Regaining Customer Engagement for Old Spice Brand
- ardybad
- Apr 23, 2017
- 12 min read
Original Title: Regaining Customer Engagement for Old Spice Brand
Authors: Achmad B. Djauhari, Chen Li, Chisa Waku, Indraja Patnam, Rohit Charles
Course: Strategic Brand Creation and Management
Instructor: Tee Nearman
Date: April 23, 2017
Introduction
In this paper, the authors selected the “Old Spice” brand’s customer engagement scenario as the group’s case. This case will analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the scenario related to the course outcomes. In the end, it will offer some reasonable recommendations to Old Spice.
Old Spice is one of the prominent American brands of male personal care products that include deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, body washes, and soaps. Old spice is under Procter & Gamble line of brands. In 1934, Old Spice products were manufactured by the Shulton Company that was founded by William Lightfoot Schultz. Three years later, the first Old Spice product introduced a woman’s scent, known as Early American Old Spice. The product was well received by the consumers, which was later followed by the Old Spice for men in 1938. Moreover, in the 1970s, the company moved from being a shaving to a fragrance brand by introducing signature scents like Old Spice Burley.
In June 1990, Procter & Gamble acquired the Old Spice’s skincare, fragrances, deodorant and antiperspirant brands from the Shulton Company. Throughout the 2000s, the company introduced varieties of deodorants, body sprays and body washes in several scents under the Old Spice name.
In 2010, An advertising campaign was released by Wieden + Kennedy, introducing Isaiah Mustafa, who became quite popular just after the first advertisement. He was titled “The Man, Your Man Could Smell Like,” went viral. Later, the company hired Fabio Lanzoni for the new advertisement to challenge Isaiah Mustafa, the Old Spice Guy, in an online advertising campaign.
The Problem
The nature of men’s personal care is changing as the new trends are arriving; in 2010, the company faced the most significant challenge - was an “Old-fashioned” image, which was the base problem. The company is indeed one of the oldest brands in men’s personal care with varieties of the product range. While the long-standing firm, Old Spice, has had a quite loyal customer base, what they neglected was the rebranding of their products according to customers’ needs and desires. Rebranding a product in a marketing strategy is to deliver the product with a new term, symbol, design, fundamentally transforming it into a new product according to the latest trend and customer preferences. However, the Old Spice was more focused on the classic product-centric efficacy rather than modern product-centric (James Coakes, 2015).
When Procter & Gamble acquired the company since 1990, it strived to transform the Old Spice’s old-fashioned image to a new-fashioned image. The company has been implementing different marketing strategies such as campaigns and proposing new products’ sub-lines in Deodorants, body washes, shaving products and body sprays such as “High Endurance” and Red Zone” (Gill, 2014). In 2010, the company introduced commercial known as “Smell Like a Man, Man,” which was to target males and females especially. The advertisement featured a formal NFL player Isaiah Mustafa. The campaign was effective in highlighting how crucial it has turned out to be a part of the overall company’s marketing mix strategy in reaching the targeted audience. However, it was not so successful in rebranding the product according to consumer’s preferences, because the campaign mainly tried to deliver to the audience what the company wanted them to smell like, but not what consumers want to smell like (Brooke Hemphill, 2012).
The other problem that Old Spice faced was increasing competition. Because the company was behind in rebranding its products, its rivals like Axe and King of Shaves came with the better products, which turned marketing in men’s personal care on its head. Although the Old Spice and its rival King of Shaves experienced the power of social media, there were some significant differences between the two, which let the King of Shaves get ahead of Old Spice. Firstly, King of Shaves’ marketing strategy was to target younger men. Secondly, Unlike Old Spice’s campaign, which was also a paid TV commercial, King of Shaves’ campaign was entirely based on social media, which gave the company and consumers opportunity to have open two-way communication channels and social media was an adequate channel for the communication (Datamonitor, 2010). Therefore, the company could not provide significant results in rebranding its products, which could otherwise thrust the company ahead of its competitors.
Analysis
Old Spice products for men was launched initially in 1938 by William Lightfoot Schultz. In 1990, Procter & Gamble (P&G) acquired their product, including the Old Spice Fragrances, Skin Care, and Antiperspirant and Deodorant. Throughout its long history, Old Spice became the No 1. selling antiperspirant and deodorant stick and body wash brand for males (Procter & Gamble, n.d.). On the other hand, Old Spice gave consumers the old-fashioned image because its brand existed in the market for an extended time of period.
