“Never let a friend lose his swagger.”

At first glance, Old Spice’s newest campaign appears to be just another offbeat attempt at selling young men a way to smell better. But a deeper dive into the brand’s latest integrated marketing campaign reveals that the decades old Procter & Gamble consumer brand might be taking a few pages out of the B2B marketing playbook, all while schooling us in our own classroom at the same time.

Is it a video, movie or documentary?

Like all modern Old Spice campaigns, it all starts with killer TV commercials. The new “Never let a friend lose his swagger” spots feature dramatic, action-packed storylines all under the premise of guys saving their friends from being lame.

As has become the norm with Old Spice, the commercials carry movie-like visuals that draw us in. The compelling scripts show that Old Spice did its homework in seeing what else its 15-to-25-year-old-male target audience is interested in by mimicking action movie plotlines. But most importantly, by tapping into the real-life experiences of its aging but loyal customer base, the new ads speak directly to who people in Old Spice’s target audience are as humans, not just as customers.

The lessons: Be visually outstanding. Tell a relatable story your audience can project themselves into. Make it good or not at all.

A slick, slick

One-pagers are a classic in the B2B world. They’re basically a requirement for selling complex, multifaceted and multipurpose product-service combinations. Self-explanatory, widely used consumer products like body wash and deodorant simply don’t need something like that, right?

Old Spice begs to differ. The plot of the ads is a guy saving his friend from living a lackluster, mundane life, using familiar motifs like a soldier rescuing his buddy from a war zone and a Mission: Impossible-style spy operation. But on a deeper level, the premise addresses a true societal issue – declining human connection. Now we’ve got a complicated topic that justifies more explanation. Enter the one-pager.

The written piece that accompanies the ads plays like a typical B2B sales slick, providing background on what’s going on in the current landscape, presenting evidence of a need, and identifying the brand as the solution. Even though the piece looks at first like a dense, boring info sheet, Old Spice manages to insert its quirky, humorous brand voice into the piece. As a result, it’s actually an enjoyable and impactful part of the campaign.  

The lessons: Make your slicks slicker. Sound like a human, not a robot. Statistics and visuals will always catch an eye.

Ask the Audience

Though it leads with videos, Old Spice’s newest campaign actually starts with a survey. The company partnered with a third party to develop an original and unbiased survey of 1,000 men between the ages of 18-34 and coupled it with secondary research to develop the meat of the slick and the premise of the “Never let a friend lose his swagger” campaign. The consumer survey is really the foundation of the one-pager and subsequent videos, which hinge on the idea that men are spending less time with their friends, and instead living mundane, routine lives.

Old Spice even created a name for the trend: The Guy Trap.

In the B2B world, surveys can provide tremendous public relations value, giving a company relevant and unbiased information to support its market argument and creating the opportunity to add commentary to the results and gain more brand exposure.

The lessons: Plan ahead and work backwards from your end goal. Be open to what you discover and repurpose the data to create news and add credibility. Name the phenomenon.

Consistency is key

In the B2B world, it can be easy for companies to get stuck being associated with just one service, product or issue, making it challenging to expand. Old Spice is no different. The brand’s 2010 “Smell Like a Man” campaign, which featured the shirtless Isaiah Mustafa, completely transformed the brand and boosted sales 125%. In a short-lived effort to build on its success, the incumbent W+K agency tapped the shirtless Terry Crews to take on a similar role.

These new 2019 ads, with a deeper message backed up by actual hard numbers, may seem like a total deviation from the Old Spice’s previous gonzo mentality. Yet they’re intrinsically the same. The thread through the last decade-plus of Old Spice marketing has been weird, quirky humor. The “Never Let a Friend Lose His Swagger” campaign is just the next iteration. Of course, they still keep one piece of their history intact: the famous whistle tune that hearkens back to the company’s 1950’s-era jingle, and has been a pervading part of their advertising ever since.

 The lessons: Know what’s intrinsic to your brand and stick with it, but don’t be afraid to manifest it in new ways that may push the envelope.  

With consumer brands like Old Spice, it can be easy to look at an ad, be entertained and move on. But, we can all learn something from good marketing. What can you apply?