Old Spice Down Under

Remember the social media marketing success story of Old Spice? In 2010, the brand and its sales were reenergized by clever, timely web videos of Isaiah Mustafa as "the man your man could smell like." Sure, the campaign kicked off with TV commercials...but then it kicked into high gear with YouTube releases personalized to address various celebrities, one by one by one by one.

In the space of just a few days, Old Spice produced and released 180+ individual videos, attracted nearly 6 million views, and generated 22,500 comments. Those stats were just for the first week--and they don't count the impact of the original Super Bowl commercials, which were seen by millions. You can view ad agency Wieden & Kennedy's case study about this game-changing multimedia campaign here.

What made Old Spice's campaign so effective? One of the writers and creative directors for the campaign tells Inc.: "The key is interacting with consumers and building a relationship that's not just putting out a TV spot every once in awhile and hoping that works." In other words, the social media aspect allowed Old Spice to keep up a dialogue with consumers instead of a monologue.

Now Old Spice is bringing the campaign down under. Next week, the Old Spice Man will be in Australia and New Zealand to shoot new content designed for local audiences. Putting an Aussie/Kiwi spin on a campaign for Aussie/Kiwi consumers is smart marketing, sure to jump-start the dialogue with consumers and bring the brand cachet that retailers will appreciate, as well.