What does it take to rebuild cultural relevance for a brand that once had nearly one in two guys in America using it?
In this episode of The Speed of Culture podcast, Dolores Assalini, head of Axe US at Unilever, lays out the brand’s evolution from cultural phenomenon to a social-first, creator-powered operation designed for how young men live, shop, and interact with brands today.
The conversation explores how innovation, humor, and digital-first thinking are guiding Axe into its next chapter. Dolores also reflects on what has changed in marketing over the last fifteen years and what has stayed the same, distilling it all down to one enduring truth: great storytelling, in whatever form it takes, always wins.
With a career spanning Unilever brands and Avon, Dolores brings deep expertise in consumer insight, content-led marketing, and brand evolution at scale.
Since stepping into her current role, she has moved Axe to a social-first, digital-only marketing model and spearheaded the brand’s most culturally honest campaign to date, the History of Overdoing It, which tackles the brand’s legacy with humor, new product technology, and creator-led storytelling.
Key takeaways:
[01:09] Respecting the Legacy While Building the Future — Axe arrived in the U.S. in 2002 and quickly became a cultural phenomenon, reaching nearly 1 in 2 American guys by 2008. Dolores explains that her job is not to erase that history but to honor it while steering the brand into 2026. That means evolving across three fronts simultaneously: product innovation that keeps pace with new consumer expectations, a deeper understanding of how modern guys approach grooming and personal care, and a completely reimagined approach to media that meets them where they actually spend their time.
[03:28] Walmart, Ecommerce, and the New Path to Purchase — Dolores outlines how Axe approaches distribution with Walmart as its primary strategic partner. In-store presence still matters, from shelf standout to packaging that communicates brand identity at a glance. But online is equally critical. Everything Axe produces, from TikTok content to YouTube videos, is engineered to drive purchase on walmart.com. The product detail page is treated as a conversion asset, built with the right claims, fragrance information, and visuals to serve both the guy making the decision and the mom who might be buying for him. It is a dual-audience challenge that shapes how the brand builds content and what it puts in front of each.
[06:42] The History of Overdoing It: Product Innovation Meets Social Insight — Dolores breaks down the thinking behind Axe’s most talked-about campaign. The brand’s new spray technology addresses a long-standing product reality: the Axe cloud, that over-sprayed mist that became a joke in schools, workplaces, and pop culture for two decades. Rather than ignoring it, the brand decided to own it. The campaign leans into the dual humor of guys overdoing it with body spray and overdoing it in dating, with each reinforcing the other. What makes this work is the tight connection between product truth and cultural insight. The joke was already out there. Axe just finally told it first, and backed it with an innovation that actually fixes the problem.
