On Turbochargers and Tickets to That Thing You Love

I don't buy the accepted explanations of why Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign was so successful. It is universally used as a model of great advertising, and it is, by any measure. But the analysis seems unfulfilling.

The most prevalent reasons to explain its success are:

1.???? Smart targeting: target the buyer (women) instead of the user (men).

2.???? Entertainment value: the power of humor, originality and unexpected storyline.

3.???? Interactivity: the “Response” campaign, the real-time aspect inviting fans to view the next video to interact with. And by inference, time spent/engagement with the advertising meant forming a stronger bond with the brand that presumably led to purchase.

Yes, bringing women into the conversation is a smart strategy. And yes, the interactivity of the response campaign is fun. And yes, the combination of genius copywriting, acting, and directing makes it entertaining to watch, even more than once, which is a rare feat in advertising for sure. But TMYMCSL offers the viewer much more than mere entertainment value.

What’s missing in these explanations is what made this campaign worth thinking (and talking) about. In other words, what made it Interesting.

It works on both levels of interestingness: Grabbing Attention and Provoking Thought. Viewers who enjoyed the first spot undoubtedly paid attention to the next one, and the next hoping for more entertainment. The dialogue became part of our common language, fun to repeat with friends, and a way to relate to one another.

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But while viewers are being entertained, Old Spice is also encouraging multiple appraisals at once. ("Constantly getting more people to appraise the brand is mandatory for growth” - Byron Sharp) There is the reappraisal of the product/brand obviously. But by satirizing conventions in the category, TMYMCSL inspires reappraisal of what a man should smell like (Smell like a man, man) is an insult to the over-fragranced adolescent users of Axe the category disruptor at the time. Do I want (or do I want my man) to smell like a boy or a man?

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At the same time it asked viewers to make an even more significant appraisal; what should modern masculinity look like (Hello?ladies,?look?at?your man,?now?back to?me,?now?back at?your man,?now?back to?me). Isaiah Mustafa’s character is a grown man challenging Axe’s juvenile view of masculinity that proposed the way to be a man is to become an irresistible object of the sexual desires of women. ?

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In the Old Spice ads, Isaiah Mustafa’s self-consciously exaggerated character possesses traditional qualities of manliness like power, competitiveness, and assertiveness, but he is also a man of chivalry. He is a man who is thoughtful of what she wants, proactively spending lavishly on diamonds, and tickets "to that thing you love." In later ads, he builds her a new kitchen. The man is serving his woman. And let's not overlook the symbolism of a man on a horse. There to protect and provide for his lady.?

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What people find interesting they think about more. Inspiring people to think about these larger questions of manliness is what keeps Old Spice active and accessible in the viewer's minds, increasing mental availability.

We're not saying interestingness is the only way to create effective campaigns and generate mental availability. But we are saying if you look under the hood of mental availability, one of the components in the engine is Interestingness. In fact, if you want to beat the metaphor into the ground, interestingness is like a turbocharger. You don't need it for the car to run, but if you put one in, the car's power and mpg will go up. You get more performance out of the car. Creating reasons for light buyers to notice, think about, and talk about your brand accelerates the mental availability of your brand thus increasing the efficiency of marketing spend. The same impact for less money, or greater impact for the same money.