I guess we can resume the whole Old Spice Guy campaign on YouTube as follow:

“107% sales increase for body wash over July (Nielsen); sales increased 55% over the previous three months”

However, in my opinion, sales numbers are just the tip of the iceberg.

Truth is, there are hidden sales numbers that might never be pulled because the social media campaign’s impact is beyond the numbers. Old Spice was able to reposition their brand so that its sales will keep growing in the following years.

Old Spice is was Old.

Old Spice is the deodorant that the generation Y’s father and grandfathers use. After executing a savvy social media offensive, the brand was able to change their image from an old product to a trendy, mature (as opposed to “old”), yet sexy, product that can make axe jealous.

The campaign is impressive because of the time and resources that was dedicated to the campaign. They brought social media experts right into the creative process and also in the execution. RWW reports that there were 2 social media experts and a technical guy that was monitoring the conversations online in real time. The expertise becomes even more important when calculating, in real time, the influence of everybody asking a question. The social media experts were also collaborating with the scriptwriters in real time to provide a proper voice to the Old Spice Guy and finally, once the production was done, the experts found the best ways to broadcast the video clips.

Yes, social media experts do exist

The success of the Old Spice Campaign lies in the collaborative effort of all the different communication expertise, including social media, from the brainstorm to the execution. As romantic as the concept is, such a feat is impossible without the right mentality. The marketing messages were produce with little to no supervision.

Can you imagine your company doing the same?

Proper guidelines and boundaries are extremely important during such an initiative. If the boundaries are too tight, it can implode the creative process. However, if the boundaries are not set properly and if the team lacks the proper expertise and experience, the brand can be put in a dangerous position that can do more harm than good. Experience in both social media and traditional marketing is key because the expert must be able to understand the implications and potential repercussions of every message broadcasted.

The idea is not to relinquish control, rather it is about proper thinking and proper execution.

Note: Alyssa Milano did get the handwritten letter a few minutes after the video clip was posted on YouTube.