Calling All Social Media Experts: Give Old Spice (and P&G) The Credit It Deserves

You must be living in a vacuum if aren’t aware of the buzz surrounding the latest Old Spice videos that have gone viral. Earlier this week on Facebook, I responded to a question posed by Social Fresh about whether or not the viral ads will sell more Old Spice.

Will the Old Spice viral video campaign sell more Old Spice? Yes or No?

Here was my response:

Of course it will. As consumers we may not realize it consciously.

But, when standing in the aisle in front of all the brands – even if you are loyal to another brand – you will see Old Spice. Don’t think for a second that this is not a coordinated retail effort.

Pay close attention to product placement in the next few weeks – Is there more end cap placements for Old Spice, more Signage, etc. What may seem like a social only event – is certainly tied to a set of specific retailing strategies at the store level. The brand owner of OLD Spice is a former Proctor and Gamble exec. More will be sold. Lots more. ·

Correction: At the time, I posted the comment, I failed to remember that OLD Spice is a Proctor and Gamble brand.  – So better said:

Remember, the brand of owner of Old Spice IS a Proctor and Gamble executive. What does P&G do? BUILD BRANDS.

An effort that started with a commercials during in the Super Bowl,

Old Spice Super Bowl Ad

is much more thought through than the blogosphere is giving Old Spice credit for. This is a well planned, coordinated, measured effort to increase revenue.

Remember, this is P&G we are talking about!

What does P&G do?

BUILD BRANDS.

There are a lot of super smart, creative, innovative and intelligent marketers in this world. Nothing that is happening with Old Spice brand right now is happening by chance. Nothing. Market share, and more importantly, MIND share is be gained every day.

I’m thinking this was dreamed up in late 2008, early 2009. Read this Fast Company article about Old Spice’s Brand Manager, Alex Keith, and you will see why.

BY: EVAN WEST May 1, 2009

In a few short months, we will see the same come true in B2B marketing. My bet is that SAP has some super things in the works. Have you seen SAP’s Facebook Friend Optimizer? I bet they have much more on the way. Watch them. Here is an interesting interview with William Robb, Director, Social Media Marketing for SAP. SAP will be a B2B brand that continues making waves in the social web.

Remember, the recession slowed everything down. The creative juices are following everywhere. I am excited for the future of B2B marketing, are you?

Author: Jeremy Victor | Website | Twitter

Jeremy's the founder of Make Good Media and Editor In Chief of B2Bbloggers.com. B2Bbloggers.com is a B2B Marketing online magazine discussing the evolution of B2B marketing. Topics include content marketing, B2B social media, demand generation, marketing automation, and more. Sign up. Get all the articles via email.