@ CC – That’s exactly my point. Internet buzz alone doesn’t do the trick. Look at how Dominos created buzz on their “new formula” campaign. Internet was a big component but the smallest of the 3 (print, tv, web) major components.

I hope it doesn’t hurt sales. That’s why I’m wondering if it does. But as a marketer you know as well as anyone there is good branding and over branding to the point where the message just begins to look more contrived than an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

I completely understand what you are saying, but I don’t agree with you. While a viral hit may not instantly generate sales, I don’t think it in any way hurts sales ever.

True, by many Old Spice is an out of date and dead brand, but for me personally it is the deodorant I’ve used forever. I don’t use about or care much about any of their other products, but that product has always been on my dresser. The recent campaign didn’t make me want to buy that brand any more or less. I buy it because it is a good product. Without a good product, NO marketing is going to save your ass.

As someone who makes their living helping brands create and execute campaigns based on the principals of Social Media I can’t agree that any harm was done to the brands in any of the examples.

Sales were down before this campaign and we all have to wait and see if they go up or not. But, that being said, we have to remember that the online piece is just one component and a brand can’t be launch, sustained or revived from online alone. The online buzz is a small piece of a MUCH bigger pie out there that every brand has to worry about and pay attention to.

Now we wait and see if it is another Snakes on a Plane, or if the Old Spice Guy is going to teach Susan Boyle how to do it.

Seriously even though I generally like the Old Spice products I do not enjoy the ‘Old’ connotations… Perhaps it’s time for Old Spice to rebrand? Thank again it’s not as band as some of the other brand form the late 70′s and 80′s. Still OS is better than Old Spice, ok maybe not.

Anyway this is a great post and certainly food for though.

Cheers & thanks!
Mikel King
@mikelking

Your asserting that Old Spice stinks is curious. Sure, you might not like the smell, but it’s obviously nice enough that enough people like it for the company to stay afloat all these years. The liking of a scent is very subjective, and not something you can brush aside for everyone based on your personal feelings for it.

Axe is very successful, no doubt in part because of it’s ad campaigns. But i personally think it smells bad, and I know a bunch of people who do, too. Should Axe now be doomed to failure because I say it stinks?

@Ellen – The sales numbers are calculated to June. That’s a whole quarter after the ad first aired and landed on YT. Apples or Oranges or not, I don’t see the translation of the buzz being translated into anyone buying any of the fruit at all… because the quality of that fruit is questionable… which is the point of the post.

@Chuck – But where in the original ad does it state that’s the call to action. To me it looks like any ad trying to get me interested in a product so the call to action is implied that I should buy it.

The second commercial (trying to recapture that lighting in a bottle) and those responses were crafted, by the timing, seemingly after these dismal sales reports were released.

But even the last response video acknowledged the OSG was done. I think they realized the campaign didn’t bring the ROI they hoped. Now, if those numbers rebound in the second half of the year we’ll maybe see an OSG Xmas ad…

@Peri – Thanks!

Thank you!

By getting people to respond to the Old Spice guy they got a list of people who were actually engaged and seeing the ads. Great first step. But now they have to get those people into stories to get them to BUY the products. This campaign didn’t drive that action.

In traditional marketing terms the “call to action” was to Tweet the Old Spice Guy… not to go and buy Old Spice.

While they couldn’t get videos to respond to everyone, part of the response to people not called out in the ads should have been “here is a coupon code for you to bring in.” That could be a traditional print/cut coupon or a digital coupon via text message. Either way, they needed something to track whether this campaign worked to DRIVE SALES.

It didn’t. They squandered a great list.

Don’t shoot your business in the foot, doll.