Blog Does advertising work? Old Spice thinks so.

Quite often we get asked if advertising really works, well the short answer is yes it does. The long answer is yes it does but not all the time. There are many factors which go into making an advert work.  There are a lot of reasons for making adverts, one of these is to change the viewers perception of your brand. This in my mind is one of the more difficult hurdles. If an advert or campaign can achieve this objective then it must be well thought out well executed.  A great example of this is the "Old Spice" advertisement.

I have an interesting story to tell about deodorants and after shave.  My wife, Karen and I met about 19 years ago, I was 19 years old she was 16.  At the time I wore Brut deodorant and after shave, she liked the way it smelled on me.  Funny then that I have never changed deodorant or after shave since then, I still use Brut.  But, about a year ago I tried a different deodorant, it was still Brut but a different variety.  Karen walked into our bathroom after I had just applied this new variety.  Her instant reaction was, "what is that stench?", I responded with "I thought I'd try something new." Karen replied with, "Don't, I don't like it, don't put it on again." I pleaded my case, but to no avail.  

This left me thinking, why does Karen have such an attachment to Brut? Does it bring up memories of when we first met.  I asked Karen, she just said she liked how it smelled on me.

But it did get me thinking, when I first saw this "Old Spice" advert, I instantly loved it. Thought it was hilarious and actually very bold. Old Spice is a product I associated with my Dad, it was an old person after shave.  This advert made the product in my eyes, look cool.  I've even contemplated purchasing it, then thought better of the decision when I remember my wife's reaction to my last 'out of character' purchase.

Since this Old Spice advert was released the product has seen a 50% increase in sales, all in all you'd have to say this is a success.