Sweet smell of success for Old Spice video campaign

The Old Spice viral video campaign has been a rip-roaring success. Initial reports gave the impression that the Old Spice Guy had racked up a lot of eyeballs but not much revenue, however recent data, which include figures from the viral campaign's final thrust, show that Isaiah Mustafa pulled in the cash, too.

by Helen Leggatt

old spice man.jpg According to data from The Nielsen Co. and SymphonyIRI Group, the Old Spice ads weren't a wash-out. On the contrary, they produced a flood of sales with more people than ever now "smelling like the man your man could smell like".

- Sales of the body wash jumped 55% in the last three months.

- During the last four weeks alone, sales of the product rose a whopping 107%.

This latest rise is probably due, in part, to the campaign's crescendo - the "Responses" videos. For twelve hours a day over three days, a team of 35 people, including "digital community managers" and three writers, collaborated to encourage and collect fan questions. Video responses were then produced and aired online as quickly as possible. The questions were answered by Old Spice Man in his usual witty and uber-confident manner.

In the week following the Old Spice "Responses" campaign the team posted 183 individual video responses on the Old Spice "I'm on an Internet" YouTube channel. They attracted over 35.7 million unique views. In fact, the Old Spice channel was the most-visited YouTube channel that week and is now the third most-subscribed channel ever in the site's "sponsor" category.

Isaiah, a former NFL footballer, is rumored to have been offered a part in a movie starring Jennifer Aniston.

Tags: online video, social media, video ads, viral video

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Michael Peres

I find it quite difficult to find "Old Spice Original Classic STICK" deodorant in numerous dept. stores. Occasionally I can get it at ZELLERS. Cannot find it at Sears or The Bay or Shoppers. I can always get the Red Zone or High Endurance which I do not use. The Original "Stick" is much smoother and has a nicer frangrance than the other two.

Is the "Stick" being gradually phased out ? I hope not

Sincerely,

M.Peres

Jtak

Characters used to sell products and services can be hugely successful if strategically designed. I read recently in the Chronicle of Philanthropy that even nonprofits are getting into the mix. Goodwill of Greater Washington in Washington, DC has had tremendous success blogging about, of all things, vintage and contemporary fashion with a blogger called the DC Goodwill Fashionista. Check it out at www.fashionofgoodwill.org/blog.

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