Iconic Ads: Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”
The astonishly successful 2010 Old Spice rebranding was remarkable given that the brand was old – originally launched in 1937 – and for decades had been relegated to a favorite Christmastime drugstore purchase for grandfathers. The brand’s user demographics were men aged 45 and older.
The original Old Spice advertising campaign was developed by Ted Bates Advertising, known for “hard-sell advertising that reduced the creative function to discovering a product's ‘unique selling proposition,’ or USP.” The Old Spice USP was “Feel the Freshness of the Open Sea.” and the TV ads that ran during the 1970s and 1980s featured gorgeous clippers and John Bennett Perry (Father of "Friends" star Matthew Perry) as the suave sailor spokesperson.
By the time Procter & Gamble bought Old Spice in 1990, the brand was losing share in the body wash and deodorant market due to both increased competition and product innovation. In 2002, Axe Body Spray, a Unilever brand, was launched in the U.S. and significantly revitalized the men’s fragrance market, attracting the young male market. P&G decided to relaunch Old Spice and, in mid-December of 2010, asked Weiden + Kennedy to develop a Super Bowl commercial for Old Spice (air date: February 7, 2010).
Wieden +Kennedy’s research revealed the surprising fact that 60% of men’s body wash purchases were made by women. The resulting creative was targeted squarely at the girlfriends and wives of men between the ages of 18 to 34. Although “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” TV ad was pulled from the 2010 Super Bowl broadcast, it aired immediately after the game and showed up in a few of the “best Super Bowl commercial” lists. According to BetterMarketing.com, “by May 2010, sales had increased 60% from the previous year. By July 2010, that number was 125%, which was an all-time high for the brand. Shortly after the campaign, they became the top brand for men’s body wash.”
Building on the success of the quirky, modern brand personality established by the original campaign, a new campaign, “Men Have Skin Too,” was created and launched by Wieden +Kennedy in 2019 and remains on air.
