Old Spice, which is a subsidiary of Proctor & Gamble (P&G), understand the true potential of social media. They would, considering their latest campaign (created by Portland, Oregon based design firm Weiden + Kennedy) is the most successful social media campaign in history. They stayed true to their brands image without changing the brand, just changing the way people thought about it.
They implemented the idea of ‘The Old Spice Man’, with the early motto, Experience is Everything. Early Old Spice men include Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame, Tony Stewart, LL Cool J, Neil Patrick Harris, and finally ending with Isaiah Mustafa, former NFL player and current World’s Handsomest Man on a Horse. The success of this campaign is phenomenal. Since 2007 the ads have become increasingly ridiculous, and viewers have eaten it up.
The response is owed to an understanding of the power of social media and it’s strategies: monitoring responses, repeating success while their still trending, capitalizing on youTube, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc, interacting virtually with influential bloggers and celebrities, cross-promotion, and keeping the brand related to the everyday person. (Yes, click the links, they’re all gold).
Here is a great 5 min video by Weiden + Kennedy creating a case study for the success of the social media campaign:
SOURCES:
http://wearesocial.net/blog/2010/08/wieden-kennedys-spice-case-study/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/28/old-spice-sales-up-107-pe_n_662013.html
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/maggiemcgary1/149050/whats-roi-old-spice-guy
http://www.simplyzesty.com/advertising/spice-ads-work-sales-107-month/
