Dive Brief:

• Unilever men’s grooming brand Axe partnered with Dutch DJ and producer Martin Garrix on a new music video “Burn Out,” created in partnership with Axe’s global creative agency 72andSunny Amsterdam, Ad Age reported. The campaign, part of the new Axe Music platform, will feature a limited-edition Martin Garrix body spray that will initially be available in Latin American markets and the Netherlands. A global role out of the effort, the brand's main fall push, is planned. 
• The video, directed by Kinopravda, follows a boy-meets-girl storyline with multi-colored imagery and set in imaginary worlds connected by music. A young man trying to impress a girl in a laundromat sprays Axe body spray and enters a fantasy world. He searches for the girl through different worlds, including a Tokyo karaoke bar and while escaping security at a museum at night. He ends up back at the laundromat, where Garrix makes a cameo as a laundromat employee who encourages the guy to approach the girl. 
• Axe is also featuring Garrix and the new music video in its product videos for the new limited-edition body spray. Along with Garrix, Axe Music is partnering with Kyra TV, Boiler Room and other emerging artists. 

Dive Insight:

Marketers are embracing music videos to energize their brand messaging and create memorable experiences for reaching younger consumers. The new Axe Music platform is in line with this trend. While most marketing strategies focus on visuals, a study by audio branding group PHMG found that 67% of respondents think music is more memorable in marketing. Music can evoke emotional responses and impact how consumers perceive a brand. An Axe executive told Ad Age that, with interruptive advertising no longer the means of reaching young consumers, the brand sees music as an important "passion point" for guys. 

By partnering with Garrix, Axe is attempting to position the DJ as a role model and deepen its brand awareness with young men. The visual, music-focused video could resonate with younger audiences as Garrix has headlined some of the world’s biggest music festivals and performed at the closing ceremony at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, according to The Drum. He also ranked on Forbes’ list of the World’s Highest Paid DJs.

Axe has also been tackling toxic masculinity and setting young men up for success in its recent marketing. Last month, Axe announced plans to host orientation workshops that address outdated male stereotypes in October as part of National Bullying Prevention Month in partnership with rapper an actor Kyle and masculinity expert and poet Carlos Andres Gomez. The push is part of Axe’s “Find Your Magic” initiative. Last year, Axe launched “Is It Okay for Guys?” The campaign, also aiming to tackle toxic masculinity, was based on actual Google searches made by men, like whether men can be emotional, wear makeup or experiment sexually.