An in-depth analysis of the Old Spice campaigns suggest that the brand is still riding on 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,' the most popular commercial (by Old Spice) on social media. But, this isn't because of the celebrity status- Isaiah Mustafa alone but the brand recall in itself, as more people spoke about the brand than Isaiah!
Of the three recently launched commercials by Old Spice, the top three include 'The Australia- New Zealand launch' again by Isaiah Mustafa; Mantastic man by Milind Soman and Lizards featuring Wes Welker.
The most popular celebrities associated with the Old Spice campaigns include Wes Welker-Snow Globe, Lizards and Absent; Terry Crews- Muscle Music and Milind Soman- Mantastic Man.
Take a look at the social media analysis derived using the social media monitoring and intelligence tool by Webfluenz http://www.webfluenz.com/
Inbound Marekting 2.0 - The Paradigm Shift in Marketing | Axon Garside
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Old Spice Campaign Analysis by Webfluenz
1. SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYSIS OF OLD SPICE MARKETING
STILL RIDING ON THE MAN
YOUR MAN COULD SMELL LIKE?
2. CONVERSATIONS ABOUT COMMERCIALS
Almost half of all global
conversations revolved around its
marketing and commercials alone
- quite a feat for any marketing
department!
Why is this so compelling?
Deodorants are typically a low involvement category. Beyond the interests of hygiene
and smelling good, they are not thought to require much research, conversation or
debate.
Looks like Old Spice is out to change that.
Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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3. TOP OLD SPICE COMMERCIALS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice commercials only.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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4. TOP COMMERCIALS: WHAT CAUGHT CONSUMER ATTENTION?
4. The Australia – New
Zealand launch
There was no specific thing or part in this commercial that was talked about by a
significant number of consumers, except that it featured the “Old Spice man”.
It seems like this campaign is riding solely on his, or possibly Isaiah Mustafa’s,
popularity.
Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice commercials only.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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5. TOP COMMERCIALS: WHAT CAUGHT CONSUMER ATTENTION?
3. Mantastic Man
Targeted at Indian social media users and shot in Hindi, post release, it quickly went viral.
Viewers said they loved it because they either thought Milind Soman was droolworthy, or how funny it was.
Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice commercials only.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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6. TOP COMMERCIALS: WHAT CAUGHT CONSUMER ATTENTION?
2. Lizards
A dejected football star takes a whiff of his deodorant and subsequently forgets all his
troubles, finding himself in a tropical island paradise. A typical commercial would end there.
Instead the camera pans out, showing Komodo Dragons eating (said footballer) Wes
Welker’s legs. This moment, the unexpectedness and silliness of it, was what social
media loved most.
Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice commercials only.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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7. TOP COMMERCIALS: WHAT CAUGHT CONSUMER ATTENTION?
1. The Man Your Man
Could Smell Like
The viral success of this campaign is evident, its buzz volumes giving stiff competition to
the newer ones even today.
Social media loves how funny the “Old Spice man” is, and their favourite part is
the unanticipated climax, “I’m on a horse”.
Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice commercials only.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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8. SUMMARY: WHAT CAUGHT CONSUMER ATTENTION?
It’s evident what’s working for Old Spice : humour and surprise.
• It’s found a niche – the new commercials are young and fun, steering clear of its
previous association with being “old” and “grandfatherly”.
• In a smart move, it’s also making jokes about being old, and using that to sell a
separate “Classic” product line (“If your grandfather hadn’t worn it, you wouldn’t exist”).
• What it’s also pushing, is the association with being manly (“smell like a man, man!”),
while avoiding any resemblance to Axe’s (owned by P&G’s biggest competitor,
Unilever) brand identity of being sexy and provocative.
~ Read more about how to use humour in your content here ~
Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice commercials only.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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9. Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice commercials only.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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10. POPULAR CELEBRITIES: KEY INSIGHTS
• Terry Crews, whose last commercial for the brand was in back in May’13, came
second in terms of volume. Videos of his commercials were shared and
“liked”, especially “Muscle Music”, with a few even asking when his next ad was
coming out.
• Popularity around Milind Soman picked up rapidly after the Mantastic Man commercial
was launched.
• Most importantly (and surprisingly) the “Old Spice man” Isaiah Mustafa lagged
behind. Though mentions of the “Old Spice man” itself topped those for Wes
Welker, only a small proportion of these talked about Isaiah, the man behind it.
This can be taken as a good sign for the brand, an indication that these campaigns
are not riding on his celebrity status alone (unlike Wes Welker and Terry
Crews), but have managed to increase recall for the brand itself.
Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice commercials only.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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11. SENTIMENT ANALYSIS: SOCIAL MEDIA REACTIONS
Highly positive sentiment, on
account of social media finding the
commercials funny and entertaining.
Interestingly, the biggest proportion of negativity stemmed from factors that
also drove high positivity –
• Wes Welker’s legs being eaten by Komodo
Dragons. People talked about not
understanding this, or finding it “weird”.
• Similar trend was seen with Milind Soman’s
commercials – opinions were polarizing – the
same thing was loved by some, and hated by
others.
Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice commercials only.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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12. THE GENDER DIFFERENCE
• Seems natural that the volume of male
authors talking about the commercials
would be more than the female.
Male
Female
negative
neutral
positive
• However though men had three times
more volume, they also liked the
commercials slightly less – their
positivity is lower and negativity higher.
THE ADVANTAGE OF INFLUENCERS
• Given that the most influential would have
an Impact Score from 7 to 10, an avg. score
of 4.8 means that these mentions had
considerable effect on their social circles.
We’re looking at who’s written those
comments, what their influence is and
what comments have the most potential
for helping us create new content.
• Influence was a key factor in the success of
Man Your Man Could Smell Like campaign as
well. The social media questions replied to
were handpicked for maximum impact.
Quote by Iain Tait, Creative Director at Wieden
+ Kennedy, the agency that spearheaded the
project. Link to Source.
Note: Data consists of global mentions referencing Old Spice commercials only.
All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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13. RECOMMENDATIONS: WHAT NEXT?
Based on the analysis, here’s what we think Old Spice needs to keep in mind –
• Success of the Man Your Man Could Smell Like campaign draws attention to all else the “Old
Spice man” does (commercial for the Australian launch, which had no specific topics of discussion).
Guaranteed social media interest in him should not let complacency creep in.
• Humour and surprise are working, but these are qualities hard to attain, especially once consumers
start expecting it of the brand. Old Spice needs to work hard to ensure freshness and originality in all
marketing.
• The same factor simultaneously drawing high positivity and negativity (Wes Welker’s legs being
eaten / reactions to Milind Soman) shows humour is subjective, personal and contextual. The brand
needs to consistently striking the right chord, with the right people.
For example, the introduction of Milind Soman in India was an attempt to engage a dissimilar audience
demographic. What remains to be seen is if this version of the “Old Spice man” becomes as legendary
as Isaiah Mustafa’s, and if the humour clicks!
• The influence of celebrities (recall for Wes Welker / Terry Crews commercials) is undeniable. The
brand should consider more such campaigns, with celebrities doing funny, unexpected things.
• Social approval by women is said to influence men’s purchase decisions. The brand is
undoubtedly aware of this – the Man Your Man Could Smell Like campaign was directed at
women. Given that conversations by women are now less than one third of that by men, it needs to
do more to encourage and engage them.
Note: All data was obtained using webfluenz systems.
www.webfluenz.com
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