"P-P-P-P-P-P-POWER!" I would be shocked if there was a guy out there that has never exclaimed this quote at the top of their lungs while trying to look as masculine as possible, which may be harder for some than others. But that's beside the point. Of course this is the old tagline of the more than muscular Terry Crews in the long-lasting Old Spice camapign. A more recent campaign, starring Isaiah Mustafa, was famous for being random a funny, but also for using the motto, "The man your man could smell like." But wait a minute, if they are advertising body wash for men then that motto does not quit work...or does it?
Researchers at Old Spice had found that even though deoderant such as Old Spice is mostly a man's product, in the majority of circumstances, all purchases regarding hygiene and personal care products were made by the woman or women of the households. So, with this valuable nugget of information, what did Old Spice do (and do perfectly in my opinion)? They produced a line of commercials that appealed to both males and females. First, the males react to the advertisements because they see a manly, macho, and smooth man using the product and reaping all of the benefits with an extrardinary amount of confidence. On the other hand, females that view these ads will respond to the muscular and smooth talking man, but in maybe a slightly different way. The men want to BE that guy, and the women want to be WITH that guy. It created the perfect storm for Old Spice, which led to an amazing 107 percent increase in sales in the first month following the ads alone, according to AdWeek. This kind of number makes it hard to find a flaw in Old Spice's strategies. Without extensive research and thorough understanding of the consumers' behaviors, I don't think that Old Spice would have ever seen this kind of growth, at least not as rapidly.
As a guideline for any advertisement, even the best and most effective campaigns have their breaking point. To avoid wearing out this brilliant idea, Old Spice had to move in a different, but still similar, direction with their ads. With their new line of "Champion" body wash, Old Spice is using Green Bay Packer star and 2011 Super Bowl champion, Greg Jennings. A Super Bowl champion promoting a body wash called "Champion?" Genius. It probably was not a hard connection to make for Old Spice and in my opinion, it won't be tough for the consumers either. The new line of commercials show Jennings making a movie about himself, helping a young and attractive woman ride a jet ski on him back while doing pushups, and also one that shows him in the middle of an NFL game while being in bed with a woman. The common message in these commercials is being able to mix business with pleasure. While it is extremely tough to top Terry Crews or Isaiah Mustafa, I think these the use of Jennings and the new direction of these ads are good and will be successful for Old Spice. After being at the pinnacle of the advertising world for a year or two, Old Spice must try even harder to stay on top because when you are on the top, the only way to go is down, and Old Spice does not want to have their name changed to Old News.
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