Alan Middleton, professor of marketing in the Schulich School of Business, spoke to Toronto's 680 News about the success of Old Spice's youtube video campaign to rebrand their image using commercial spots featuring actor and former NFL player Isaiah Mustafa. You can listen to the spot on 680News.com (click the play button below Mustafa's photo):
"It's a brilliant piece of up-to-date marketing," Marketing expert Alan Middleton said.
Middleton is with the Schulich School of Business and told 680News the company created a buzz online long before the old spice guy's chiselled chest appeared on TV.
"They Twittered, they Youtubed, they used all the contemporary connections to get the story out there."
Middleton doubts the Old Spice guy will ever start to stink.
"If they keep being cheekier in the underground networks - in the Youtubes and the Facebooks - then they can keep it going for a while," Middleton thinks.
Middleton told 680News the brand really didn't have anything to lose.
"They're not all of a sudden making Tide a figure of fun. They're doing it with a brand that wasn't going very far," he explained.
Sales are up 107 per cent and the Old Spice YouTube commercials have been viewed more than 58-million times.
The complete article's available on 680News.com. You can also watch the original Mustafa ad for Old Spice.
Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer