More than just a blip on the radar, or a short-lived social media meme, the Old Spice Responses video series is an online marketing campaign you should be watching. In case you’re not familiar with the campaign, Old Spice rolled out a new ad spot in February featuring a shirtless manly “man your man could smell like”. Tongue in cheek, humorous and full of over-the-top sophisticated machismo, the ad spot quickly became a favorite on TV and online. This week, Old Spice, marketing agency Wieden + Kennedy and actor Isaiah Mustafa recorded personalized messages to influencers and regular people, responding to comments and questions posted online. It’s important to note that, in many cases, the content selected for response has nothing to do with Old Spice brand or product line.
Watch a few Old Spice Responses. I guarantee you will laugh out loud, literally. Then watch the online response. Conversation in my social circles has gone from a roar, to a low study buzz as the video series has ended, but the blog posts and articles analyzing the campaign’s effectiveness will hum on for quite some time. And for good reason – it’s a smart campaign.
Three articles cut straight to the point on why Old Spice Responses worked so well:
- Read Write Web – How the Old Spice Videos Are Being Made
- Mashable – The Old Spice Social Media Campaign by the Numbers
- justbrand.me – 5 Things @OldSpice Taught Us About Social Media
Still have doubts about the campaign’s significance, consider two more things:
- Reddit reader Pandarr asked @OldSpice Man to record his outgoing voicemail message. His request was granted, and within hours, other readers had downloaded the audio files, spliced it, and built the Old Spice Voicemail Generator. Now anyone can enter their digits and select from a handful of messages to create their own outgoing voicemail greeting.
- The wave of parodies, spoofs, and spinoffs has just begun, and the videos are being circulated nearly as fast as the Old Spice series. They’re unlikely to have the same reach or same effect, but they will continue to fuel the brand awareness of the very campaign they poke fun at.
Now that’s virality!
