This morning I caught the following tweet from a friend:

Today, the internet smells like @oldspice and sounds like @isaiahmustafa and I like it.

Of course, that's just the type of response Old Spice and Wieden + Kennedy, the ad agency behind the recent campaign, were hoping for with the inspired social media blitz launched earlier this week. If you haven't spotted him hard at work on Twitter, the Old Spice Man (Isaiah Mustafa) from the brand's absurdly awesome "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" spots is currently answering tweets via YouTube videos from regular fans and famous followers alike.

That and the fact that the above tweet comes from a twenty-something female fan just reinforces the positive impact of taking an inclusive, self-aware approach to correcting the image of products with a problematic ad playbook (see our Ypulse Mashup coverage on the GennY Award-winning Kotex campaign for more). More important to the brands and agencies behind these products is recognizing that this new and improved non-sexist tone is also hitting home with its target demo of guys. Case in point we asked Youth Advisory Board member Bryan Spencer, a college student and ad agency intern, to critique the campaign. Here's what he had to say…

Our Side Of The Screen: Talk To The Old Spice Guy

What is it: In a year of Super Bowl ad disappointment, few suspected the minimal splash of one ad in it's debut could leave television sets and turn into a viral video that launched a million hits in under a week (up to 55 million and counting now) and a full digital campaign for months to come. Meet The Old Spice Guy, Isaiah Mustafa. With his help, as TCU student Mike puts it, “Old Spice has transformed itself from the brand of the elderly to the brand of the man's man through its advertising, which is specifically incredible as it transcended the connotation of its own name, “Old” Spice.”

Where do you come in: I first saw the Old Spice commercial when it launched at the Super Bowl. As most of my friends would agree, I found the ads funny. They were even entertaining enough to make the recent implementation of the “Talk to OS Guy” tab on Facebook an intriguing app. When visitors write in there (or on Twitter) The Old Spice Guy will create response videos for everyone from famous bloggers to your average user, allowing the campaign to continue to release new material, prevent the same old videos from becoming stale and sustain its exponential growth.

What works: Videos are short and witty. Guys love it because it has a very masculine feel. And girls aren't going to look away when an NFL player is on screen shirtless calling for your attention (“Look at your man, now back at me”). Their new campaign of “response” videos, the first of its kind, has thousands of views since launching yesterday; and their Facebook page has over a half million “likes”. Overall, their well developed YouTube channel and its integration into Facebook makes it easy for friends to share videos with each other.

Challenges: In an age where YouTube videos have an average lifespan of 6 days, has agency Weiden + Kennedy discovered the fountain of viral youth with their new response videos? Combining user interaction with fresh content, only time will tell if they can keep up the momentum.

The final verdict: As recently as March, AdAge had declared that in the battle between brands Axe & Old Spice, Axe's media plan had been stronger. However, with the recent push of “Talk to The Old Spicy Guy”, Old Spice may show that ditching traditional TV spots for more budget friendly personalized digital content is the way to reach more consumers for a longer period of time.

About Bryan

Bryan is a lost soul. Not in a bad way, as it keeps things interesting in life. When he is not studying Marketing at the University of Kansas, Bryan is busy maneuvering his recently started fraternity, mentoring high school student's from his alma mater, and too often texting. While he tends to spread his talents to many fields, his forte may be in his ability to hold a conversation with just about anyone about the finer aspects of cuisine, both cooking and consuming. He does not hold quite as much writing experience as others on the board, having never taken an English class at the collegiate level. However, he still finds himself too opinionated to not express his thoughts on paper.

For more coverage of youth marketing, go to the Ypulse Youth Marketing Channel sponsored by Youth Marketing Connection.

Categorized under: Youth Advisory Board, Youth Marketing

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