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August 17, 2009

Is Old Spice Sailing Into Murky Waters with Ever Clear Naming and Branding?

Old Spice is admirably facing up to what I perceive as some pretty hefty naming and branding challenges. This is clear to see in their new "Residue is Evil" campaign.

The print campaign essentially calls for men who have deodorant residue on their underarms things like "weirdo, stupid and idiot." The new Ever Clear formulation is designed to be (pretty much) clear, although Old Spice stops short of claiming pure clarity. The name itself seems to almost purposely riff on the Everclear alcohol name.

OK. Let's get this straight. The brand name is Old Spice, which has traditionally been, well, spicy. The brand extension is Ever Clear. There are sub brands within the Ever Clear line that include "After Hours", "Pure Sport", "Showtime" and "Swagger". The tagline is "Residue is Evil. Stop It." The advertising tells men to "Tame Your Pits."

And this is for one brand extension. They also have Old Spice Classic, High Endurance, and Red Zone with related sub brand categories (there must be some residue in there). Then they have clear gels, and sprays. That's 38 antiperspirants, and 17 deodorants. Throw in body washes, body sprays and fragrances and you get a grand total of 88 different products all bearing the Old Spice name.

Fast Company has been all over this, telling us that "Old Spice Smells Like a Billion Bucks" and profiling the people involved in creating these products, which, I must admit, are alluring. But the real question here is whether or not the company can manage so many names and sub-brands. Old Spice has a traditionally nautical image: I can still recall the ads featuring the guy wearing the sailor's cap (there still is a ship logo on the packaging). The brand now seems, with its younger target, to have a landlubber NASCAR ("Take Your Pits on a Victory Lap") extension nonetheless. This features, on one product, the following:

1. The traditional Old Spice name and typography
2. The ship logo
3. The NASCAR logo.
4. The "Red Zone After Hours" brand extension.
5. The "Signature Series" sub brand identifier with "Tony Stewart" signature image.
6. A photo of an Old Spice race car.
7. The "Impala" car brand name seen clearly on the car bumper at the bottom of the packaging.

Whew.

My thought is that if this works, then Old Spice is going to really expand quickly. But this is a massive amount of juggling. The Old Spice name, in my opinion, has now been stretched as far as it can go.

Let's see what happens.

Technorati Tags: Old Spice, Antiperspirant , Deodorant, Ever Clear, Residue is Evil, Deodorant Brand Name

Posted by William Lozito at August 17, 2009 8:51 AM
Posted to Brand Naming | Branding | Health and Beauty | Marketing | Naming | Product Naming

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