Why I LOVE Old Spice

The Old Spice campaign got a lot of attention because it's good.. but the viral part is from OS actually listening and ENGAGING in the conversation.

Fast Company came up with yet another outsider trying to tell insiders how it's done. FAIL.

Had Old Spice not hit the creative jackpot, they could have still easily beat out the FC attention just because they did what every company will have to do in the future (if they want to survive and thrive).. my mantra for marketing.. LISTEN and LOVE

Nothing says "love" like a personal response.

Will they sell more product? Yes, if they do as good a job in POS, packaging, store relations and customer service as they did on this campaign. Which I think they will.. because they've already learned to LISTEN and LOVE

Amplify’d from www.pcmag.com

Old Spice, Fast Company, and the Fallacy of Social Influence

Why Old Spice commercials work and Fast Company's Influence Project fails. The last few weeks saw two attempts to game the messy business that is social media influence: one by forward-thinking business magazine, Fast Company, and the other by a venerable packaged goods manufacturer, Proctor & Gamble. As a regular reader and fan of Fast Company, it's clear that the magazine should have the upper hand in this. Unfortunately, its Influence Project comes across as literal, artificial, and self-serving. P&G's Old Spice commercial, other hand, seems certain to become a landmark in interactive advertising. All because the Old Spice Guy brought the funny. Fast Company's Influence Project asks users to register and promote their influence link to as many people as they can. The more people who sign up, the more "influential" you are. Pretty straightforward. Pretty useless. The Fast Company story turns influence into a ponzi scheme, a Flash-enabled popularity contest, and a high tech version of Narcissus's reflection. Sure it looks great—they probably spent the equivalent of a PCMag.com's annual interactive budget to build it. But after you register, it doesn't do anything for you. Why not just count your Twitter followers? P&G's campaign, on the other hand, started with an amusing commercial featuring an appealingly cocksure actor. His physique, in my humble opinion, is just okay. The commercial was broadcast on TV multiple times and made available on YouTube. Rather than leave it there, the company started recording and posting personal videos to people who mentioned the product. Some were average consumers, but most were social media luminaries: Kevin Rose, Gizmodo, Alyssa Milano, Apollo Ohno, and more. Not only did the ads quickly become a sensation in social media circles, they've also become water cooler talk at offices around the country. All this for Old Spice! So, why does Fast Company fail and P&G score an epic viral victory? Part of it is because P&G didn't create new complex measurements to track influence, it used what already existed. We already have useless measurements of influence. You can't get hired these days in media or marketing without your employer scoping out your social media footprint. I just hired a 21 year-old with more than 2,000 Twitter followers. Not bad for a kid. Those of us who make our living in digital media have become obsessed with influence. We have become preening glory hounds grasping for any sign of relevance, signing up for any service that promises to drive traffic to our content. Follow me on Twitter! Follow me on Facebook! Follow me on LinkedIn! Follow me on Tumblr! Follow my blog that I never have time to update because I spend all my time on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. And yet, influence is an artifact of the digital media industry, a mix of increasingly desperate marketers, consultants, bloggers, PR flacks, and media hacks. The majority of people just don't care about it. My Dad runs a tissue processing plant—guess what he thinks of my 3,000 Twitter followers? Not much. The Old Spice guy is playing the fame game as well, but he isn't trying to make you feel influential or expand your network or dazzle you with fancy Flash programming. The ads are designed to entertain, to make you laugh. That is why they are consumed and forwarded amongst friends. If there is a secret to social media success it is that: bring the funny. Funny isn't easy. The Old Spice Guy shows that funny takes talented writing, great timing, and luck. And, evidently, about 200 sit-ups a day. Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/dancosta More Dan Costa: •   How to Get Over Apple iPhone 4 Envy •   Facebook: Privacy Enemy Number One? •   Ditch Mobile Apps, Invest in the Mobile Web •   What You Missed at SXSW Interactive •   Apple's Patently Absurd HTC Suit •   more Get more from Lance Ulanoff, Dan Costa, and Sascha Segan (plus tons more on the latest tech products, news and solutions) in the PCMag Radio Podcast! Subscribe to PCMag Radio Podcast in iTunes Subscribe to PCMag Radio Podcast Feed

The Fast Company story turns influence into a ponzi scheme, a Flash-enabled popularity contest, and a high tech version of Narcissus's reflection. Sure it looks great—they probably spent the equivalent of a PCMag.com's annual interactive budget to build it. But after you register, it doesn't do anything for you. Why not just count your Twitter followers?

P&G's campaign, on the other hand, started with an amusing commercial featuring an appealingly cocksure actor. His physique, in my humble opinion, is just okay. The commercial was broadcast on TV multiple times and made available on YouTube. Rather than leave it there, the company started recording and posting personal videos to people who mentioned the product. Some were average consumers, but most were social media luminaries: Kevin Rose, Gizmodo, Alyssa Milano, Apollo Ohno, and more. Not only did the ads quickly become a sensation in social media circles, they've also become water cooler talk at offices around the country. All this for Old Spice! So, why does Fast Company fail and P&G score an epic viral victory? Part of it is because P&G didn't create new complex measurements to track influence, it used what already existed. We already have useless measurements of influence. You can't get hired these days in media or marketing without your employer scoping out your social media footprint. I just hired a 21 year-old with more than 2,000 Twitter followers. Not bad for a kid. Those of us who make our living in digital media have become obsessed with influence. We have become preening glory hounds grasping for any sign of relevance, signing up for any service that promises to drive traffic to our content. Read more at www.pcmag.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/7rau

via Amplify.com

Posted via email from Warren Whitlock's Best Seller Book Marketing Posterous

Recommended for Authors Who Want to Persuade Readers

I'm in Dallas today, meeting with speakers and authors who are attending More Heart Than Talent. I'll post some photos and new ideas for book marketing soon.

I met up with a very good marketer who strangely hadn't heard about Robert Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. The must read book for serious marketers.

So just in case others have missed my reviews and references to Cialdini. I thought I'd post it one more time. Get a copy of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion and study it carefully. Then read it again and study the six principles of influence. If you write to persuade (and who doesn't) than this book is should be studied often.

My Meeting With The Famous Author

I spent this afternoon with Robert Cialdini (yes, the Influence guy).

Cialdini was speaking at the Fortune Small Business Conference and I went with my friend Donna Fox to record an interview with him.

I'll post a link to that interview when it's done.

He told us about some new information and I asked if I could share it. So you'll be among the first to hear..

On the subject of Likability, Cialdini told us that all of the sales training that says that you need to get people to like you is wrong. You know, the "find out what their hobbies are.. what you have in common so you can bond" stuff.

He explained that this will often come off as a fake. And here is the reason why.

To really bond with a person, you should focus on liking them. Really, sincerely liking the people you meet and want to influence. Once you find a real reason to like them, it's much easier for them to like you.

People buy from those they know, like and trust. The best way to be likable is to like people