In 2000, the game of the market was changed by entering the new brand. Unilever, P&G’s rival, introduced Axe, which is a men’s personal care brand, including deodorants and body wash. It caught consumers’ emotional responses and wearing the smell of Axe gave them the impression of intimate success. One of the campaigns that Old Spice made in 2010 to compete with Axe was “Smell like a Man, Man” campaign (Datamonitor, 2010). A former NFL player, Isaiah Mustafa, was used for the handsome, witty and chisel-chested “Old Spice Guy’ in the campaign and it was not only the most talked-about commercials in that time but also helped to increase the sales of Old Spice in the competitive market. The commercial was posted on YouTube and got active reviews from consumers and industry experts. It got about 105 million YouTube views and 1.2 billion earned media impressions. The campaign also helped to increase Old Spice’s Twitter followers by 2700%, Facebook fan interaction by 800%, and access to the Old Spice website by 300%.
Later, the campaign received the industry’s highest honor, the Cannes Lions Film Grand Prix in 2010 and nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. (Procter & Gamble, n.d.). P&G does not mention the specific number of sales, but the campaign gave an enormous impact on Old Spice sales (Procter & Gamble, n.d.). It has been seven years since the successful campaign, and the market has been changing. According to figure 1, In terms of the market for men’s brands of deodorants and antiperspirants, Old Spice products have a significant share of the market with Old Spice Classic, Old Spice High-Endurance, and Old Spice Red Zone. Old Spice Classic has been increasing the market share from 2013 to 2016. On the other hand, the market share of Old Spice High Endurance and Old Spice Red Zone has almost flattened for four years. Noticeably, Statista (n.d) revealed that since 2013 Old Spice brand started to be beaten by dominant competitors such as Degree, Dove, and Secret, albeit its three brand extension products could be considered the 3rd highest compared to other brands.
Alternatives
To assess Old Spice’s previous success experience, the authors suggest having kiosks as an evaluation on which old spice’s products are selling well in the market. A study showed that kiosks in retail stores have impacts based on gender. The finding indicated female customers have high-risk perceptions levels, compared to men, for products sold at kiosk retailers. Old Spice target customers are men with a preference in a classic taste of personal care products; however, women, for example, as wives, have contributions in the decision-making process for men as well. Researchers recommended that advertising or promotion should be able to improve risk perception toward kiosks to get more dynamic customers; therefore, the messages must be adjusted. Adjusted messages ensure the consumers having an unaltered understanding since the “Smell Like a Man, Man” campaign was introduced.
Additionally, establishing kiosks may improve customers’ accessibility, making people in stores have more easily able to grab the products (Bui, Krishen, & Latour, 2012). Not only making the product easier to access, but the company should also employ sales representatives in those kiosks. Bui et al. (2012) also suggested having sales representatives, as people who demonstrate or present the products, to generate more interest for male consumers. On the other hand, female consumers may be attracted by giving both spoken and emotional conversation. Both sales representatives and kiosks’ design factors play essential roles to educate and attract the customers in communicating with the products.
Another suggestion for Old Spice to survive on the competition is rebuilding its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program. Fisher (2015) examined that CRM could be advanced marketing tools to improve lifetime value by giving the right messages to the right customers. According to Molan et al. (2012), there is a significant impact on conflict, whether buyers want to maintain relationships with marketers. Besides, the study showed that customers intend to retain the connection with a company that communicates valuable information in its CRM events (Molan, Park, Dubinsky, & Chaiy, 2012). Accordingly, Old Spice may have to design such a program that can be connecting both customers’ data and customers’ experiences.
A study by Fragouli and Noutrixa (2014) discussed an e-CRM application that allows salespeople to evaluate customer data as well as free up to focus on obtaining new customers. Besides, e-CRM may be lowering the cost of calling customers by allowing the data to be quickly available. Hence, customer service personnel are getting better at handling customer inquiries in less time. E-CRM applications have the potential to improve sales; indeed, refining interaction with customers comprehensively can drive to higher customer satisfaction, loyalty, and customer lifetime value. Fragouli and Noutrixa (2014) claimed that satisfaction makes to loyalty; however, satisfaction does not drive to loyalty. Typically, loyalty shows a customer’s positive attitude, which results in repeat buying behavior.
Chris Bates, head of customer marketing at John Lewis, revealed that CRM has been becoming more massive as a field for years and is being used by some brands as “the primary vehicle to launch new products or sub-brands.” Also, Marks & Spencer (M&S) described “a fresh look at loyalty” by introducing ‘Sparks,’ which is a new members club in September. According to M&S, the campaign turned more than discounts; it inspires the members to tell their interests as well. The membership also delivers personalized advantages and other experiences (Fisher, 2015). Currently, there is no membership model yet for Old Spice customers yet. Old Spice may consider about creating membership advantages beyond the product promises.
