Wednesday 14 July 2010

Forget Paul the prognosticating octopus. Old Spice Guy has captured the attention of the world. It's part of a sustained ad campaign by Proctor & Gamble, which owns the brand.

The Old Spice Guy ad won a coveted industry award at Cannes with his kooky palaver extolling the benefits of using the old-fashioned masculine scent. Now, creators Wieden + Kennedy have scored an even bigger coup by inviting Twitter users to send in questions - using the @OldSpice handle - that are promptly answered with a customised video.

mUmBRELLA host Tim Burrowes says he has counted 116 videos. There are videos for celebrities and for regular people with requests they send in. The reaction on Twitter has been uniformly positive, with posters lauding the creativity of this, latest, "viral" campaign. It's certainly an original and compelling use of the medium. The campaign gives new depth to the term "engagement" and indicates the direction media companies could choose if they want to get people talking about their brands in a positive way.

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