This time I decided to do something different for my blog! Instead
of the regular entry, this time I have decided to share some viral videos from YouTube.
With the increase usage of social media, sharing has become quick and anything interesting are going viral reaching millions of people across the globe within days.
'Kony 2012' became the most viral video in history with over
34,000,000 views on the first day of its upload on 5 March, 2012
After a few busy months, I finally have some time! I had exams to deal
with, work as usual and the Olympics to watch (which I believe was a
great show from start to finish!). The entire Olympics event took a lot
of brainstorming and effort by all the officials, volunteers and most
importantly the Londoners. With 11 'Worldwide Olympic Partners', the
Olympics is probably the most appealing event for businesses to show off
their brand.
Proud sponsor of mums On a Sunday morning with nothing to do, I was browsing through
YouTube videos and suddenly an ad by P&G caught my attention. It was
titled "Raising an Olympian", which showed the story of an Olympian
from the mother’s perspective. One link led to another, and I saw a
video which showed the story of 4 different mothers raising there
Olympian kids, titled "Best Job" with the tag line 'the hardest job in
The World, is the best job in The World. Thank you, Mom!'. This was the
kind of video which would get you emotional and bring a smile on your
face at the end. The advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy started the
campaign on Mother’s Day 2011 and ran it for 18 months on, till the
Olympics.
P&G is one of the leading FMCG brands in the world, with its
products in almost every household, where generally the lady is the main
boss. The campaign focused on mothers who generally make the purchasing
decision for the family, to which most of the audience could relate.
The campaign was an integration of different forms of communication
ranging from advertisements, PR to user-generated social media
responses. This campaign aimed at rising a corporate brand awareness
rather then its marketing its individual brands.
I really enjoyed the video and did the video touch me? Yes!
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!
