OLD SPICE GUY AND SOCIAL MEDIA
He's loud, gregarious, and shirtless. He's the Old Spice Guy, and if you haven't seen his commercials, they're worth a quick screening over at: http://www.youtube.com/oldspice. A company slapping up their commercials online isn't anything new, but it's what Old Spice did afterwards that's shaking everything up: the mascot of the commercial himself, Isaiah Mustafa, began responding to YouTube comments and tweets personally—in the form of personalized videos. Hilarious personalized videos. And we're not just talking one or two, either: when all was said an done, nearly 100 video responses went out.
The attention the response campaign gathered was immediate. Thousands of at-home viewers went scrambling to log online and write Old Spice quirky messages up in the hopes of receiving their own online shoutout. In the matter of a few days, the blogosphere was buzzing and new media experts were pouring over the results before Mr. Old Spice Guy's final farewell message came a few days later.
Of course, whether or not all this attention actually results in more sales for Old Spice has yet to be seen. But as far as generating buzz and mixing things in an oftentimes sterile corporate page, Mr. Isiah Mustafa was a hit. It just goes to show you: as fancy as instant-communication technology becomes, all anybody really wants is a little attention.
So—what do you make of Old Spice's social media move?
www.36creative.com
