Editor’s Note: If you have yet to see the latest Old Spice commercials be sure to check out their You Tube channel prior to reading on.
Hello ladies. It’s me, a somewhat average looking man sitting behind a computer writing a blog article. And while I don’t look like the Old Spice man, I can smell like him. That is, of course, if Proctor and Gamble can convince me to shell out my cash for a brand my grandfather probably used, and in an extremely competitive market none-the-less.
There is no doubt that the efforts of ad agency Wieden + Kennedy have made tremendous strides in rebranding Old Spice for a whole new generation. Unfortunately it would be impossible to quantify success in terms of sales for any one particular campaign given the extremely diverse promotional mix Old Spice has utilized. As many bloggers and media outlets are recently reporting, Old Spice body wash sales have more than doubled in the wake of their recent social media push (having Old Spice man Isaiah Mustafa answer fan questions in near real time via hilarious YouTube videos post over Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and other social networks – click here to learn more). If causation were truly established, this would be a major landmark in propagating the legitimacy of social media as an advertising medium. It is already exceeding email advertising in terms of ad dollars spent; however, there are still many nay-sayers out there that don’t respect its potential.
But not so fast. As Fast Company points out, in the same period, sales of Gilette and Nivea increased tremendously as well, without the help of a brilliant social media campaign. All growth companies utilized a strong coupon campaign in the same period, which many argue is the real cause of that tremendous short term growth. As much as it pains me to say (full disclosure: I am a big advocate for new media), the data may not be there to support the proclamations of success after all. As advertising legend John Wanamaker famously stated; “I know half of my advertising dollars are wasted, I just don’t know which half.” The recent Old Spice advertising blitz is a perfect example of this.
However, whether or not there is proof that Old Spice has ultimately yielded groundbreaking success in terms of sales is almost irrelevant to me. There are so many factors that go into converting that final sale, from the effectiveness of the advertising to the packaging to (obviously) the product itself. As I previously alluded to, they are still hard at work trying to wash away that “grandfather” smell from the brand image.
The important take away here is that Old Spice had astronomical reach in their campaigns using social media, a relatively inexpensive format. Their YouTube uploads have garnered more than 115 million views to date; numbers analogous to a multi-million dollar Superbowl spot. Yet, even a small business could easily recreate such a campaign with the right creative partners. Sure, it is hard to reach the same notoriety without the supporting traditional media that a mega corporation like P&G has at their disposal, but imagine the sales potential in reaching even a hundred thousand users in your target market. We have seen many examples for years now. Old Spice has just introduced a great conversation piece in our industry and arguably the most well executed social media campaign to date.
Look at your social media strategy, then look at theirs, then back at yours, then back at theirs. You are undoubtedly envious of their success no matter what size your company is or what product or services it offers. The beauty of it all is that social media is unlocking advertising potential never before seen for the little guy. Imagine what you can do with a HD camera and a clever idea. If analyzing this campaign has taught us one thing, it is that creativity wins on the internet. I may not look like the Old Spice guy, and I don’t really want to smell like him, but I am certain that I have the potential to execute a social media campaign just as successful, and you do too.
