Absolutely hilarious. That was my first thought as I started seeing the Old Spice guy make it’s way through my twitter stream yesterday. Old Spice has taken it to the next level by having Isaiah Mustafa, also known as Old Spice Guy, respond by video to comments on its YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. What started out with a commercial has quickly turned into an instant case study on how to integrate the social web into a traditional campaign.
I’m always looking for ways to get the ideas and concepts behind the social web accepted. Case studies certainly help. The thing I find most interesting, however, is that these concepts really aren’t new. If you are trying to “sell” a brand to a consumer, the best way to do it is by building relationships with the people you want to buy your products. This typically means thinking about your consumer first and what their needs are.
If you think about traditional marketing methods, it generally begins with launch planning, big media spending to air a 30 second commercial, billboards, magazine ads, etc. How can “we” (insert brand here) get our message out to the most people in the quickest way possible? Oh by the way, we have our website, facebook page and twitter account that we can also use to blast our messages to everyone.
I do believe these still have merit but what I do think is that brands (my company included) need to go back to thinking about what our customers want and not what we want. I was fortunate enough to sit in a presentation from Jason Falls (Social Media Explorer) today. One of his final points was for marketers (today’s talk was geared towards GM and its divisions) to think beyond the web. To me, this meant thinking about coming up with marketing and promotions that integrate all aspects of consumer touch points which includes the social web.
- What can we do to help people connect?
- What can we do to enhance their online or offline experience?
- What can we do to facilitate and encourage sharing?
- What can we do to drive them to the showroom?
These were great questions that I hope encourages all of us to go back to the basics of what (I believe) marketing is all about…the consumer.
Technology has given consumers the means to ignore traditional marketing methods today. Think about the DVR and how many commercials you watch. What are you Mr. Marketer going to do to not be ignored and get to know the people you want to buy your products?
For another great case study, check out Dave Murray‘s post “Case Study: ‘Salty’ Is My New Hero“.
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