So, when I think of my favorite commercials, I immediately think of the Old Spice commercials with Isaiah Mustafa and I don’t believe I am alone.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE[/youtube]
This youtube video alone has 44 million views (already generating some revenue for Old Spice). When the first commercial came out, I remember everyone talking about it. It was the definition of going viral. And then they came out with the 2nd commercial, which was also an instant success. These commercials rock-stared Mustafa into instant stardom and even got him his first big movie deal. Then Old Spice launched a series of short videos in which Mustafa answered questions submitted through the internet. I remember some guy even had Mustafa propose to his girlfriend. Needless to say, these commercials were a marketing success. Everyone was talking about them and in my opinion, you would have to have no sense of humor not to enjoy them. But, then I heard a rumor that the commercials didn’t actually have big effect on Old Spice’s profit, so I investigated:
“The Old Spice campaign is considered a huge social media win, one that hundreds of social media experts have praised, but here’s where the story takes a bit of a surprising turn. I was sure that Old Spice planned to use the information it has on its almost 120,000 Twitter followers to start engaging with each and every one of them on a personal, meaningful level… As of September 2010, almost two months after Old Spice ambushed Twitter, the Old Spice account has tweeted only twenty-three times, and not one of the tweets talks or interacts with an actual person or user of the brand. Ad Age published an article that begins “Old Spice Fades Into History”… To me, it looks like Old Spice is a sprinter stuck in a traditional marketing mind-set, not a marathon runner living in the Thank You Economy. – Gary Vaynerchuk, March 2011, Fast Company: http://bit.ly/PD6lZm
So, while the rumor I heard was wrong: Old Spice sales rose by 107% after the 2nd commercial, they did not fully capitalize on their new-found internet glory. They had done everything right, but then forgot to maintain their fandom. According to Vaynerchuk, this lack of attention sends the message to consumers that:
“They’re glad that I, and thousands of others, spent our money with them, and now they’re just going to sit back on their laurels, enjoy the spike in revenue, and move on to a new campaign.” Old Spice may have had a short success, but they did not build a lasting relationship with their customers that would spark loyalty.
So, I don’t have a good example of a public service announcement, but I do have a great example of radio marketing: Radiolab.
All of Radiolab’s credits are either read by their listeners or people they interview. This tactic not only provides an opportunity for listeners to be involved in the show and actually hear their voice on the radio, but also keeps people listening during the commercials. It is true that they don’t let everyone read the credits, but it’s great way to build excitement over something that people usually wouldn’t care about. I think this would be an interesting model for a local public radio station to use. The station could post the PSAs on their website and people could call in and record their reading of the PSAs over a voicemail. Then people would listen for the PSAs in hopes of hearing themselves on the radio! Plus, it would save work for the station. I say, the more people are involved, the more they are invested.