TLDR: Old Spice has successfully managed to remain relevant over the years by embracing its cliched reputation and turning it into a positive force. Its comical tone of voice and off-the-wall marketing stunts have won it a loyal following among men.
So What?
This approach has actually helped the brand build deeper relationships with its customers. If you’ve already got brand recognition, then mix it up a bit: Old Spice is a great example of how to keep things fresh.
Introduction:
Old Spice is a classic male grooming brand that has been around for decades. Its products have a strong and distinct scent that many men remember from their fathers or grandfathers.
In recent years, Old Spice has cleverly leveraged its cliche status of being a “manly” brand to stay at the top of modern men’s minds. It’s now appealing to a new generation of consumers that might not have considered the brand, and the results have been impressive.
If you’re looking for some customer engagement inspiration, Old Spice is a great place to start understanding how to stay relevant with your target audience, no matter how long you’ve been in business.
Be Willing to Evolve
Even if your products have been around for generations, it’s essential to keep up with purchasing trends among your target demographics. This way, you can adjust your product offerings and marketing strategy accordingly. For Old Spice, this meant understanding that contrary to popular belief, women are the primary purchasers of 70% of men’s grooming products.
That’s when the brand adjusted its messaging to be more inclusive and less “macho,” launching the popular “Smell Like a Man, Man” campaign. In its first commercial, a Super Bowl ad, the first line is addressed to women. It said, “Hello, ladies. Look at your man. Now back to me.”
This type of research-driven messaging is something all brands can learn from.
Get Creative with Your Marketing Channels
Not all marketing is created equal. When promoting your brand, you need to know where to allocate your resources for maximum impact. Picking up on the previous point, Old Spice knew TV commercials alone wouldn’t be enough to reach its target audience despite TV spots being the traditional go-to for the grooming industry.
“It’s always our goal to engage our consumers in a way that’s not only entertaining, but also relevant, humorous in our own Old Spice tone, and worthy of their attention. Digital is perfect because you can quickly gauge the reaction, as people are very open to providing feedback to the advertising.” – James Moorhead, Brand Manager at Old Spice.
Instead, the brand successfully tapped into social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, where it could engage with consumers more interactively. This effort paid off, with the ad going viral and capturing nearly 75% of all social media conversations about the product category.
If anything, this shows it pays to think outside the box when marketing your brand. Don’t be afraid to experiment with new platforms and strategies, especially if you think they could be a good fit for your target audience.
Personalize Your Messaging
One of the best ways to connect with consumers is to speak to them on a personal level. This can be done in various ways, though one of the most effective is to use data analytics to target customers with personalized messages. Old Spice did this with its commercial and responded to the questions, comments, and concerns that were raised by social media users in the form of 185 videos over two days.
This type of personalization can be easily replicated across all forms of marketing, from email to social media. The result is a more engaged customer base that feels valued and appreciated by the brand.
On top of that, brand awareness and sales also saw significant boosts thanks to cross-profile sharing, as users shared the videos with their friends and followers.
You Should Have a Sense of Humor
Old Spice has built its recent success on its humorous approach to advertising. The brand’s commercials are often over-the-top and poke fun at the stereotypes associated with its products and target audience, but that’s what consumers have come to expect and enjoy.
If your brand can find a way to inject humor into its marketing, you’ll be better positioned to engage with consumers. Just be sure that the tone of your humor is in line with your brand’s overall image and personality.
Keep Your Content Engaging
It’s not enough to produce content and just throw it out there. You need to make sure it’s engaging and relevant to your audience if you want people to stick around.
Old Spice does this by constantly thinking of new and innovative ways to keep its content fresh and engaging. For example, in addition to the Old Spice Guy, the brand has also introduced a number of other characters such as the Wolfdog, The Legendary Man, and more, all of whom keep viewers coming back for more.
It’s also important to keep your content varied to maintain interest. By mixing things up and being ‘unexpected,’ you can keep your audience guessing and ensure people don’t get bored.
Final Thoughts
Old Spice has always been daring with its marketing, which has helped it stay fresh and exciting. If other brands can learn anything from Old Spice, it’s that customer engagement should be a top priority, and there are many different ways to go about it.
At Media Shower, we highly believe in the power of customer engagement and work hard to create content that engages, informs, and inspires. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help you achieve a better customer experience for your target audience, contact us today.
