Unilever's Caroline Gregory is reinventing Axe for a new generation

When Caroline Gregory was in the middle of relaunching Unilever deodorant brand Axe, she was also pregnant and decided to take her maternity leave later in order to see the project through. “At the end of the day you can only make the decision that’s right for you,” Gregory said. But the experience also taught her that it’s important to have people who are more senior than you to act as sounding boards, she said. See all of Ad Age's 2022 Leading Women here. The decision was clearly the right one. The new global campaign, “The New Axe Effect,” has led the brand to grow in the U.S. for the first time in almost a decade. Under Gregory's guidance, the brand has also effectively targeted Gen Z, jumping on the crypto train and creating limited edition, Doge-themed cans, and using a Snapchat filter to turn Munich's stadium into a version of the Pride flag after the UEFA soccer league banned rainbow lights for a Germany-versus-Hungary game at the Euro Cup tournament. What advice would you give your younger self? To believe in yourself more. A lack of confidence and lack of self-love has always been my Achilles heel, as it is for so many women. When I was younger, I wasn’t even aware of it holding me back, so I didn’t or couldn’t tackle it. Rather I let life’s natural aging process take care of it. Turning 40 this year has definitely allowed me to turn a corner and understand my self-worth! I wish I’d been able to unlock that earlier in life. What’s the biggest risk you have taken? Postponing maternity leave of my second son to see through the relaunch of Axe. What if I regretted giving up that precious time? What if the relaunch didn’t work and it didn’t pay back for my career? These were the big questions I debated before taking the plunge and heading back to work weeks after giving birth. Luckily, the risks were worth it. Axe is back and my beautiful son, now 18 months, is a shining and happy embodiment of believing in myself. What should the industry do to encourage more women and people of color into its ranks? There is a lot that needs to be done. Starting with training at every level to ensure everyone understands why this is so necessary and important. Then, holding top management accountable with clear targets for women and people of color, which are business imperatives, not vanity projects. Strong mentoring and coaching programs are essential. But also, we need to rethink how we evaluate and recruit talent in the first place. If you weren’t doing your current job, what would you do and why? I would combine my love for fashion and my passion for kitesurfing to create my own fashion line. See all of Ad Age's 2022 Leading Women here. What is the biggest lesson you have taken away from the pandemic? To be more comfortable with uncertainty. To some degree, I have always been comfortable with the idea of uncertainty, but the pandemic really showed me that I had the guile necessary to work and thrive in such times. Agility, speed, and creativity are key to success in this post-COVID world. Having the mental space, but also the strength to throw out entire plans and build new ones in less than six weeks ... getting from a complete agency pitch to full campaign in market in nine months and changing the new brand tagline four weeks before launch due to a competitor use. Exhausting, but worth every ounce of energy.

Unilever's Caroline Gregory is reinventing Axe for a new generation

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