🪄 How Old Spice Ad Speaks To Women But Targets Men

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The Spells Master is back!

Welcome to the 117th issue.

Today's topics:

1. How Old Spice Ad Speaks To Women But Targets Men

2. A tool to Save Paywall'd Articles For Free

3. One recommended video on Pitching Brands like InVideo, Barbie, and Joe Fresh

How Old Spice Ad Speaks To Women But Targets Men

Old Spice has been around for a long time - since 1937. But by the early 2000s, it was struggling.

Young men thought it was outdated and boring. Then, in 2010, everything changed.

Old Spice came out with a funny commercial that went viral on the internet.

Suddenly, everyone was talking about Old Spice again.

This is the story of how a company that made cologne for grandpas became the go-to body wash for young guys.

1. The Genesis of Old Spice

Old Spice was founded in 1937 by William Lightfoot Schultz which was initially targeted to women.

Historically, body odor was considered a sign of masculinity. But not selling to 50% of the population was bad for business.

So they launched their men's product at the end of 1937 before Christmas.

Old Spice created male grooming products like aftershaves, deodorants, shampoos, body washes, shaving creams, and soaps.

Back then, their marketing strategy was centered around sailing and masculinity. This theme of masculinity became a core part of Old Spice's brand identity.

2. Post World-War II Era

During WWII, Schultz converted his factory for military production. Old Spice aftershave became popular among American soldiers.

Television advertising in the 1960s-70s directly linked Old Spice to manliness:

1. One ad said, "Why so many single men use Old Spice aftershave lotion? Well, let's see. There's Julie and Karen, and Peggy and Joel."

2. Another ad stated, "Men who wear Old Spice really understand what girls like. Is there a better reason to wear Old Spice?"

These ads reinforced the connection between Old Spice and attracting women which you can see in still used in latest deodorants like Axe.

It helped them sell to Procter & Gamble in 1990 for $300 million.

3. The Millennial Challenge

Old Spice succeeded until the 2000s when they were targeting older demographic.

And the younger demographic was slipping from their hands as they had competition from the new entrants in the men's market like Axe, Suave, Nivea Men & Dove Men.

In the end, Old Spice was falling further out of favor and couldn't shake its "old school reputation."

4. The Masterful Makeover

Old Spice hired Wieden and Kennedy (W&K), a renowned advertising agency, who is most famous for Nike's "Just Do It" Ad.

W&K had an enormous challenge as the older the brand is, the harder it is to change consumers perceptions about it.

But they had a great insight from P&G's research: "60% of men's body washes were purchased by women."

You can even factor in moms, too. Many teenager boys get introduced to deodorant during puberty and their moms purchase every item for them. So, if the mom sees the ad and buys it for her son, then the son gets used to it and continues to buy the same brand because that's what they're used to.

This simple change led to a shift in target audience from men to women buying for men.

So they changed their ads to call out women now instead of men (see their 60-70s ads above calling out "men" in their ads) like they have done for past decades.

They sought a lead character who was "sexy, confident, hyper-masculine, but most importantly, funny".

Isaiah Mustafa was chosen as he was relatable, funny, and could play a goofy character while remaining masculine.

5. The Final Act

The campaign was strategically launched around the Super Bowl.

Instead of launching it as a Super Bowl ad, they launched it on Social Media.

"The man, your man could smell like" first appeared on YouTube and Facebook days before the game.

The campaign succeeded massively:

• Day 1: 5.9 million YouTube views, surpassing Obama's victory speech in 24 hours

• Day 2: Old Spice had 8 out of the 11 most popular videos on the internet

• Day 3: The campaign hit 20 million views

• Within a month: Old Spice became the #1 most viewed brand on YouTube all-time

The viral success translated into significant sales increases:

• By May 2010: Old Spice sales were up 60%

• By July 2010: Sales had increased by 125%, an all-time high for the brand

Old Spice became the number one brand for men's body wash. The brand makeover was successful and Old Spice came out looking 50 years younger.

It also unearthed previously untapped market by focusing on women buyers.

Old Spice has maintained its focus on marketing men's body wash to female consumers. In summer 2018, they launched the "She Nose Best" campaign.

A tool to Save Paywall'd Articles For Free

Omnivore is a free, open source, read-it-later app for serious readers.

The benefit of Omnivore is to use it in combination with Obsidian to save any paywalled articles for later reading.

Lots of article writers now lock their content behind their paywall after they get initial traction or lots of people often delete their comments on Social Media Sites like Reddit.

This is a great way to save insightful ideas, comments, and articles and keep an actual copy of them for later reference.

One recommended video on Pitching Brands like InVideo, Barbie, and Joe Fresh

This video covers how to pitch a brand deal with InVideo.

If you are a content creator of any kind with a following on Social Media, a Blog, or a Newsletter, watch this video to learn how to pitch brands contextually so you are differentiated from other DMs or Emails.

This simple trick works even in Cold DMs or Cold Emails.

Top Tweets of the day

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I get countless DMs asking basic questions that could be solved with a simple Google Search but people don't bother using the internet.

This guide is good on how to ask questions. Fun fact: You can keep asking ChatGPT what you would ask an expert now.

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If you want to go global for a B2C SaaS, follow Canva's blueprint. Canva is currently at $2.3 billion ARR.

Rabbit Holes

1. Step-by-step guide to landing pages that convert - Don't reinvent your landing page unless you want to win a Design Award on Awwwards. The goal of a landing page is to make money and familiar makes money.

2. Product Management Lessons by Meituan Co-Founder - Learn how to build long-term successful products from China. They had subscriptions that you now see on X and Meta for years already.

3. AstroTalk: The Astrology Unicorn - There is a lot of money to be made in Astrology.

Until next time,

Your Spells Master!

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