Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like Campaign Case Study

In the world of advertising, certain campaigns stand out as game-changers, altering the trajectory of brands and creating cultural phenomena. Among them is Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” which first appeared in 2010. The series not only launched a century-old brand, but it also transformed the possibilities of advertising’s relation to consumer identification, humor, and going viral. Combining smart advertising and devious branding expertise, Old Spice became the most talked about brand on earth.

In this case study you will find out what made the campaign so successful, how it impacted Old Spice’s brand and what lessons the experience left for marketers today.

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Background of Old Spice

The Shulton Company debuted Old Spice in 1937. Originally position as a male grooming product, the brand became a household staple during the mid-20th century. But by the 2000s Old Spice was in trouble:

• New generations found it to be obsolete and disconnected from their audience.
• Rival brands like Axe (called Lynx in the UK) and Dove Men+Care had taken the young market.
• Sales had plateaued and they needed to re-establish the brand.

When Old Spice became part of Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1990, the company understood that an overhaul of the brand was essential.

The Challenge: Breathing New Life Into a Dated Brand

Old Spice launched in 1937 and pioneered the men’s grooming category. In the early 2000s, it wasn’t connecting to a younger, more modern audience. Its image was considered outdated, and its conservative marketing strategies were failing to resonate with the young men it wanted to attract.

Old Spice’s parent company, Procter & Gamble (P&G), had to find a new way to market the brand. The goal was simple: to connect with a younger audience without losing the brand’s legacy of masculinity and ruggedness.
The transformation Old Spice needed was not just one of packaging redesign, but how the brand communicated with the world at large. The task was to figure out a new, thrilling way to spark life back into the brand without turning off its older loyal customers.

The Approach: A Dash of Humor, Boldness and Surprise

The “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign was conceived by advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy and was targeted for both male and female viewers. At the core of the marketing effort were several widely popular and whimsical advertisements starring actor Isaiah Mustafa, portraying Old Spice spokesman “The Old Spice Man.” Its main message was bold and brash: Old Spice was not just a product for old men anymore, but a brand for young, cool, and confident men who wanted to be noticed.

Key Components of the Campaign

• Isaiah Mustafa’s Charismatic Character

The campaign was built around the larger-than-life Mustafa character: a smooth, self-assured, and impossibly good-looking man who can do just about anything. Mustafa delivered it fast, funny, and self-aware, with the perfect level of winking over-the-topness. Disrupting an age-old tradition of alpha-male Old Spice brand imagery, Wieden created a character who had both presence and hilarious, and most importantly of all, who seemed human.

• Surreal, Absurd Humor

The ads were intentionally bizarre and zany, featuring unlikely situations, Mustafa on a horse one moment, then holding a diamond the next, and made for some of the most memorable and amusing spots commercially. This bizarreness worked well with a younger crowd that took to sarcasm and absurdity.

• Targeting Both Men and Women

Although the brand was targeted at men, the campaign was also created to attract women. The thinking behind this was that women were frequently the ones making a purchase decision for the men in their lives, specifically in relation to grooming products. The iconic ad line, “The man your man could smell like,” underscored this approach with a sense of play and humor, while also implying that Old Spice was what the manliest of men wore to attract women.

The Execution: A Multi-Platform Approach

The campaign was first promoted to the public with a television advertisement that aired at the start of 2010 during the Super Bowl, one of the most-watched events in the United States. To me, the thing that really separated this campaign was the multi-platform approach. Old Spice was not going to let them just be aired on TV spots. They were digital-first, aware of the significance of social media and how ideas could go viral in the age of internet culture.

The Viral Social Media Response

After the ad originally aired, Old Spice leveraged the increasing dynamics of social media, responding with videos to fans, famous folks, and even influential Twitter users. These responses were filmed in the original ad’s quirky manner (with Mustafa speaking to the audience in real time). The level of interaction is unrivaled, the brand chatting away with fans and answering questions and comments. The most high-profile interactions included tweets to Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, and The Today Show.

Old Spice generated a feedback loop by responding in real time via video and interacting directly with consumers that satisfied their desire for continued entertainment. The campaign’s engagement with the audience and its smart, spontaneous sensibility made it feel less like an ad, and more like a conversation.

Leveraging YouTube and Digital Ads

The Old Spice campaign leveraged platforms such as YouTube and Twitter for content deployment. The Old Spice YouTube page served as an aggregate center for the entire experience for fans who wanted to delve in deep into the campaign. The use of digital platforms not only extended to a broader audience but also gave the campaign a life beyond the TVC.
Old Spice did some of the best cross-promotion by having celebrities tweet the campaign and enlisting top social media influencers. This user-generated content model rendered the campaign super shareable, achieving high engagement rates on numerous platforms to further extend its reach.

The Results: A Resounding Success

The Old Spice brand became a fad in a matter of weeks, not only in sales, but also in pop culture.

Greater sales and market share

Over the first two quarters of its run, Old Spice body wash sales jumped 125%, one of the more spectacular new-product introductions of recent times. The brand also found mass penetration with men’s grooming, especially younger men, who were not even looking at Old Spice at one time.

Cultural Impact and Brand Positioning

The campaign effectively repositioned Old Spice as a modern, youth-conscious brand. Advertisements with the signature catchphrase “The man your man could smell like” cemented its legacy in pop culture and soon became an inspiration for parodies and references by media outlets everywhere. It added a modern twist to Old Spice, making the brand relevant in a way few old brands can claim.

Award-Winning Success

Old Spice was honoured with numerous awards for the campaign, such as Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, and Effie Awards, and truly proved to be a real disruptor in the advertising industry.

Results and Impact: Measuring the Campaign’s Success

The campaign exceeded expectations. Here’s a table of key metrics:

Impact: Sales doubled in 6 months, brand perception shifted to modern, and influenced future marketing with interactive elements.

Long-term: Revived brand, inspired response campaigns.

Takeaways and Tips for Marketers

Points on enduring lessons:

• Finesse and Fearlessness: The campaign’s tone, light and breezy, with a wink and a nod, empowered the brand to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
• Appealing to Different Audiences: As soon as they began conversing with both women as well as men, Old Spice doubled its wonderful fan base.
• The Power of Social Media: The campaign demonstrated how a brand can interact with an audience spontaneously on social media.
• Moving Beyond Just Traditional Advertising: Old Spice didn’t just use TV ads, it used digital media to maintain a conversation about the effort.
• User-generated content for virality: With celebrities, influencers, and fans, Old Spice harnessed user-generated content to propel brand visibility.

Conclusion: The Legacies of Old Spice’s Campaign

Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” series remains one of the hands-down highlights of the past decade of advertising. Using the power of creative genius, humor, and the right application of social media, Old Spice was not only able to resurrect itself as a brand but also excelled in providing an example for how brands should connect to consumers today. The effort revitalized a dying brand and has done the same for countless other brands that have followed suit – proving that even the oldest brands can be revived with the proper approach in our hyper-fast digital age.

Ads have changed a lot since then, but some of the lessons of Old Spice’s advertising are eternal: be bold, be creative, and, above all, make an authentic connection with your customers. Check out Entri AI Powered Digital Marketing Course to create such eternal campaigns.