our ads have become more targeted and relevant to our audience.
It is important to also determine the age group of Axe Oil’s targeted users who have interacted with the marketing ads. In 2021, we saw a strong increase in the 18-24 year old age group (1% Y-O-Y increase) and 35-44 year old age range (2% Y-O-Y increase). This fits nicely into our overall aim of wanting more young segment audience to use and be aware of Axe Brand Medicated Oil.
More users are reported in the undetermined audiences as compared to 2020, this could be due to the new IOS14 implemented by Apple which users can have the option to not disclose their information hence making tracking a little bit more challenging.
On the social media front whether it’s Organic Posts or Facebook Ads, Brand Medical Oil enjoyed a good performance overall whether it’s both Organic results and Ad performances. More than 9,600+ followers were achieved representing a 21% rise from the year before. A total of 17 different types of Organic posts were created and published for the client with over 37,000+ Link Clicks being generated.
Overall, the total new number of people in Singapore that knows the Axe Brand Medicated Oil whether it’s through Google Ads, SEO, Facebook Ads or Content Marketing has increased significantly increase by about 238% Y-O-Y compared to 2020!
Positive Words from Our Satisfied Client
“OC Digital has been a great partner in pushing Axe Oil brand. As a top heritage brand in Singapore and across the world, we are extremely satisfied with the work done by the OC Digital team. Benjamin, John and their team are always thinking of new ways to help us expand our market share!”
Axe Brand Medicated Oil
Eugene Chang
Marketing Manager
