In 2018, AXE was on a mission to increase its credibility in the number one passion point for Gen Z guys — music. Could AXE, the brand known for getting guys noticed in the real world also get guys noticed in the music world?

Ninety-one percent of music artists are struggling unknowns — with 20MM of them uploading to Soundcloud hoping a music label will discover them as the next big thing. So, to help these artists get seen and heard, we created AXE THE LABEL. A first-of-its-kind platform that elevated undiscovered SoundCloud artists by turning the music streaming service into a tool for collaboration and discovery, with hip hop's biggest names, Lil Yachty + Zaytoven. By hijacking the Soundcloud comment section, where listeners traditionally show their love, we let fans show their talent instead — the best tracks (each named after an AXE signature fragrance) made it onto this generation's version of an album, a fire playlist.

The Impact

  • AXE THE LABEL saw a 76% increase in positive AXE brand mentions
  • The tracks generated 44.6K comments – The most comments in the history of SoundCloud
  • We broke 10 undiscovered artists into the music scene with their music listens increasing by over 3,250% collectively
  • One AXE artist’s track garnered more than 1.4 million listens – The most listens on a branded track on SoundCloud
  • No. 15 on the charts – The first branded song to top the SoundCloud charts