Mano a Mano in El Baño

I am a hugely ‘ginormous’, super fan of the Old Spice Guy.

I think he is a great spokesperson for the brand’s revitalization effort, he’s hilarious, and he’s pretty easy on the eyes. 

See what I mean?

Anyway, being the fan and internet junkie that I am, I naturally subscribe to Old Spice Channel on Youtube. My subscription gives me a front row seat to the Old Spice brand campaign activities, and of course, up close and personal time with 'the man my man can smell like'. (Random Thought: Imagine how powerful this campaign would be if 'smellivision' already existed. The old spice guy would be wielding the power of conditioned responses via tv disseminated fragrance: Scent marketing to say the least. YUMMY!)

Anyway, back to reality. 

As a youtuber, I check for new videos weekly and a couple months ago, I came across the craziest campaign by Old Spice. It was called Mano a Mano in El Baño. Mano-a-mano is a spanish term that literally means hand to hand. It was a term originally used for bullfights where two matadors would alternate competing for the admiration of the audience. What does this have to do with Old Spice? I'll tell you.

The premise of this campaign was that Fabio... do you remember Fabio? 

Fabio

Yes, that Fabio! The tall, buff, long haired Italian model for romance novel covers who is probably 84 years old by now. Well, the premise of the campaign was that Fabio (New Old Spice Guy) challenges Isaiah, the Old Old Spice Guy to a duel in which the Old Old Spice Guy must defend his title.

And the Saga Begins!

So the New Old Spice Guy and the Old Old Spice Guy engaged in a series of challenges. The battle was waged in the form of a cascade of short internet videos responding to questions that fans posed on Twitter. Naturally, these questions are answered in the most ridiculous, playful and irreverent ways possible, ensuring that those brand attributes are showcased. 

So what do I think about this concept?

I think it was an awesome concept. Obviously, the campaign's ultimate goal was to increase product sales by raising the brand's image/equity. However, this campaign gets to this by driving word-of-mouth (WOM) potential and getting viewers to engage in a conversation with them. 

This campaign format serves as a breeding ground for consumer engagement, using a two pronged push and pull strategy. Push, in that the brand is still speaking to the consumer and Pull, in that the consumer is drawn in, not only via the @oldspiceguy tweet questions but also by the fact that they would now go to youtube to check out the video response to their question. 

Why is it impressive?

It's impressive because it touches on some very relevant consumer insights:

1. 21st century consumers' heightened need to interact with their brands, not to just be talked at
2. Consumers' yearn for escapism #take me to another place! 

The one thing I don't get! 

Does OldSpice have some insight that consumers' enjoy bad acting? I mean, have you all checked out any of the Fabio responses? 

ROFLMAO! 

Perhaps the insight is that consumers' enjoy laughing at other people's expense... Who knows? Maybe it's just that we enjoy the shenanigans... I know I do. It cracks me up, especially the butchered whistle at the end. 

Marielle des Etages