Friday, 22 October 2010

Old Spice guy comes to Oz

With over 40 million views on you tube, surely by now everyone is familiar with Old Spice’s ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’ campaign.

What started out as a brilliant creative idea, turned into one the most successful viral advertising campaign of all time after launching on Youtube. The online launch followed with a TV ad, followed by a massive social media direct response campaign that got everyone, including Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres going crazy for Old Spice.

With the star of the campaign, Isaiah Mustafa landing in Australia this week, we thought it timely to reflect on what made the Old Spice campaign so successful. Was it Mustafa himself? Or was it also the fact that Old Spice were willing to embrace and wholeheartedly back a 100% original, outside-the-square idea – an idea so great it took on an online life form of its own, no doubt saving millions in advertising spend.

Old Spice is now reaping the rewards of the campaign, with overall sales up a whopping 107 percent. It just goes to show the power of a great idea.