Gimme Some of That Old Spice Guy Magic
We all remember that famous “I’ll have what she’s having” scene in “When Harry Met Sally.” It spawned copycat marketing and mainstream conversation and humor for years since.
So, it’s no surprise that we were recently told, “We want some of that Old Spice Guy stuff,” no less than four times, in a recent meeting with a company looking for a b2b social media strategy to capture some OSG-type magic.
It’s no wonder that companies want to capture the stuff of Old Spice. This week, Adweek published results that Old Spice sales have been on a steady double-digit uptake since introduction of its bravado-steeped manly man TV campaign featuring Isaiah Mustafa; and in the last month, its social campaign pushed the sales increase into the three-digit zone.
Watching this campaign unfold and peeking behind the (shower) curtain at how it was pulled-off, we’d say that the success of the OSG campaign involved four key criteria:
- The breakthrough social campaign embraced, didn’t seek to reinvent, the heritage of the brand
- It pushed the envelope, taking a familiar persona to the next level, ever expanding opportunities to converse
- It delivered its audience and its audience’s main influencer something to talk about
- It delivers on the promise of the brand
Old Spice Guy knows how to get on his horse and sell it. No difference there between consumer and b2b marketing. It all goes back to marketing basics — know what’s important to your customers, find out where they are talking about it, give them something relevant to talk about, and be able to communicate how your strengths map to what they want – in the time and places where they are talking.
Want some OSG magic? Find your horse and get on it … just be sure that you know how to ride it. And if you’re not sure where to find your horse or how to ride, maybe it’s time you speak with us.
