Advocacy Video Campaign Idea Courtesy of the Old Spice Man

I hope you’ve seen on TV or someone has forwarded you the “new, great-smelling” Old Spice “manmercials” featuring Isaiah Mustafa. Recently, the ad campaign has taken a more personal tactic.

Yup, he’s talking to the ABC’s “Good Morning, America” host George Stephanopoulos – though I doubt we’ll be seeing President Obama shirtless at a White House press conference. In the second phase of this Wieden+Kennedy-created ad campaign, the Old Spice man spoke via online video to more than 200 people, including LATimes.com’s Adam Tschorn, who just blogged about it and actress Alyssa Milano who tweeted about it.

By creating these personalized online videos directed at users interacting with Old Spice in the media, on YouTube or via Twitter, the campaign quickly and inexpensively expanded its reach and exposure. The videos are getting lots of buzz — especially the wedding proposal one — and are shared throughout the Internet and in social networking communities.  This is creating opportunities for additional coverage for Old Spice in earned media hits.

Wouldn’t this be a great social cause tactic to get the attention of policymakers in Washington, D.C. and in your own communities? All you would need is a interesting set-up, a message, a spokesperson, a list of influencers and a digital video camera. It could be the 21st century version of sending a open letter to Congress, instead your letter would be watched, instead of just read, and easily passed along.

ReadWriteWeb blog posted a behind-the-scenes look at how the videos were developed, but here are some of strategies inspired by Old Spice’s manly towel-clad spokesperson to keep in mind when you replicate this approach in your own advocacy campaigns.

1. Keep it simple. This communicators’ mantra applies to all of the work we do, but its power is beautifully illustrated in this video campaign. Old Spice kept the spokesperson and set-up virtually the same for all of the video shout outs; only the message changed. Simplicity will be key in keeping costs low and brand recognition high.
2. Target the right people. Wieden+Kennedy did their homework and identified people with either large followings or people with unusual requests that were already engaging with the campaign. Instead of picking on random people, they created video responses to those who would expand their campaign’s exposure by sharing the video with their followers or create earned media opportunities in non-ad trade media that rarely exists for ad campaigns outside of the Super Bowl. Free online exposure can be the bread and butter for advocacy campaigns on a budget. These personalized video messages could be the vehicle, if you select the right targets who have the ears (or Blackberrys) of the right audiences.
3. Maintain your tone and purpose. Personalized video responses were kept brief — under a minute in length — and maintained the ad campaign’s tone. Also, the video responses never lost their focus to reaffirm the ad campaign message (manly men use Old Spice) and reinforce the new brand for the product.
4. Don’t take yourself to seriously. Okay – Isaiah Mustafa is selling men’s deodorant and not a critical social issue, but humor can still take you a long way even when talking about serious topics. While videos about important causes are passed around the Internet, your e-mail in-box, Twitterfeed or Facebook page are probably mostly filled with humorous videos. If you can find the balance of irreverence and persuasively getting your message across, you could have a viral phenomenon on your online video channel.

While he may be “a ridiculously handsome man,” Isaiah Mustafa has proven that an effective communication strategy and tactic doesn’t need a lot of money or resources. It relies on an imaginative, creative idea. While the campaign has ended, I’ll let you have a moment with Old Spice to say farewell before you start filming your own targeted videos and encourage new audiences to pass your message along.