They create great, short, compelling media that is relevant to their brand and inject it into the social web where us users can see it. I’m talking about Old Spice, which when I was young had a bad wrap for being the after shave and cologne that your Grandfather wears. They embrace this by saying: “If your grandfather hadn’t worn it, you wouldn’t exist.” This is the tagline on their Facebook page.
They are embracing the idea that Men wear Old Spice. This feeds off of the preconceived thought that I and many like me had about Old Spice. Remember some of the other cheap colognes that we used to dowse ourselves with in junior high school? This of course being well before the age of Axe body spray which is the Stetson of the 21st century. This commercial spot, though entirely ridiculous, says exactly what it needs to say. Men wear Old Spice.
Around the web they understand that you have to stick out. In order to stick out you have to catch people off guard.
This Facebook ad alone was the tipping point that led me to write this blog post.
Old Spice knows that they are “OLD” and that they are/were known as Grandpa’s brand. What do guys under the age of 30 struggle with most? Being considered a “Man.” Who is a man in most people’s lives? Their Grandpa. Now these ads are not going to compel a guy to run down to Target and get himself some Old Spice deodorant but the next time one finds himself out of deodorant, Old Spice will stick out much more then the other brands. Phrases like “Because I’m a Man” and “Don’t smell like a turtle cage” will run through his head as he makes his decision to buy. I already use Old Spice deodorant so these ads just make me smile, however I still have a preconceived thought that their aftershave and cologne are for Grandpa. Maybe I should pick up a bottle next time and try it?
The purpose for posting this was to show that sometimes the best way to gain exposure is to play off what is already preconceived. Maybe your business has not been around for 70 years and has a Grandpa complex but in almost every industry there is a fun spin you could apply to what you do. Have fun with your advertising, if you don’t, people will see it and ignore it.
You can see more of their great content on their website: http://www.oldspice.com/videos/
This is the most ridiculous “analysis” of a marketing scheme I’ve ever read. Do you read anything other than Twitter?
Actually I don’t read Twitter much at all. I was not trying to analyse anything. I just thought that it was a fresh ad that really got my attention. Sorry it did not meet your standards.