Join the Club

Matt Kohan, United States

When I first considered consumer actionism I had visions of petitions and picket lines. It seems that the most compelling and talked about examples of consumers taking action are efforts against a corporation or brand because whatever they are doing doesn’t sit right with one or several (or thousands or millions) of people. From Dell’s customer service to United Airlines mishandling one guy’s guitar, the numerous instances of consumers speaking up are proof that we live in a stakeholder society. While those examples represent one side of the spectrum, there’s the opposite side that demonstrates consumers acting in support of a company or brand can be just as powerful.

This past summer, I worked on a project that brought the first branded nightclub to the Hamptons – AXE Lounge. While branding a beach house or special event is nothing new, sponsoring a nightclub for the entire summer was unprecedented. Following a piece in The New York Times that ran just days before the club’s official opening, media and consumers alike were skeptical about how the sponsorship would affect the experience that the club’s patrons had come to expect based on previous summers. The skepticism was fair because most people have been to a sponsored event where everything but the ice cubes in one’s drink is branded – and that’s only because the logo gets distorted when they start to melt.

From that very first weekend, it became clear to all who attended AXE Lounge that it wasn’t about hitting them over the head with a logo. Sure, there was signage outside displaying the new AXE Lounge name, subtle branding inside at the DJ booth and AXE products displayed in the men’s bathroom, but besides that, the focus was purely on creating a fun, engaging experience.

With performances by acts including DJ Cassidy and LMFAO and celebrities such as Rihanna and Anna Lynn McCord stopping by, AXE Lounge quickly established itself as the hottest club in the Hamptons.  Droves of guys and girls lined up each weekend because of the unique experience we were able to create. The first action that these guys and girls took was simple – they showed up at AXE Lounge and had a great time. By producing an authentic, insanely fun environment where celebs hang side by side with everyday consumers, the word of mouth around the effort created a powerful experience for the brand. It was that experience that drove consumers and media to take another action, which was to talk about AXE in a positive way, drive relevance and reinforce its’ cool credentials. 

When it came it to AXE Lounge it certainly wasn’t about picket lines – just the line to get into the club.