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Case studies

Old Spice turned a popular TV ad into a two-and-a-half-day burst of 186 personal video replies to fans, and its body wash sales rose sharply.

By Jignesh, , 4 min read

Brand
Old Spice
Industry
Personal care
Channel
YouTube, Twitter, Facebook
Year
2010

Results

  • 186

    personal video replies filmed in about two and a half days

    Source ↗

  • 65 million+

    video views for the campaign

    Source ↗

  • 65,000 to 150,000

    growth in YouTube channel subscribers

    Source ↗

  • 125%

    year-on-year rise in body wash sales by the end of July 2010

    Source ↗

The challenge

Old Spice was a long-established brand. It needed to feel fresh again and sell more body wash.

There was a twist. Research showed that women made more than half of all body wash purchases. So the brand had to appeal to men while also speaking to the women who were often buying for them.

What they did

The brand and its agency, Wieden+Kennedy, created a confident, funny character, the Old Spice Guy, speaking straight to women about the man their man could smell like. The TV ad became a talking point.

Then they did something new. The team collected questions and comments from fans and well-known people on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and other sites, and the character replied to them in short personal videos.

A small team of writers, strategists, developers and producers set up a working studio and filmed 186 video replies in just over two and a half days. Many replies were written and shot in 10 to 15 minutes.

Each reply was posted on YouTube and shared back to the person who asked. That made people feel seen, and it gave them a reason to share the video with their friends.

What your business can take from this

  1. Know who really buys

    Old Spice found that women bought most of the body wash. Ask yourself who makes the buying decision for your product. It may be a parent, a spouse or an office manager, and your message should speak to them.

  2. Reply to people, not to a crowd

    A personal reply is more powerful than a general post. Answer comments and messages by name, quickly, and in your brand’s voice. A short voice note or video on WhatsApp can do the same job for a local business.

  3. Speed beats polish

    Many of the replies were made in minutes. When a conversation is happening, it is better to join it fast with something good than late with something perfect.

  4. Turn one good idea into many pieces

    One character and one tone became 186 videos. Once you find a format that people like, repeat it with new topics instead of starting from zero each time.

Sources

  1. D&AD: Case study, Old Spice response campaign
  2. Cannes Lions archive: Old Spice
  3. Wieden+Kennedy: Old Spice, Smell Like a Man, Man

An independent study of a public campaign, written from published sources. Musafir Infotech did not work on this campaign.

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