Jonathan has made a point on Old Spice Social Media campaign. he says,
The Old Spice campaign is the latest variation on this very old idea, with some important caveats. It isn't classified as commercial, but rather social, so there's no message at the end like "Shoot the brute some Old Spice." It riffs on its own prior creative content, so it's not really about the brand as much as about the brand's branding and giving entertainment to in-the-know viewers.
So I'm sorry, what's the point again? I understand why the campaign is perfectly suited to social-technology platforms, but TV or print ads were matched to the requirements of those media, too, without giving up their purpose. The argument that social campaigns have no point other than being social is more an excuse than a strategy, since consuming and commenting on content is nothing new (only the clickable tools are). You can add up all the time consumers spend chuckling at the videos and still struggle to make any connection to selling anything, and that's assuming such linkages are even important to the advertising folks who dream up this stuff.
Jonathan has made a big point in his opinion on the success of Old Spice's social media campaign
- Social Media Campaign would increase engagement with your brand but will not result in sales.
- No point in integrating Social media campaigns with TV etc.
I don't understand why viral campaigns shouldn't be integrated with TV, OOH and other forms of advertising. The important point missed is that media's role is not "Social or anything else". Its job is to catch the customer where he/she spends time on. Otherwise is P&G stupid in abandoning soap operas to digital media? Social Media is a media that happens to have a social element. And thats it. The story ends there. Old Spice campaign or any other campaign is trying to reach consumers where they spend most of their time. Decision making is different from product awareness. Asking for a sale is trying to influence your consumer's purchase decision at the end of the purchase funnel. If old spice was being sold online it would have made more sense. But if you are not selling old spice just after your ad, whats the point in asking for a sale then?