The Old Spice Man Spices Up Brand Marketing

When Isaiah Mustafa appeared in a 2010 Super Bowlcommercial[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE] with a towel wrapped around his waist and a bottle of Old Spice body wash in one hand, he kicked off a long-running viral marketing campaign that has rejuvenated the brand's sales. Mustafa, a former NFL wide receiver, smiled into the camera and addressed women viewers, saying he was "the man your man could smell like" if they used Old Spice. The combination of his wryly funny lines, winning delivery, and buff physique made the commercial an instant YouTube hit. Suddenly, Old Spice, a pre- World War II brand that zoomed to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s, was an overnight social media sensation, with Facebook fans, Twitter comments, and consumer-generated spoof videos stirring up conversation around the world. The Old Spice Man campaign, created by ad agency Wieden & Kennedy for brand ownerProcter & Gamble[http://bi.galegroup.com/essentials/company/307096?u=tlearn_trl], had successfully added a relevancy and an affective appeal that was attracting and entertaining a younger audience than the brand's traditional customer baseand boosting sales significantly.

As soon as the first Isaiah Mustafa ad went viral, the agency followed up with a second commercial in the same humorous vein, again featuring the bare-chested Old Spice Man. Again, public response was so enthusiastic that the campaign geared up for a new and unprecedented socialmedia blitz. This time, Old Spice invited users of Twitter, Reddit, and Diggincluding celebrities and athletes such as Ellen DeGeneres, Demi Moore, and Apolo Ohnoto submit questions for the Old Spice Man to answer. As hundreds of questions poured in, consumers voted for the ones they wanted to see answered. Next, in a marathon three-day studio session, the agency scripted and Mustafa starred in 186 brief YouTube videos responding to individual questioners in typical wry style. When Kevin Rose of Digg.com tweeted that he wasn't feeling well, the Old Spice Man answered with a "get well" video that Rose immediately mentioned to his more than 1 million Twitter followers.

The concentrated barrage of targeted, personalized tweets and entertaining videos stirred up enormous positive word of mouth among consumers. Just as important, Old Spice was the subject of many stories on TV and radio, in the blogosphere, in newspapers and magazines, and seemingly everywhere on the Internet where news commentators posted articles, podcasts, or videos. All the media coverage (which the brand did not pay for) fueled even more consumer interest in Old Spice. Within days of the Old Spice Man's answer videos appearing online, the brand's Facebook page collected more than 600,000 "likes" and the online videos were viewed more than 7 million times.

Procter & Gamble supported the social media campaign with discount coupons and other promotional efforts that reinforced brand awareness and offered an incentive to buy and try Old Spice products right away. Old Spice sales quickly skyrocketed, and the brand captured the market leader position, despite competition from Unilever's Axe, Beiersdorf's Nivea, and Henkel's Right Guard brands.

A year later, Procter & Gamble launched a new chapter in the Old Spice Man story. This time, Fabiothe model and star of many romance novel coversappeared in online videos challenging Isaiah Mustafa for the title of Old Spice Man. This tongue in-cheek mano a mano competition consisted of 39 back-and-forth videos that drew millions of viewers and tens of thousands of social media comments. Consumers clicked to vote for the Old Spice Man they preferred, and after several days of hectic and humorous exchanges, Mustafa and Fabio appeared in one final video announcing that Mustafa had retained his title. The big winner was, of course, Old Spice, which gained even more brand awareness and enjoyed higher sales. Now Procter & Gamble is taking the Old Spice Man campaign on the road to universities and cities where consumers can try branded products and have their photos taken in poses reminiscent of the original Old Spice Man commercial.[i]

CASE QUESTIONS

1. How is Old Spice using evaluative conditioning to influence consumers' affective attitudes? Identify the conditioned stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, and conditioned response in this situation.

2. What role does the dual-mediation hypothesis play in the Old Spice Man's marketing success?

3. What aspects of the communication source are involved in influencing affective attitudes toward Old Spice?

4. Do you think consumers will maintain a positive attitude toward Old Spice if the Old Spice Man campaign suspends messages for more than one or two months? Explain your answer.