Old Spice Shows Social Media Marketing is a Commitment, Not a Campaign

This article was originally posted at Oxstein Labs.

Here we are a short week after Old Spice enjoyed the biggest viral marketing campaign of 2010.  The Old Spice name is on the tip of millions of tongues and being read in tens of thousands of articles like this one.  And the big question is just starting to be asked, “Did that successful marketing campaign improve sales?”

The answer so far is “No.”  But to make a fuss about that at this early stage is a waste of time; not that it will stop writers across the blogoshpere and in the corporate media from pointing it out.  In fact you’ll probably read a lot about how Old Spice sales for 2010 are down 7%.  (Yes, even more PR generated from this campaign.)

Does a sales drop happening concurrently with Old Spice’s most successful marketing campaign in years mean that the commercials and viral videos drove sales down?  Of course not.  Correlation does not necessarily equal causation.

It also means that just because they didn’t generate a spike in sales, there is no way to know how well Q1 and Q2 2010 marketing efforts will help Old Spice in the coming months and years.  Especially if they develop ongoing social media marketing efforts to engage with old customers and new fans.

Short term numbers for the Old Spice Guy campaign were off the charts.  With over 5.9 million You Tube views and over 22,500 comments over the course of a few days, there is nothing to complain about.  And by the way, all of the 180 videos posted to You Tube for this campaign will now be working for Old Spice 24/7.  A tremendous marketing foundation has been built.

What the brilliant Old Spice viral videos will prove in the long run is what Scott Monty, the head of social media for Ford Motor Company, says often, “Social media marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.”

Thinking that social media marketing efforts will result in immediate sales is short-sighted and will lead to unfulfilled expectations.  No, that’s not what companies want to hear.  Yes, it’s the actual truth and wanting it to be different will not make it so.

Social media marketing done well will increase brand awareness, generate positive word of mouth and drive interest in your company.  Traditional ROI metrics used for quarterly reviews cannot measure these benefits, which inaccurately undervalues their importance to the health of a growing business.

While social media marketing may show a positive effect on short term sales, that is not where the value lies.  The benefits of social media marketing are in building strong relationships and loyalty that drive up the lifetime value of repeat customers.

I loved the Old Spice videos.  They were some of the most interesting and creative marketing that has ever hit the interwebs.  My awareness of the Old Spice brand, like yours no doubt, is higher than ever.  Does that mean that I ran out and bought their products? Nope.

Was your reaction to the videos to go out and buy their products immediately? …or was it to click on some more of their entertaining content? …or to post the videos on your Facebook page or blog?  …or to email links to the videos to your friends?

My dad still uses Old Spice and I never have.  I’ll now consider them to be a hipper brand that is doing a great job at updating their image.  I will pay more attention to them now and might possibly buy a product from them in the future, though right now I have no plans to do so.  But before this campain they weren’t even on my radar and if they keep it up I may become a new and repeat customer.