OLD SPICE EXPERT ADs

OBJECTIVES: Reinvent the Old Spice Image and raise Sales by consumer engagement.

Old Spice suffered from the negative connotations of their brand image so they decided to reinvent their image. They enlisted Wieden and Kennedy to re-launch the old spice products. They launched a range of advertisements, both print and video, including Isaiah Mustafa as a celebrity endorser. The narrative of the ads is the idea that if you use old spice you’ll become a ‘man’s man’ and desirable to women. The ads are targeting both men and women. The idea that men should aspire to be like Isaiah and women should want their man to be like him. This is demonstrated by the use of direct address in many of the adverts. An example is the ‘Old Spice Red Zone Body Wash: After Hours’ advertisement‘Questions’. Isaiah says: “Hello ladies. How are you? Fantastic. Does your man look like me? No. Can he smell like me? Yes.”. Men are positioned to compare themselves to Isaiah and women are positioned to compare their boyfriends to him. They embodied their values, vision and mission in a person which consumers remembered- they created the old spice persona.

Their mission was to convert consumer engagement into sales and it worked- sales increased by a whopping great 107%! This sales increase by itself shows just how well the campaign worked. I, of course, agree that this is a greatly successful campaign that is unique for its sector. Many male toiletry companies use the idea of their product winning over women but the fact that they have considered women as part of their target audience is a distinctive and innovative idea.