Brand Dots

Posts Tagged ‘viral’

Ahhh, the smell of Old Spice aftershave.  It brings back fond memories of sitting on my grandfather’s lap as a child.  He would wear the Old Spice brand day-after-day with pride and I loved it because it would mask his usual odor of Ben Gay and mothballs.

Unfortunately, until now, the image most of us associated with Old Spice is old, distinguished men.  No wonder the company is working so hard to revitalize the brand; the audience they connected with most is inevitably dying off!

I was tickled when I saw “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercial back in February.  It’s hilarious!  And within the past five months, it has turned into an internet sensation, receiving close to 13 million views on YouTube.

No doubt, the company is attempting to reach a new demographic and what they’ve done so far appears to be working! College students and young adults love the commercials.

But Old Spice didn’t stop there.  They took their viral campaign to the next level by reaching out to influential bloggers and admirers.  Mashable announced Old Spice’s latest and greatest viral idea yesterday.  The Old Spice guy is now making personalized messages for his biggest Internet fans.  Check out this video made for Perez Hilton, which was posted to Twitter.

Old Spice has even recorded marriage proposal messages.  (This is my personal favorite.)

So, why is this idea pure genius?  It’s encouraging more viral chatter for an already very successful campaign!

• The Old Spice guy is connecting with opinion leaders and other online influentials that will be prompted to comment and share the video with their target audience.

• A personal connection will be made with people the ads are created for.  People that admire the popular bloggers, and lesser know individuals, will become invested in the brand and more likely to make a purchase.

I wonder what my dear grandpa would say about the technological mayhem surrounding one of his favorite brands today?  I’m sure he’d find the humor associated with the brand just as entertaining as I do.

Boone Oakley is an advertising agency that has created brilliant campaigns for clients, such as MTV, Carmax, and Ruby Tuesday.  Their work is hilarious and their cutting-edge tactics have earned them Ad Age’s title of Southeast Ad Agency of the Year.

Boone Oakley uses a YouTube video for their main website.  It’s interactive and fun!  Check it out.  It’s very clever.

The video above is their homepage.  It shows an innovative and humorous brand story.  Storytelling is a common thread in their advertisements and viral campaigns.

My favorite video on their website can be found under “News,” where they thank Obama for naming his dog Bo after the company.  They make the connection between their initials and the spelling of the pooch’s name.  They also reveal that they share a name with Bo Derek, whom they refer to as a dreadlocked white girl, forever connecting their brand with sexiness.  It’s pretty funny.