Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Old Spice Personalizes Viral Marketing

Old Spice has taken viral marketing and social media to a new level through their most recent campaign.

The campaign began with commercials featuring NFL wide receiver turned actor Isaiah Mustafa, now known as the Old Spice guy. The commercials portrayed Mustafa as "the man your man could smell like," a man seeming to posses all of the qualities women want in a man.

On July 13, Old Spice tweeted, "Today could be just like the other 364 days you log into twitter, or maybe the Old Spice man shows up @OldSpice." Hours later, Old Spice fans and followers began receiving video responses from the Old Spice guy in reply to their comments and tweets.

The recipients of the video responses included celebrities, other companies and everyday social media users. In each video, the Old Spice guy addressed the recipient by name, repeated their comment and then replied with a witty response in his "the man your man could smell like" voice. All while standing in front of a shower wearing just a towel around his waist.

Other companies have been commended for their personal responses to consumers through social media, but Old Spice went above and beyond with these videos. What do you think about Old Spice's tactic? Can other companies successfully pull off similar campaigns, or will nothing compare to the original?

To see Mashable's picks for the top 10 funniest Old Spice guy responses, click here.

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