Old Spice: “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”

Old Spice Commercial:

If I had been asked what Old Spice was a year ago, I would have said no. There would be no way I would have guessed that it was a body wash and deodorant for men because frankly, it sounds more like an Indian restaurant. If you still have no clue what Old Spice is, go check out their YouTube channel right now and watch all their videos. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Straightforward, creative, funny and memorable, but adding a strong social media element on top really took their campaign to the next level. Old Spice launched an online ad campaign with the catch phrase, “The man your man could smell like”, that exploded with over 6 million views after only 24 hours. By using social media to their advantage, they invited people to ask any questions about Mustafa, the dashing character with over-the-top humour and bravado, on t. Then they tracked their followers who asked interesting questions and/or were high-profile people on social networks such as Perez Hilton, and left short, funny personalized YouTube videos. The marketing agency behind this campaign realized how powerful and effective social networks can be. The Old Spice commercials received overwhelming attention and compliments from the public to eventually become an Emmy award-winning advertisement.

Re: Perez Hilton

The commercials are entertaining and their marketing strategy is relatively innovative. The video responses feel very personalized, even if they are not directed at you. Those followers who received responses, and many people who did not, have Tweeted, Facebook-ed and otherwise shared links to the videos with others across their social networks. The campaign gained extensive support from their numerous fans without spending millions of dollars and Old Spice is continuing to post new videos on their YouTube channel. How long will it last? I hope for a long time… as long as Mustafa can tell good macho jokes and smile seductively in his bath towel.