Mashable reported today that the I-wish-I’d-thought-of-that-first Old Spice Guy campaign has helped to double sales of body wash. It makes me wonder whether digital agencies and PR companies will really start to put their money where their mouths are on pay by results (PBR)?
Many agencies, ourselves included, offer something along these lines, but it’s usually on the basis of a success fee aligned to coverage and/or web hits, with money back if targets aren’t met. But there aren’t any of the top PR agencies (as far as I’m aware) that will go the whole hog and put the whole fee up for PBR.
I can see the success of the Old Spice Guy making agencies wonder whether the risk/return is worth it. You can see that PBR translates well for FMCG brands, but it’s riskier when there’s a degree of variability in the produce or service delivered (for example, IT services). And for every success story like Old Spice, there are dozens of duds. That said, if you can get PBR right, it’s gotta beat AVE as a way of measuring PR success.
Here’s a reminder of Old Spice Guy’s final, hilarious entry.
And, if you’re curious how Old Spice’s ad agency Wieden + Kennedy made the Old Spice Guy campaign, check out the excellent article on ReadWriteWeb.
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I’ve been watching their new social media campaign with interest – in fact I’ve even had the urge to go out and buy some of the stuff, but where you can you find it in the UK these days? They seem to have retreated to their US market…
Thanks Pete. OK, I’m going to come clean (ahem) with a confession: I put some Old Spice on my Ocado order last night. For research purposes, of course. Silverfish hand catch.