A few months ago Old Spice was probably the last brand you would
call progressive. And then, with just one ad campaign the brand
became an instant online sensation.
As usual the idea was simple; change the brand perception of an
old fashioned product by appealing to the people with
household purchase influence -women.
It's the execution though, that has turned the Old Spice ad into
one of the most successful viral campaigns of all time.
The original
ad, in which Isaiah Mustafa asks, "Does you man smell like an
Old Spice man?" is a tutorial in mixed address. While outwardly
talking to a female audience, the ad has all the absurd humour of a
beer commercial, the self aware winking of an anti-ad ad and the
quick witted pace of a 30 Rock episode.
Basically, something for everyone.
That the response was immediate and staggering -15 million
views, 70,000 Twitter followers, 600,000 Facebook fans- is only the
start of the story.
Not content to revel in the jealousy of every other brand in the
world, Old Spice decided to capitalise instead, releasing
180 followup video's in direct response to real
time Twitter, Facebook and YouTube comments.
There were customsied voicemail
messages, betowelled flirations with Alyssa
Milano, Christina
Applegate and Demi Moore, a
proxy
marriage proposal, the naming of a first born
son, the meta Old Spice Guy
message to Isaiah Mustafa and finally, the bittersweet
resignation letter.
Funny, smart, self aware, responsive; it's hard to believe it
was filmed in
one shot.