Watching NBC, CBS, Fox? What about the Old Spice channel on YouTube? Now that’s a new one, isn’t it? Hard to believe that, according to an article in Advertising Age, the Old Spice commercials featuring Isaiah Mustafa and his responses to viewers Tweets have garnered 57 million views—yes, your read that correctly, 57 million views. Not only were the initial commercials creative in their use of Mr. Mustafa and their special effects – shot in one take. (Look at one closely to see if you can see any cuts between scenes. You can’t.) What impresses me is the interactive quality between Mr. Mustafa’s video responses to Tweets from celebrities and everyday people (Are they fake. I don’t know, but I don’t care.). There’s pleasure to be had here, and pleasure is the key to engagement. All of this taking place outside of mainstream media.
3 comments:
After watching the Old Spice commercials in class the other day I had forgotten how much I actually enjoyed the commercial. Not only is it very humorous, but also it is easily associated with Old Spice. Even after watching it just one time, I knew exactly what the product was, which is very rare in advertising these days. I genuinely enjoyed the commercial instead if just blowing it off like most people tend to do. I think this commercial was a brilliant marketing idea by Old Spice, because they are funny so people want to see them, and they can on YouTube. Because it has its own page on YouTube, people can watch them anytime and show their friends. The commercial has over 20 million views and pages of comments, which is exactly what the advertiser wants. The Old Spice YouTube page also has video responses to comments and tweets by Isaiah Mustafa, which are also very funny and entertaining. I love these commercials and even though I am not the target audience, they still are captivating and a great form of advertising in my opinion.
The concept of an entire youtube channel for a single company or product goes to prove how much the advertising world has changed. People go out of their way to view commercials, so the commercials have to be more interactive and have attention-grabbing plots. Case in point of this trend is Isaiah Mustafa's Old Spice commercials. It seems so simple to have an ongoing scene, but the randomness and his obvious physical appeal combines to make the commercial go viral.
Also, the advertisers for Old Spice really went above and beyond by catering to specific Twitterers and personalizing a mini commercial for them. It is even more interesting that those personalized commercials never mention the brand Old Spice, but the commercials are so well known that people refer to them as "those Old Spice commercials." They have made Mustafa's face into the new logo of Old Spice and he will forever be known as the Old Spice guy.
This blog is incredibly interesting to me personally. Now the Old Spice commercials are changing because the company is starting to use Ravens' superstar Ray Lewis. It is amazing to me, a simply staggering figure that these commercials made by Isaiah Mustafa have been viewed over 57 million times. I completely agree with you in the fact that it doesn't even matter if these commercials are real or fake. What does matter however is the fact that these commercials are personal and apply to such a wide variety of people.
Also, on the other hand, Old Spice is accomplishing something that so many other companies try to achieve with their commercials. Because these commercials are seen on youtube and so many other sites, people look forward to seeing them when they come on television, and are not tempted to switch the channel like they are for so many other pictures. I especially enjoyed the Old Spice commercial recently where Mustafa changes environments multiple times while still holding the stick of deoderant. It is a brilliant marketing strategy in my opinion and i will continue to look for these commercials.
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