Old Spice: The power of humour and interactivity in advertising

Old Spice’s 2010 advertising campaign was targeted at a female audience, as women buy 70% of men’s toiletries. The interactive approach of the campaign, which used personalised videos on social media to answer consumers’ questions, made the brand viral. As a result, sales of Old Spice have grown significantly and the brand has achieved a leading position in the United States.

Today I’ve brought you a commercial that’s been making me laugh out loud since 2010. All versions are brilliant!

Old Spice ad – your man can smell like this man!

Year: 2010
Media: TV and internet

This Old Spice ad was an ad campaign that caused a big storm on social media!

Before the Super Bowl, Old Spice was the brand your grandpa used as deodorant. With their market share declining, the brand needed a little shake-up. They decided to launch product advertising campaigns targeting the younger generation.

Old Spice’s advertising campaign started in 2010 with an attractive man targeting a female audience. He told them that their partner could smell like him if he used Old Spice.

Why did he address women?

Well, the creative team did some research and found that women buy almost 70% of men’s toiletries.

…yes, that’s why it’s worth researching before you do anything 😉…

But that’s not all!

The Old Spice ad created two-way communication with consumers online, leading to 186 personalised videos on social media. People wrote questions to Old Spice and the Old Spice guy himself answered them.

That’s one hell of an engagement strategy!

Why was the Old Spice ad so successful?

The ads attracted younger generations with messages that they respond to – HUMOR and SZEX. Like the male model who led the campaign, the ads targeted young men and women, who are Old Spice’s key demographic.

The simplicity of sharing on social media created an online following for the brand, which made the campaign go viral. This allowed the brand to start a conversation with its audience.
Of course, this created a level of commitment that surpassed all imagination!

Old Spice ad: results

Within 30 days of launching the campaign, Old Spice had over 40 million views on YouTube and sales of its body care products had increased by 107%. Old Spice has become the leading brand for men’s body care and deodorants in the United States.

Procter & Gamble later reported that the campaign resulted in:
– almost 105 million YouTube views
– 2700% increase in Twitter followers
– 800% increase in Facebook fan interaction
– and a 300% increase in traffic to the Old Spice website

This huge leap in social media engagement has helped Old Spice to go wide with a single advertising campaign!

GE-NI-US!