The Old Spice Guy

Old Spice Guy, you have given me plenty to think about. Isaiah Mustafa my friend, you have absolutely hyped Old Spice beyond all reasonable expectations. Kevin Rose loves you. My Mum loves you. I’m sure if I had a sister, she’d love you too. I’m worried though, this hype, it’s going interstellar. It’s getting to be a bit much. Some in the ‘social media’ community, would gladly have us believe that you alone are responsible for a 107% increase in sales of Old Spice. Are you? Did your videos inspire that many people to change their scent? Won’t their girlfriends be surprised? Won’t their pets be confused?!

For those not in the know, this is my friend Isaiah Mustafa…

I’m getting off topic. The point I’d like to make, is that while Old Spice Guy, Isaiah to those that know him well and sniff his spicy-ness, was simply part of a wider campaign. There’s nothing wrong with this. It doesn’t mean that the viral campaign was a failure. It doesn’t mean that marketing isn’t going social. It doesn’t mean you’re going to have to stop tweeting. It’s okay for a viral video/social marketing campaign to merely be a part of a wider integrated communications strategy. In fact, in an ideal world, that’s the way it should be.

Let me bore you with some stats to illustrate my point, in the form of a graph I’ve ‘borrowed’ from adage (you’ll get it back guys, I promise) from an AdAge post by Jack Neff, ‘How Much Old Spice Body Wash Has the Old Spice Guy Sold?’

Mens body wash stats The Old Spice Guy

As you can see, Old Spice isn’t the only brand to have a huge bump in sales.

Coupons were used. TV campaigns ran. Look at Gillette? Was there a Gillette Chap* that I missed out on?

I’m not saying the Old Spice Guy campaign wasn’t a success. That would be downright silly. A grown man can say ‘silly’, right? What I’m saying is that it’s wrong to run out and say that he’s responsible for a huge sales increase.

I know it might give people in the social media field comfort to know that a viral, social campaign was so hugely successful. Success stories in our industries validate what we ourselves to, even if we had no part in it. I understand. The thing is, social media doesn’t require validation. It’s a massive tool and the way it allows us to connect with customers is immense. You know this. There’s nothing to gloss over, just say it like it is.

Old Spice Guy was a great part of a wider campaign. The exact impact it had on sales is something we’re not likely to know, certainly not now.

*Speaking of ‘chap’, how awesome would a Chapstick Chap have been? 10,000% increase in sales right there.

Steffen The Old Spice Guy

This is a guest post by Steffen Rusten (a.k.a @Steffen_) a soccer mad kiwi who is loves the socialsphere and  is pushing the social media agenda for his company.

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  • http://twitter.com/arissays Aris

    I see what you're saying, but I think you're not acknowledging the true implications of how awesome this campaign really was. When I talk about awesome, I'm of course referring to the elusive entity that inspires joy and mirth in people, which is a true indicator of greatness. Sounds quite long-winded, but the advertising and digital industries are severely lacking in it. We need more campaigns such as this.

    The campaign was popular, yes, and it was groundbreaking in some respects (a notable absence of red tape in producing the responses you talk of), but it's one of the first true examples of a brand being able to break through, talk to, and even charm the Internet(s). This man even won the respect of Anonymous, for Pete's sake, which in itself I think deserves a medal, or something. The campaign showed understanding of how not only the social web works, but also about how its communities that the networks it's comprised of function. For one day, we were all unanimously in awe of Old Spice Man, which isn't only a result of arbitrary objects falling from the sky, and pop-culture references; it's also a sign of great strategic planning.

    There's always the argument that amazing videos don't convert into sales, but what about word-of-mouth? What about brand reputation? What about brand love? Wouldn't you high-five this man if you saw him in the street?

    I'm getting excited, and I'm straying from my original point. There shouldn't be so much furore surrounding increases in sales figures. Of course, that's important, but in this case, I think there's something far more important at stake. Instead, we should concentrate on what this campaign did differently, and use it to help us foster richer links with the online community, in future. In this respect, I think we agree with each other.

    The Old Spice campaign made everyone feel special, if just for one day. I think this is something we can all learn from.

  • SteffenRusten

    “There's always the argument that amazing videos don't convert into sales, but what about word-of-mouth? What about brand reputation? What about brand love? Wouldn't you high-five this man if you saw him in the street?”

    100%!! I couldn't agree more with this, which is why I think it's even sadder that people are jumping on arbitrary and very iffy sales figures. The brand awareness, the feel good factor, the lasting respect that this campaign will give Old Spice – it's huge and will probably, definitely, mean future campaigns carry something of an 'x factor' that wouldn't have been there otherwise.

    Thanks heaps for your comment, it highlights something I didn't really pay enough attention to in the original post. The fact that this campaign was successful in ways other than an impact on four week sales figures, isn't something that should be overlooked.

  • socialsammy

    Wow guys awesome comments, and you're both spot on.

    In my day job I work for a very sales orientated company and all I can say is that if I had created such a massively successful video campaign which just so happened to correlate with a huge boost in sales I'd be using that boost in sales to help sell the use of social media to a wider array of people within my company….regardless of whether I could directly attribute it to my campaign.

    Based on this sort of logic I wouldn't be surprised if we see even more great things coming from Old Spice in the near future.

  • SteffenRusten

    I would too. But I'd be at pains to make it clear that the causation may be iffy, and that the real long-lasting benefits lie beyond that 106% increase in sales. Here that's probably just the icing on the cake (as far as the social part of the campaign is concerned).

    Definitely expecting big things from Old Spice though, and excited to see what else W+K do.

  • http://www.tinyurl.com/lifestyle4u Kresant

    Great insight… thanks for sharing.

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