Marketing Monster

The folks at Wieden + Kennedy just raised the bar for social media campaigns. The agency responsible for Old Spice launched “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercial during the Superbowl featuring the line “I’m on a horse”, which now has almost 13-million views on YouTube. Another 30-second spot,  “Questions”, was released two weeks ago and already has over 5-million views

The Advertising Equivalent of Live Blogging

The social media campaign to support Old Spice flew into overdrive as the team from Wieden + Kennedy and Old Spice holed up in a studio in Portland, Oregon with their writers, production team and actor Isaiah Mustafa. Their idea was brilliant: Produce personalized responses to @replies on Twitter, comments on the “Talk to OS Guy” tab on their Facebook page, YouTube channel and other places around the web and quickly post them to the Old Spice YouTube channel with supporting Tweets.

Today they shot and uploaded 89 videos. Yesterday it was 29.

Yes, that’s right, 118 personalized videos in less than 48 hours. Think of the marathon that the writers and production team just accomplished, not to mention the focus that Isaiah Mustafa needed to maintain character for so long.

Indeed I think @jordan_ferguson was right when he suggested on Twitter that July 13th be renamed Old Spice day.

Leveraging the Numbers

As buzz grew around the videos on Twitter, the heavy-hitters started commenting. Creating the opportunity to push more attention to the campaign, reply videos soon appeared for mainstream celebrities @aplusk, @ryanseacrest, @Allyssa_Milano and @rosemcgowan. Media outlets @TheEllenShow, Perez Hilton, @GQ, @Gizmodo and Huffington  Post received some attention. Even @Starbucks got in on the action.

Tech celebs weren’t missed either, with replies going out to Twitter co-founder @biz, @guykawasaki,  and three get-well videos for Digg founder Kevin Rose, ill with a fever.

Calculated responses to grab the most lift, for sure. But there were still one-hundred videos speaking directly to people with modest followings that were as well crafted and funny as any meant for those with big reach.

And, ultimately, none of it would have worked if the videos weren’t funny and inventive. The writers deserve kudos for their nimble feat which managed to make me chuckle throughout the day, despite being in the depths of a miserable summer cold.

Meta Moment

Things got a little strange when the Old Spice character sent a reply video to the actor’s own Tweet.

This type of engagement too.

Here’s one that the team turned around in a few hours that makes an interesting story for one couple.

More Spicy Goodness

All the response videos.

Did You Know and Boat are the two 15-second spots that compliment the two more well known 30-second spots.

The making of the I’m On A Horse commercial, including an interview with writers Craig Allen and Eric Kallman.

What do you think of the campaign? Have you watched any of the response videos? Share your favourite in the comments. (My fave is the one they made around a horse hiding typo.)

Update: I neglected to mention that the @oldspice Twitter account had approximately 7,000 followers on the morning of July 13th. Now, 24-hours later, their account stands at almost 35,000 followers, a 500% increase.

Update 2: On the morning of July 16th, @OldSpice has almost 72,000 followers.

Update 3: ReadWriteWeb has a piece on how the Old Spice videos are being made.