measuring the success of the 2010 old spice campaign

Measuring the success of the Old Spice campaign

Courtney Meegan

March 18, 2011

PUB355

The ad campaign your ad campaign could smell like

The man your man could smell like

• Created by ad agency Wieden+Kennedy• Launched February 8, 2010• Starring Isaiah Mustafa

Personalized video responses• July 14, 2010: Old Spice Guy begins addressing fans• “Smart bombs,” more videos released over next two days• How did they do it?

Results• 23 million views in 36 hours• 1.4 billion+ brand impressions

• Facebook fans: +118%• YouTube subscribers: +227%• Twitter followers: +2,800%• Oldspice.com traffic: +300%

• Traditional ad campaign becomes a conversation• “The footprint has grown”

• Digg, Reddit, 4chan communities involved

What about sales?• July 2010: sales increased 107% over past month• Competitors’ sales increased during this period as well• Couponing blitz: coincidence?• Verdict: impossible to tell

Commentary and criticism

• “The archetype of a successful social media campaign”• Mashable

• “A paragon of marketing in the information age”• Fast Co.Design

• Awareness but no call to action• Impossible to determine effectiveness of ads vs.

coupons

The sweet smell of success• Humour plus well-liked brand icon encouraged organic

sharing of ads, extend brand platform• Effective blend of paid, owned and earned media• Numerous parodies (Sesame Street, among others)• Old Spice voicemail generator

References and resources• Advertising Age• Fast.CoDesign• Google Images• Mashable• TV By the Numbers• Wikipedia• YouTube

Questions?

Thank you!