Bye Bye Old Spice Guy…
16th July 2010
This intrepid intern returns from her hibernation with a confession. I spent the last week with someone. We met through a friend after lunch one day. I apparently had to meet this guy. It was a torrid affair – I only found out his name today – The Most Interesting Man in the World 2.0 Isaiah Mustafa.
That’s right.
I (like many of you) spent possibly too much time with the Old Spice Guy.
He’s a brilliantly conceived character, attractive, articulate and very funny. He’s made plenty of us laugh over the past few months (the campaign started in February). The genius was not in just having a great character – but also in playing to the strengths of the channels it used. He played up to morning news shows. I could I tweet to my new friend and eagerly await his reply on YouTube. The campaign even retained a sense of authenticity with one video response to his daughter. I was also able to enjoy that oddly voyeuristic experience of watching him respond to celebrities on YouTube. I could share easily and effectively this entire whirlwind affair via Facebook.
The campaign has been a phenomenal success in brand awareness – they stayed bang on message for their product. However I wonder if that will translate into actual sales. I’m hyperaware of the brand Old Spice. I can identify their logo and will now even identify the whistle to the man and to the brand. I don’t know that I’ll hand over any of my hard earned cash to buy Old Spice for my guy – not without smelling it first. To me – the perfume section of any major department store can be like running a gauntlet. Eager immaculate perfume sprayers jump out like obstacles in a video game – it takes wits, cunning and agility to reach the other end smelling the same as when you entered. I’ll admit this campaign might just convince me to run that gauntlet to find a bottle of Old Spice and have a sniff.
The most striking thing about this campaign though – and I suspect the element that will ensure its lasting success – is its end. The saturation point for any new fad or thing can hit exponentially faster on the internet. The sheer volume of channels available to get a message through can turn us against an otherwise lovely/funny/ OMGWTFBBQ! /fascinating viral campaign.
We bid farewell to our Old Spice Guy just a few days ago. Like any holiday romance – it was short, sweet and leaves us with the hope of perhaps returning for more – later.
Donna Hogan is an intern with Reading Room. You can find her on twitter, or send her an email.
by Cathie
@acatinatree
6 Responses
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I. Hate. Advertising.
I haven’t seen the ads. I refused to.
I was temporarily bewlidered when links started appearing on my fb feed and was super disappointed when I found out that this new thing everyone was going on about was a friggin advertisement for a product that stunk to high heaven the last time I tried it.
This campaign might have been highly successful in its reach to consumers, but if the end product doesn’t match the hype they won’t get a significant roi.
On the upside, Cathie, your dad is now hip again.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Reading Room Digital, Reading Room. Reading Room said: Have you read @d_hogan's post about her love for the @oldspice guy? http://bit.ly/bQhmEh Good stuff! [...]
Watching this campaign unfold was a delight, really demonstrating just how powerful social can be when you’re activating a brilliant idea.
The only irritating part is that my dad has used Old Spice all his life, so all the charming and beautiful semi-naked men in the world aren’t going to shift my perception of the brand…
Great article, I know how you feel and will miss Isaiah as well. I used to use Old Spice stuff, just never the actual cologne/aftershave, it was pretty good, kinda just smells like clean, but masculine clean.