Oneupweb : Does Social Media Work?
Does social media work? Can it really help your company raise brand awareness, and ultimately, increase sales? The answer is yes. I could give you a long, drawn out explanation as to why, but I hate jargon and love Isaiah Mustafa (NOT in the creepy stalker way)—so jargon out, Mustafa in.
He is Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like“. A funny tag line given the fact that he’s on TV, and while I might be so inclined to stick my nose up to the TV to try to sniff that towel-clad talking head, I’m pretty sure I’d just get a big whiff of nothing. Not that I’ve tried…I swear (again, NOT a creepy stalker). This once-upon-a-time Titan has raided your airwaves and brown-nosed his way to the top of YouTube’s most popular videos list. Oh yeah, he’s also selling some body wash, too.
Old Spice sales have increased 107% in the past month, largely due to their recent social media marketing campaign featuring Mustafa. According to Mashable: “The statistic of the 107% sales increase over the past month comes from Nielsen, which also revealed that sales increased 55% over the past three months. Individual products that were slipping in sales saw spikes after actor Isaiah Mustafa showed them off in the TV and Internet video ads.”
Apparently, a lot of people want to smell like Mustafa.
Let’s revisit the recent social media campaign that’s being credited, in large part, for Old Spice’s recent spike in sales. Mustafa first made women (and their men) run out and buy body wash after appearing in a couple of TV ads. Capitalizing on that success, Old Spice ran a campaign that involved Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and YouTube. Playing off of posts submitted about Mustafa and his favorite brand, the former NFL wide receiver showed off his comedic acting skills in YouTube response videos. These videos were recorded in as close to real-time as any video could be, and quickly became a viral success.
According to an interview AdAge conducted with P&G spokesman Mike Norton, “Old Spice, with 94 million views, had become the No. 1 all-time most-viewed sponsored channel on YouTube.” Old Spice now has more than 95,000 Twitter followers and more than 700,000 fans on Facebook. According to AdAge, Facebook fan interaction increased 800% after the videos were launched. So what are these fans saying? Check out a few posts that I pulled from the Facebook wall below:
- I love da body wash…
- Just thought you should know my husband bought old spice this weekend…old spice should give you a raise!
- I started using old spice because of you
It’s true that not every company, especially mid-size businesses, can land an Isaiah Mustafa for a social media campaign (if only…). But the beauty of social media is that the ideas for good campaigns are endless. The question is not does social media work, but how will you make social media work for your company?
I have been following this campaign and I am extremely impressed with its results. The most important part of this article to note is:The question is not does social media work, but how will you make social media work for your company? Don’t be afraid to stick your toe to test the social media waters, it takes practice but you will get there.
Sharon – I completely agree! It’s time to stop wondering if social media is a viable option, and start putting it to work. With more than 500 million people on Facebook, it’s worth a shot!
Great info! Thanks!
~Cindy
Thanks for reading Cindy!
I agree this campaign has taken off, thanks in part to the social media push. But marketers beware when jumping to conclusions. This campaign got a HIGHLY successful kickoff by airing creative rebranded commercials on TV. I do not believe the campaign would have gotten the same notoriety by social media alone. I have one friend who recently bought the product and he hadn’t seen an iota of the campaign on the web. Marketing works best when you have multi channels that integrate the message, don’t just use the shiny new toy.
Hi Jeanne –
Thanks for the great insight! I think this campaign is a great example of how you can use multiple channels to strengthen a marketing message.