I want to highlight a social media campaign that occurred this summer that I thought was innovative and hilarious. The recent Old Spice commercials featuring “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” or former NFL player Isaiah Mustafa, have been quite popular since they first aired during the Super Bowl in 2009. The commercials effectively speak to men and women, one of the first for a product made only for men (also a smart move since women often do some shopping for their men).
Ad agency Wieden + Kennedy launched their popular Old Spice spokesperson into the social media world this past July. Mustafa responded to tweets, Facebook comments, bloggers and questions posted to Yahoo Answers about the product. A team worked around the clock to monitor social media outlets for any mentions of @Old Spice. Mustafa would then quickly respond with a video message on YouTube. The campaign went viral and an outpouring of mentions on Twitter ensued.
Why Old Spice was successful:
This is an example of an effective social media campaign because Wieden + Kennedy made sure to use several different outlets (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) and were smart about which audiences to targeted online with video responses. The team targeted opinion leaders (celebrities and influential bloggers), but also made sure to target the regular consumer.
Brenna Ehrlich of Mashable made the excellent point that targeting the average consumer made them more aware of the Old Spice brand by engaging them and making them part of this “world” that Old Spice has created.
Ryan Cox of EverythingPR points out that, in a lot of cases, the personal relationships created around a product can often surpass the quality of the product itself. Cox also explains that Old Spice gave its audience what they wanted (personal responses), when they wanted it (in real time), where they wanted it (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube).
They ended up posting over 150 personalized videos to YouTube before finally calling it quits. Here is a response to celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton’s tweet:
Cisco Spice, not so successful:
While I highlight a successful campaign, I should also cover a copycat campaign that did not do so well. Cisco Systems, Inc. started a “Cisco Spice” campaign with its spokesperson “Ted from Accounting” to promote its computer routers. Days after the end of the Old Spice campaign, Doug Webster of Cisco Service Provider’s Marketing Team launched a video explaining how they were putting together a similar campaign to promote Cisco’s routers.
Eighteen videos and only a few thousand views later, Cisco called it quits. So why was Cisco’s campaign unsuccessful?
Megan O’Neill with Social Times points out that Cisco didn’t set the stage to make this a success. They didn’t create any hype or buzz about “Ted” before starting the campaign. Consumers knew Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” long before launching its campaign, due to the television ads.
O’Neill also points out Cisco used not one, but three separate accounts on Twitter to run the campaign. There was nowhere for followers to go to, to see how the campaign was progressing. Cisco could have engaged more people by creating a little cohesion with only one Twitter account. I know if I had tried to find where to go on Twitter to be a part of this, I would have no idea which Twitter account to follow for updates.
With Cisco’s failed attempt at copying Old Spice, do you think any company or organization could come up with another campaign as successful? Do you think Old Spice may strike again with another successful social media campaign? Why do you think Old Spice was so successful?
I thought I would leave you with this last video so that you can get to know Ted. Enjoy!
Ice Cream Social (Media) 