Old Spice Case Study

Old Spice is an American grooming product for men. Encompassing products such as deodorant, antiperspirant, shampoo and body wash. Originally starting in 1937 by Proctor & Gamble, Old Spice was actually intended for women. While the men products launched later that year, it didn't take long for them to abandoned the idea of selling to both genders.


Starting in the mid 1980's, old spice began to indulge heavily into the advertising campaign which introduced the sail boat on the top of their logo. Fast forward to 2010, Old Spice partnered with Wieden+Kennedy, to produce the campaign, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like".

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=sfp&p=the+man+your+man+could+smell+like#id=1&vid=20efca63785f6bb83a9500818458f5e0&action=click



As you may be able to tell from the video, this video is intended for female viewers. Why may you ask? Because in 2010 Old Spice discovered that 60% of their purchases were from women.
Jump ahead a year or so and they released, "The Response". This is without-a-doubt Old Spice's most popular ad. Gaining more than 40 million views in just a day and a half and eventually producing more views than President Barack Obama's acceptance speech in 2008. Helping them jump to the #1 on YouTubes most viewed.


I think Old Spice's value proposition is very simplistic but creative. Show a handsome man fresh out of the shower that would likely attract the female audience. All the while teaching men that all it took to be like this guy is to wear Old Spice.


During 2014, Old Spice began partnering with the NFL and it's players. Notable stars like Ray Lewis, Von Miller and Wes Welker.

Fast forward to 2018, the Foam Zone. As Primetime professional sports games are respectively the most expensive time slot for a company to advertise during. Old Spice released this video in October during a Monday Night Football game. The backlash they got was unexpected, due to a "contestant getting pegged in the head with a football." However this could be part of the plan, to get more people to talk about their company. Some could argue any attention is good attention. I personally think this its a little outrageous but it seems to be working, as Old Spice is still the #1 grooming company in the U.S.


If I was the marketing manager I would stick to the approach they had in 2010, with a simple yet novelistic commercial that tells a story but still excites people to go out and buy their product while keeping great humor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f96Bd6xR3A

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/10/espn-monday-night-football-foam-zone-old-spice-ad-video-reaction-witten-falcons-giants-fans-nfl

Questions

1) Should Old Spice stick to the overly handsome men doing their commercials shirtless?

2) Do you think for a company that sits at #1 for grooming products should be a more careful in how they attack their marketing and advertising?