Old Spice Guy Serenades Advertising Types, Bloggers and Average Joes…All In Near Real-Time
It seems like this has already blown up pretty much everywhere on the internet but if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s one of the most ingenious integrated campaigns to come around in quite a long time. Using the Old Spice Man Who You Want Your Man To Smell Like, W+K has created a character that has gone beyond TV and crashed the social media party on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube – and just about everywhere else. And the best thing about this is how simple it is. Select user comments on Old Spice are selected and then posted as a YouTube video response – with often hilarious results. My personal favorite is the serenade of Teressa Iezzi and Ann-Christine Diaz from Creativity (embedded below). What’s ingenious about this campaign is how it’s suddenly turned everybody into Charlie from Willie Wonka in search of the Golden Ticket. The Golden Ticket being a personalized video response from The Old Spice Guy after posting a comment on one of Old Spice’s social media channel (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
You can view the rest of the YouTube videos here and an Adweek write-up on how they pulled it off here. It’s risky when brands try to create a personality that can extend outside of ‘advertising’ but this social media execution was done at the right time and targeted the exact right people – influential bloggers, high profile twitter users and even ‘normal’ people. The normal, average Joe’s being the main reason I think this is taking off.
The last time I can remember a well done integration of a ‘fictional personality’ and social media was Kenny Powers from Eastbound and Down. Deep Focus helped give the character a voice on Facebook and Twitter that helped build the characters popularity even after the HBO season ended. How will this work for Old Spice? Who knows, but it’s definitely fun now and hope they can keep it going for as long as possible.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention this funny voicemail generator. SWAN DIVE!
UPDATE #2: Looks like the campaign is over but going out while on top – SILVERFISH HAND CATCH!
Tags: Advertising Created Characters, Brand Personalities, Kenny Powers, Old Spice, online video, Social Media, YouTube Video Response
