Spicing Up The Social Media SceneOld Spice has created a wildly successful social media campaign literally overnight. It all started with a commercial of the bare-chested, toweled, ladies man Isaiah Mustafa that rocked YouTube with its masculinity and humorous transitions. “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign appeals to men and women alike, as it brings a sense of humor to a personal hygiene product line that dwindles in a competitive world of advertisements focused on sensuality.
To differentiate the brand, the online ads essentially ask women to compare their significant other to the hunky Old Spice Man. He says in a sultry-smooth voice, “Look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn’t me. But if he stopped using lady scented body wash he could smell like he is me.” With over 34 million views on YouTube in less than a week, the 72-year-old brand knew for certain that it had the attention of the younger demographic with this video.
Isaiah Mustafa, his dashing good looks and his witty advice for consumers, have been online since February; but it wasn’t until early July of this year that Old Spice Man really started to “spice” up the social media scene. Keying in on YouTube as a primary medium, the brand produced one more commercial to speak directly to online audiences. The over-the-top charades continue with a “Should your man smell like an old spice man?” question and answer session that invites bloggers, Twitterers, YouTube commenters, and even celebrities big in the social networking sphere to personally ask the Old Spice Man questions—and receive real-time responses.
On July 14th, the Old Spice production team and Isaiah Mustafa met in Portland, Oregon to create dozens of these short, comedic YouTube videos in response to the questions and comments of followers. In two days time, they managed to dish out 185 video responses to tweets that ask favors of Mustafa, seek his advice, or just look to get him to say their name over the airwaves. In three days time, the videos received 5.2 million views on the Old Spice channel of YouTube. And with the open invitation for Twitter followers to speak directly to the Old Spice Man, the brand’s Twitter following grew from a few thousand to now almost 90,000.
So what is it about this campaign that we need to understand? Three things.
1. Realize your true audience
Proctor and Gamble has recently come to understand that their primary target market is not, in fact, men. Their research concluded that women purchase nearly 70% of hygiene products (including shower gel) for the men in their households. With women making the shopping decisions, it just makes sense to target them in these dreamy, idealized advertisements, rather than demean them the way Axe and Tag product ads do.
2. Keep messaging short and simple
The attention span of online users is becoming increasingly shorter as a result of micro blogs and social media sites like Twitter, that require users to sum up what’s going on in 140 characters or less; anything longer and you may lose interest. Messages should be strategically developed to address this and ensure that the audience will stay intrigued or amused with your content. There are very few of these Old Spice ads over 1 minute.
3. Markets are conversations
The Cluetrain Manifesto wisely advises us that the world of marketing does not have to be a one-sided world. The introduction of the Internet has created endless possibilities for advertisers and marketers to interact with, obtain feedback from, and have direct conversations with their prospects. The Internet alone is an incredible tool, but with the addition of social media, viral video, and the blogosphere, it becomes a viable weapon.
Old Spice undoubtedly has the fastest growing viral campaign of any product. Ever. By evading expensive traditional media and surging full speed ahead to the target consumer on their computer or phone, Old Spice has revolutionized the way advertisers and marketers utilize social media. If social media can help a guy in a bath towel connect with customers, just imagine what it can do for your business.
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