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Hey Old Spice haters, sales are up 107%
The applause for Old Spice's incredible YouTube blitz this month hadn't even died down when critics started panning the effort as ineffective. Rushing to judgment, some bloggers cited 52-week sales figures from before the video responses launched as a sign that Wieden + Kennedy's efforts were underwhelming. Contrarians jumped on these early reports as a chance to bash clever social media stunts in general. But now the numbers are in, and it's hard to argue that this campaign doesn't just smell like a man; it smells like victory. In her new analysis of the Old Spice video push, Adweek's Eleftheria Parpis has this summary: "According to Nielsen data provided by Old Spice, overall sales for Old Spice body-wash products are up 11 percent in the last 12 months; up 27 percent in the last six months; up 55 percent in the last three months; and in the last month, with two new TV spots and the online response videos, up a whopping 107 percent." So isn't that enough to satisfy the critics? Perhaps, but only grudgingly. In his Adweek column today, a curmudgeonly Joseph Jaffe gives the campaign a mild share of praise amid a thicket of caveats: "It's hard to determine how much of (the sales increase) was due to an aggressive couponing campaign which was in market simultaneously, but directionally, there does appear to be a correlation between creative resonance, social momentum and sales." Not quite a resounding endorsement, but it'll have to do. |
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Filed under Griner, Old Spice, Parpis, Wieden + Kennedy
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Comments
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If Old Spice really did have a coupon campaign going on, then it just shows that the brand knows how to create an integrated marketing campaign.
By raising a ton of awareness online with the videos AND having a massive coupon campaign AND having displays in department stores, the brand effectively rose sales. I definitely would attribute most of the success to the social media blitz, but then again I'm a biased 22 year-old social media user.
@tmiesen
Posted by: Tom Miesen | Jul 27, 2010 1:06:12 PM
Why is it "hard to determine how much of (the sales increase) was due to an aggressive couponing campaign which was in market simultaneously"?
Aren't redeemed coupons enough to make that determination?
Also, I'd like to thank Tom for his insightful contributions, stating the campaign was fortified with coupon campaigns and displays, but my own conclusion is that the viral does little for sales without them.
Posted by: Lisa | Jul 27, 2010 1:45:05 PM
Once again Jaffe shows what a marketing lightweight he actually is. (And what has he - the gaseous pontificator - ever actually *done* for any brands?)
Posted by: Stephanie | Jul 27, 2010 2:43:54 PM
Whatever their sales, I love the commercials. They needed more youthful ads and they seem to have gotten the hang of it now.
Not sure why I'm just now finding your blog, but I like it. Good work.
Posted by: Jules | Jul 27, 2010 3:51:03 PM
Griner,
Where you say: "Rushing to judgment, some bloggers cited 52-week sales figures from before the video responses launched as a sign that Wieden + Kennedy's efforts were underwhelming," you link to my item on BNET Advertising. Thanks for the link. But that factoid didn't come from me. If you follow the link I provide, it came from ... Adweek itself!
So who was rushing to judgment here, hmmm?
Posted by: Jim Edwards | Jul 27, 2010 5:17:17 PM
Jim, I'm definitely not arguing the sales figure your article cited, which was indeed reported in our sister publication Brandweek. But the number was part of a July 11 article (two days before the Old Spice video responses began) and referred to the effectiveness of the TV spot.
So I do feel it was a bit misleading for critics (and it most certainly wasn't just you) to tie the earlier sales figure to a social media campaign that hadn't launched yet.
To help better illustrate the bigger picture of these "rushed judgments," I've changed the link to go to a wrapup post by Brand Channel instead of linking to BNET's post. Apologies if it seemed I was picking on your writeup specifically.
Also, for many more details on the Old Spice sales figures and some clarification on the numbers reported July 11, definitely check out the newest analysis by the team at Brandweek:
http://bit.ly/bNhoeQ
Posted by: David Griner | Jul 27, 2010 5:44:08 PM
Hello ladies!
Posted by: Aaron | Jul 27, 2010 6:58:26 PM
There's no doubt that this is a well orchestrated campaign but the key challenges for agencies are not so much coming up with the next stellar piece of creative but:
1. Elevating advertising videos out of the social media entertainment genre. Right now they take their place alongside Charlie Bit My Finger, a Korean baby singing Hey Jude and Justin Bieber's latest hit. Great entertainment, for sure, but as soon as the video finishes playing, the engagement dies and the consumer moves onto the next shiny object.
2. Developing the strategies and infrastructure that allow brands to build on their viral success and create on-going earned one-to-one communication with consumers. In other words, there's no point in having 650,000 Facebook fans and 90 million views if the consumer relationship ends once the laptop closes.
And let's not forget, either that the TV campaign started in February, while the videos started getting YouTube and social media traction in July. That gives you five months' worth of awareness to take into account.
More of a take on it here:
http://tinyurl.com/23jtk54
Posted by: Nick Wright | Jul 27, 2010 7:24:48 PM
LOL, I gues they are laughing all the way to da bank! LOL
Lou
www.anonymous-surfing.es.tc
Posted by: Lou Dean | Jul 27, 2010 10:12:54 PM
Jaffe's site, dozens of videos of himself preaching on youtube, on average less than 300 views each. interactive/integrated/success fail.
Posted by: Amazingjuice | Jul 28, 2010 12:24:01 AM
You can really tell who the old fogeys with traditional marketing degrees are, and who the new media embracers are; as well as which group's sales are up 107%. Keep talking down to viral video watchers as attention-span-less dweebs and you're going to miss the boat.
Posted by: anon | Jul 28, 2010 5:32:39 AM
Best advertising campaign that I've seen in a long time. I'd say it was too soon to call anything though.. I haven't run out of any of these products yet so haven't even had the need to buy OS even if I wanted to. I can say that I would at least give OS a look now, where I certainly wouldn't have in the past. (seems more youthful now) So bravo to the OS guy for that!
Posted by: Online RSA | Jul 28, 2010 5:36:44 AM
I used Old Spice before it become popular with young people. I used to be told I smelled like their grandfather when I used old spice a couple years back... now its popular... what.
Posted by: supdawg? | Jul 28, 2010 11:21:51 AM
Nobody uses a discount coupon for something they don't want in the first place. The only way to explain that sort of additional demand is changed perception of the brand.
Posted by: Peter | Jul 28, 2010 11:29:58 AM
For readers who now don't know what that "rushing to judgment" post at BNET said (because David has removed the link), here's my two recent items on Old Spice Guy:
Posted by: Jim Edwards | Jul 28, 2010 11:49:26 AM
Just threw this one out to internet land: Would The Old Spice Guy win in a battle to the death verses The most interesting Man in the World? Vote and Decide: http://thisorth.at/181
Posted by: Cargo | Jul 29, 2010 2:12:48 PM
I certainly love the marketing, freaking hilarious! - however I still wouldn't buy it, somehow it makes me think of an old rotting sailor. I guess that's a "man" smell though. um..
Posted by: Randy | Aug 3, 2010 6:36:56 PM
I guess time will tell, but I predict another Subservient Chicken.
Posted by: Chuck Williams | Aug 4, 2010 3:54:39 PM
Well look like sales were OK after all, yes i read the gloom and doom reports but I don't think they told the whole story, in fact looks that sales are actually rocketing wrote about it here:
http://www.siliconbeachtraining.co.uk/blog/old-spice-campaign-a-lesson-in-social-media/
Posted by: seo training | Sep 2, 2010 2:17:37 PM
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