Yesterday we took a look at some marketing ideas that went viral to a greater or lesser degree. We considered some of the factors that encouraged any particular viral marketing campaign to grow as we looked at approaches from Dropbox, Dothetest.co.uk, and BT. Now we'll look at some that I think of as modern classics.
You can't go through an article on viral marketing these days without mentioning the new Old Spice guy. Old Spice is a classic Father's Day gift; the company clearly wanted a hipper image to go with their line of Old Spice deodorant and body wash. So they made some over-the-top commercials with a very sexy actor. “Look at your man. Now look at me. Can he look like me? No. Can he smell like me? Yes.” While going through his spiel, the actor walked forward through changing backgrounds and clothes so effortlessly that it left your mind spinning to keep up: riding a horse on a beach, walking across a yacht, jumping into a hot tub, riding a motorcycle. What he held changed just as quickly: a seashell, a necklace, concert tickets, you name it.
The changes in scenery and activities and what the actor held in his hands all happened almost magically, and all managed to be simultaneously macho enough for any men watching, yet romantic enough for the women who would buy cologne for their men. And the tongue-in-cheek, humorous nature of the whole thing, combined with the actor's sexiness, made for a very appealing set of commercials. It also didn't hurt that the first commercial was aired during the Super Bowl.
But the company didn't stop there with the professional commercials. They created a Youtube channel to which they eventually posted 204 clips over time, apparently one a day, of varying lengths. Not all of them featured Isaiah Mustafa (the actor in that first over-the-top commercial), but all of them had a similar kind of over-the-top humorous spirit.
Best of all, many of the videos responded to posts and tweets by viewers. Again, not all of them did, of course; one allegedly from the Blackhawks asked what the Old Spice guy would do if he had the Stanley Cup for an hour, for example. Naturally, this tied in to the macho image that Old Spice was creating. But others were clearly responses from real posts, including at least one post who asked the Old Spice guy to propose to his girlfriend for him.
This kind of activity and interaction inspired more from the fans. The community on Youtube seems to have a tradition of responding to videos with parodies and take-offs, and that's exactly what happened. This kept Old Spice in the limelight, though. The Old Spice campaign even generated media buzz, with the actor appearing on the Ellen Degeneres show and several other TV programs.
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