My memory of Old Spice is of a disgusting-smelling men’s aftershave mainly used by old men. However, thanks to what is being described as the best advertising campaign ever conceived by some has managed to bring Old Spice bang up-to-date.
And it would have been impossible without YouTube.
Viral Advertising
Advertisers have realized the power of the Web in recent years. And many have sought to use it to get brands and products talked about all across the Internet. Online video is a great way of doing this, with a viral video able to generate copious amounts of publicity.
Most viral video ad campaigns have tried to be sly about the whole thing – with a video that could be real and spontaneous actually advertising something. But Old Spice and the advertising team behind its promotion have now moved the goalposts significantly.
Old Spice Social Media Ads
The reinvention of Old Spice began last year with a new set of commercials featuring the Old Spice Man played by Isaiah Mustafa. He’s the very good looking, bare-chested guy who delivers his lines with totally cool professionalism.
However, the last two days have seen the Old Spice Man campaign moving from the television to the Web, with video ads being posted on YouTube in real-time as a response to messages on Twitter and other social networking sites.
Tweets from celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres and Demi Moore, Web celebs including Perez Hilton and Kevin Rose, and ordinary people like you and me were responded to directly by the Old Spice Man in YouTube videos.
150 videos were recorded and posted over three days, and millions of people have watched them. The campaign has managed to tap into social media on the Web in a way never before managed. And YouTube was an important element.
Conclusions
I suspect there’ll be copycats trying to emulate the success of the Old Spice social media advertising campaign. But I doubt any will quite manage it.
This was a brilliant use of online video and social media sites.