The last approach is to rebrand the Old Spice products to the market. In rebranding a product, the challenge is to rethink its image and position without creating confusion on customers’ minds. Consumer reactions toward the brand value indicate a positive effect. Rebranding is vital to decide when new competitors are targeting the same market. Decision-making should be appropriately taken on brand characteristics or features. Notably, the decisions will become crucial when the product started to get lower selling due to competitors. Accordingly, rebranding may be beginning from fixing any internal problem first (Todor, 2014). The actions may include getting customer feedback as well as finding the advantages that competitors offer to counter them back.
Lacy (n.d) stated that the most potent technique a brand should connect with the clients is by letting them experiment and make the brand as they own it. In other words, companies should let customers having a sense of belonging to their brand to be personalized. Some companies that have been doing this, such as Coca-Cola, Lilly Pulitzer, and Benjamin Moore. Coca-Cola, as other brands do, share stories of their fans on social media platforms. Lilly Pulitzer, on the other hand, gave its customers a design app to create a bedroom and an opportunity to win the products set up in the created room. Benjamin Moore, a paint company, allows the customers to utilize its software to upload pictures, arrange furniture, and change paint colors throughout the software. Old Spice does not have a customizable product. Nevertheless, the marketing team may integrate things such as giving a personal care bundle or do the same as Coca-Cola did with its social media publications. These types of engagements would ensure customers remain in contact as well as having personal emotions with the brand.
Recommendation
Rebuilding and Rebranding: Old Spice customer base is associated with elderly gentlemen. Nevertheless, Old Spice must pick up their game if they want to compete with new-age younger men products; for example, one brand that mainly was a competitor was Axe. As a game-changer, Axe had a different take on Advertising its product, where instead of highlighting the part, which shows it as an odor-blocking agent they flipped the product usage to what women want to see in men. Now, as a new generation product, the most critical thing that Old Spice as a company must do is to change the outlook of already existing goods and reposition itself to match up to millennial preferences.
A perfect example to show how the company could transform is in one of its product lines, ‘Glacial Falls.’ This product performed terribly in the market, and the sales were an all-time low. However, what transformed this product was to rebrand it with a new name ‘Swagger’ and changed the whole marketing campaign to match the name and boldness it carried. This strategy did its magic. It was a considerable success doubling the sales from the formal and quadrupling the sales for being a brand that has more visibility in the millennial market. The brand should mainly concentrate on getting more input from the loyal consumer from CRM and demand analysis.
For a company to build its name in marketing, it must amass a large number of loyal customers. Establishing CRM can support the brand knows what type of loyal customers that would mainly be involved. Building customers’ engagement could be possible by Customer Relations Management. Indeed, refocusing the brand is one step towards the brand’s transformation, but what would give the company an edge over the others is by maintaining a healthy communicative relationship with their consumers to let them repurchase or recommend it to others. Additionally, accomplishing CRM can be implemented by differentiating products and services to cater to the needs of different customer segments such as focusing on the most valuable customer, analyzing value-added for the buyers, and generating feedback through Word-of-mouth (WOM) analysis.
In focusing on the Most Valuable Customer, one of the essential factors to launch a new product is to understand to put a focus on the most valuable customers first. It is necessary to realize how one customer influences other potential clients. An increase in loyal customers would also lead to an increase in Marketing ROI. Moreover, An excellent CRM not only increases revenue but also increases value for customers. Companies now a day should not only focused on what is important to them but also consider the customer’s point of view. Customer feedback plays an important role. Their feedback should be used to optimize the products, which would attract more customers.
Also, WOM generated by Customers may be achieved by different unique campaigns, as that was on the Youtube, and interactive public kiosks help to spread WOM better and substantiate the company’s worth. Besides, as Fragouli and Noutrixa (2014) and Lacy (n.d) explained, unique customer involvement toward a brand can result in a stronger relationship and a sense of belonging that will benefit the brand itself. This differentiation of product elements, therefore, would help Old spice to mold itself into a better company to reinvent and engage target groups effectively to gain back its market share from competitors.
Conclusion
The authors defined and analyzed problems that were faced by Old Spice, which is the old-fashioned image problem and the increasing competition problem. The brand has made lots of efforts to rebuild its image according to consumer trends and customer preferences. Moreover, in order to survive in the increasing competition, the company changed its marketing campaign for further communication with customers.
Thus, according to the problems that stated previously, the authors suggest rebranding, as well as repositioning Old Spice to compete with its brand competitors on the current market. Establishing CRM in research to reanalyze customer satisfaction and feedback will be the first step in consideration to understand Old Spice’s customer value. Engagement data and customer enthusiasm for the brand and the product will help the management to acknowledge what value the buyers want more of and what advantages that make competitors get more market share than Old Spice.
References
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