Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

After a nice long holiday and months of grilling for my exam, now am finally free.

‘Old Spice’ always brings back memories of my childhood when I used to see my father using that great-smelling after-shave lotion from that red bottle. But it isn’t something I would ever think of using as I find myself more inclined towards ‘Gillette’ when it comes to shaving products. Old Spice made a clear distinction of itself from shaving to grooming, yet I was never attracted towards it. I then came across the character know as Old Spice Man played by Isaiah Mustafa as a part of their campaign ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’. It was catchy and funny, and targeted the women in order to create brand awareness. The ad went viral over the internet, creating a huge buzz, generating millions of hits and subscribers on YouTube, several million fan-page followers on Facebook, followers on Twitter and clicks to the Old Spice website.

The credit of the success for the campaign should be given to the small independent US advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy. Another successful campaign undertaken by Wieden+Kennedy was with Nike, whose account they still control, making it one of the longest standing client-agency partnership. The success of the Old Spice campaign can be identified with the ability to keep the audience engaged with the brand through the face of ‘Old Spice Man’. People provided them with requests to do spin-offs on the original advert, and some of them were published on the YouTube channel with a period of 2 days.

The result of the entertaining video of Isaiah Mustafa being topless, wearing a towel, was a success. This also led to several similar fan-made videos on YouTube. Also notable is the spoof created by the Sun using the same advert, but with a topless girl, meant to attract the male audience. The success of the Old Spice campaign did work its magic in turning the brand around, and increased its appeal massively for the younger generation. I did buy the shower gel, and I have to admit, I liked it!