The Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign aimed to increase sales of Old Spice body wash. Wieden + Kennedy developed humorous TV commercials and social media tactics featuring an overly masculine character. This helped shift perceptions of body wash and beat competitor Axe. Through engaging ads and an interactive online presence, Old Spice saw huge increases in sales, social media followers, and brand awareness within months of the campaign.
1. The Man Your Man
Could Smell Like
Campaign
By: Kelsey Hinchliffe and Jaimie Olson
2. The Client
Owned by Procter & Gamble
Fortune 500 company founded in
1837
Produces 3 categories of consumer
goods
Beauty
Household
Health
Other brands include
Olay, Gillette, Crest, Tampax, Dawn,
Charmin Febreeze
3. TheClient
OLD SPICE
First product was for women
introduced in 1937
Men’s products followed in
1938
Offers shaving
cream, aftershave, deodora
nt, body wash, and body
spray
Known for its sailing theme
and red product packaging.
4. The Agency
Wieden + Kennedy
Founded in 1982 by Dan Wieden
and David Kennedy
8 offices all around the world
(Portland, Amsterdam, Tokyo, etc.)
Clients include
Nike, Coke, ESPN, Honda, Microsof
t, Miller Brewing, Old Spice
Website
5. Research
Consumer Surveys: male
body wash is usually
purchased by women
(Bradley)
Women purchase about 70%
of all male toiletry products
Body wash strikes the majority
of men as unmanly
6. The Problem
How can Old Spice market
body wash to female
purchasers and at the same
time make it seem more
masculine and appealing
than a bar of soap to their
male target consumers?
7. Competitive
Environment
Biggest rival is Axe (Newman)
(West)
Also makes male grooming
products
Owned by Unilever
Axe spent $30 million in advertising
in 2009 while Old Spice only spent
$7.5 million
Axe campaigns tend to be over
the top and have ordinary men
that suddenly become sexy to
women that have a great deal of
sex appeal
8. Objectives
“Start a dialogue between men and
women and boyfriends and girlfriends”
Beat out Axe as the leading seller of
body wash to men all across the nation
Embrace social networking as a way of
engaging customers
Combine both feminine and masculine
appeal in their advertisements
9. Objectives
Make the objectives quantifiable and add
a deadline
EXAMPLE: By the end of 2010 increase sales
of Old Spice Body Wash by 15%.
EXAMPLE: By the end of 2010, Old Spice must
lead Axe in body wash sales by 10%.
EXAMPLE: In the next consumer survey, 50%
of all men must have a favorabe view of
Old Spice Body Wash.
10. Target
Audience
Men ages 18 to 34
Women with boyfriends or
husbands or children in that age
range that are purchasing the
products (Parpis)
11. Strategy
Maintain heritage of the brand
(seafaring theme) but repackage
it with a satirical twist
Stress the masculinity of the brand
Make people feel personally
invested in the brand (Bowen)
15. Evaluation
In less than 3 days, 5.2 million views on
YouTube
Twitter followers grew from 3,000 to 90,000
Facebook fans 675,000 (interaction climbing
by 800%)
1 billion media impressions
W+K won Emmy for outstanding commercial
(Axon)
Sesame Street Parody (Worsham)
16. Evaluation
Nielsen Data
Old Spice Body Wash sales up 11% in last
12 months
Old Spice Body Wash sales up 27% in last 6
months
Old Spice Body Wash sales up 55% in last 3
months
Old Spice Body Wash sales up 107% in the
last month (Parpis)
18. Strengths &
Weaknesses
Strengths Weaknesses
Embraced social Some considered it
media too redundant
Very memorable Fake characters in
commercials social media
Made consumers a
part of the campaign