Good Brand Story Research Paper Example

Intro

Stop. Look at your campaign, now back to me, now back to your campaign, now back to me. Sadly, your campaign isn’t mine, but if you stopped producing boring, traditional content and really took a chance on social media strategies, you could start building a dedicated following. Look down, back up—where are you? You’re on a boat.
For over seventy years, Old Spice has undergone several key alterations that drastically changed the perceptions of their brand and the principle of social media strategy. Old Spice is the leading brand for male personal care and has achieved its position through a strong re-branding campaign spearheaded by Wieden + Kennedy, a Portland based advertising agency. The campaign, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” has bolstered the one-time grandfatherly company into a social media magnate, targeting young males between the ages of 18-34 mainly through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Old Spice has succeeded in engaging with their users and followers particularly on the latter two platforms, which can be attributed to their commitment to providing real-time responses and creating fresh video content - both of which maintain the fun yet masculine message of the brand. Based on its social media positioning, Old Spice has exemplified the brand archetype of the Jester and the Everyman in their content. Old Spice products used to embody a product that “your grandfather would use”; a re-branding strategy by Wieden + Kennedy have reinvented the Old Spice message with new partnerships with the NFL, response campaigns and fun advertising. Old Spice created the “Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign—a movement that would catapult the brand onto the social media stage and earn unprecedented acclaim and business results. The brand cast Isaiah Mustafa as a charming and polite character to convince both men and women to choose the manly scent of Old Spice body wash and deodorant over “lady scented” brands. Thus, Old Spice’s target demographic reached not only young males (first time users) between the ages of 12-24, but also women. Guys aren’t impressed with body washes and deodorants that make them smell like fruit and flowers. And women—who purchase 60% of these products for them—don’t want them to smell that way either. Old Spice had the products guys wanted—and that women wanted for their guys. But getting their attention was anything but easy. Until Wieden+Kennedy discovered a big idea: “Hello, ladies!”
In keeping with the current brand image, Old Spice falls under the Jester and the Everyman archetypes thanks to their high degree of humour and creativity and these characteristics are featured prominently on their social media platforms. Old Spice capitalizes on using social media to promote their brand; Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are the three major platforms on which Old Spice expresses this brand image through written posts, photos and videos. On their regularly updated Facebook and Twitter pages, Old Spice posts daily humorous statuses and tweets that do not have anything to do with the products themselves, but strive to keep the followers entertained. The YouTube channel has various humorous videos and commercials that extend the funny and entertaining brand image with help from celebrity endorsements such as comedian, Terry Crews and NFL quarterback Drew Brees.
Account Director at Wieden+Kennedy, Jess Monsey commented on the campaign saying, "A big question for us at the time was the name and whether the brand could be relevant to young men moving forward. An early and key decision was to turn this perceived weakness into strength. With its 70-year brand heritage Old Spice was ‘experienced’ and well positioned to be an expert on masculinity and being a man." The company has adopted a fun, clear, direct and masculine tone of voice to direct their branding on social media.

Competitive Review:

Among the many male personal care products, Old Spice is visibly leading the race for most popular brand, largely due to their strong social media and traditional media efforts. Among Old Spice’s top competitors in terms of digital strategy are Axe and Degree for men. Axe is successful because their products are known for their highly sexualized advertising that attracts a male target audience as well as females that would purchase these products for men. Degree for men’s branding tactics are focused on being reliable and tough under pressure – specifically in sporting situations. All three of these brands share very similar target audiences in age and gender, and they all succeed in reaching these target audiences through their differing yet effective social media tactics.

Results

In conclusion, Old Spice has absolutely positioned itself as the top player on social media amongst its closest two competitors. As a result of Old Spice’s strong key influencers on their social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) the company’s fresh content has consistently been well received and has allowed for greater engagement with their consumers. The brand is targeted towards a particularly young demographic however it is still accessible to all ages of Old Spice consumers. Furthermore the company has included women as part of their key message. The originality and creativity of brand has had a major impact on online engagement by their consumers.

References:

Brand in the News: Old Spice. (2010, July 21). Marketing, 04. Retrieved from http://lcweb.senecac.on.ca:2126/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA232149388&v=2.1&u=king56371&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=90a90abbb2100e4d02673f0712a6a171
Old Spice (@OldSpice) | Twitter. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://twitter.com/OldSpice
Old Spice | Body Wash, Deodorant and Other Man Fresheners. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://oldspice.com/en
Old Spice. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://oldspice.tumblr.com
Neff, J. (2010, November 15). AMERICA'S HOTTEST BRANDS; OLD SPICE. Advertising Age, 81(41), 0028. Retrieved from http://lcweb.senecac.on.ca:2126/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA242397873&v=2.1&u=king56371&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=282460213ac7387faec0a0e3afb1df1f