Where's the Old Spice of Women's Marketing

My friend Colin Gorman, marketing genius at BBH, made a subtle but important insight to me over email. When you look at the most recent commercial viral campaigns they are dominated by mens brands.

Of course the talk of the day is about the Old Spice guy. Funny, silly commercial. But they also targeted the most active and linked users in their network and directly responded to them. In videos with the star. They produced 70+ videos in 2 days addressing individuals, including Alyssa Milano who had dared the Old Spice man to donate money to Gulf Disaster relief. It's so popular, a VC actually got into a towel to pitch to a room of entrepreneurs. This is a pic of the video address to the entrepreneurs:

The whole Old Spice campaign is cheeky, biting, a little bit random with a hint of surprise.

Another one I really loved was the Day and Night video from Axe body spray. They call it their Anthem. It's a really fun video that captures a day in the life of a college-aged party maniac. It really captured a lifestyle that the movie Go attempted and just missed. It's hilarious. And it's cheeky, fun, and a bit random with a lot of surprise.

I could keep going down the list with other companies like TAG, but the point is more that these campaigns are very much targeted at a male audience, and that in targeting the male audience, they seem to have found a recipe that's also viral. I wonder if there are equivalents in the female category. I don't see them, but that may be because I am not in the target demographic (although I'll bet many women know about the Old Spice and Axe campaigns). The kitten meme doesn't count.

I know there was the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. But that was much more serious and clung to an issue rather than a lifestyle. Is there something out there I am missing?

If not, I think there is an opportunity to target the college age and early woman audience with something that's cheeky, fun and surprising. There are women who go out, club, dance, get drunk, party etc. but we almost never see that scene as a marketing ploy. Where is the "Girls Night Out" video that captures the lifestyle of this demographic? We've all seen those parties in motion, we have heard the screams, seen the ploys, played the games and even held some hair. Now admittedly, living in NYC I may be a little biased. It didn't seem like there are many opportunities in Davenport, Iowa so maybe the national appeal of the market segment is less than I perceive it to be. Then again, this is a pic of my girlfriend at a party from Iowa State.

I know. I am so proud!

So who's going to be the brand that breaks away from the traditional female marketers. I think this is a large niche that has yet to be filled. Or maybe, I am just terribly uninformed. What do you think?

BTW, it was Colin's birthday this weekend. Happy birthday!