I'll let you in on a little secret (that's actually not a secret at all if you've ever talked to me in real life), I love branding. I love brands. They are, when built and grown correctly, at the exact center of my interests in marketing, communications, design and psychology. So, when I saw that Old Spice was doing this week on the web, I fell in love.
Taking youTube by storm
This week's rocket-like rise to the top of the most viewed lists on youTube was just the latest part of this increasingly strong brand surfacing. If you missed it, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like character from the very popular 2010 Super Bowl spot took questions from the internet at large and made over 100 personalized responses on youTube. You can see all of them at the Old Spice youTube channel, or on the @oldspice twitter account. It's really an amazing thing, and it took the net by storm. I suspect that if it hadn't been a sponsored topic on twitter, it would have started trending on itself. Questions, comments, jokes and parody videos rolled in from across the web. People were interacting with a brand, and helping it grow organically in a way we haven't seen before.
Why it worked
The formula is really a simple one, but it's hard to pull off. They made a great character who was approachable, fun and an ambassador for the brand who wasn't selling all the time. The Man Your Man Could Smell Like was a character that could actually interact with the audience, and was well thought out and developed enough that he could exist outside the confines of a thirty or sixty second spot. After they had this great character, they told some really compelling stories about the product through this guy (goofy as they were), and then they let us meet him, by asking him questions. This last part is where the brand became more user friendly than any of the other big brands people talk about whenever branding comes up: Apple, Target, Coca-cola, et al. It wasn't just about selling Old Spice anymore, although they managed to mention the product quite a bit, it was about creating a positive user experience with the brand. An experience that was personal, and the next time these participants see an Old Spice product, any of them, they'll remember.
How is this a "user friendly" brand?
It's a real question that a lot of brands need to ask themselves. When we look at the big name brands like Apple or Target, they're still one way, you need to buy this thing because you'll be cool like us brands. They work and they work well, for now. Old Spice took a step beyond that in the last two days, when they let people into the brand, and let their interactions shape it and the history of The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.
Imagine if Apple let people participate in this free and open way? Or Target. Or anyone. The advertising wouldn't be a burden, something people want to skip past with the DVR or block with an add-on to their web browser. Even this small interaction, letting the user help shape the experience just once, will likely make them more accepting of future adverts and marketing, even if they aren't as directly involved. If we define "user friendly" as anything that makes the users experience pleasant or enjoyable, then Old Spice has set the bar for brand usability. I'm sure we'll see the imitators flooding the web in the next few months, the real question will be if their attempts to copy this effort will lead to something as user friendly, or if it will just be more noise to be ignored.
