Case study · Old Spice India · Social media · 2013 to 2015
Old Spice India Mr Mantastic on social
One of India's social-first brands, with a cult irreverent voice and copy. The man who takes credit for history.
ibs Fulcro ran Old Spice India's social voice from August 2013 to April 2015. Every post is shown as it went live, date included. The work is 11 to 13 years old and the visuals have aged. Moment marketing only counts if it lands on the day, and the date is the proof. The thinking is what this page shows.
TL;DR
In 2013 Old Spice was the white aftershave bottle on a father's shelf, launching deodorant sprays into a market where every brand sold the same story: wear this and the girl notices you. ibs Fulcro's answer on social was a character. Mr Mantastic speaks in the first person, never doubts himself, takes credit for history, and never lets the can leave the frame.
The voice had six moves: rewrite history, ride the news, borrow the moment, make the heritage the hero, overclaim the product, and pun without shame. The same character then owned cricket, launched Fresh, Magnate and Sport together, and sent people to named stores.
The Smell Mantastic launch, which included the Wieden+Kennedy Delhi films, delivered shipments 24 percent ahead of target three months in, value share up 300 percent against pre-launch, purchase intent up 15 points, and 71 percent positive sentiment after the #MrMantasticSays response programme, as recorded in ibs Fulcro's published case study.
The problem, 2013
Dad's aftershave, in a category that sold one story.
The answer: Mr Mantastic
A man so sure of himself that he takes credit for history.
The voice, six moves
Rewrite history. Ride the news. Borrow the moment. Heritage as the hero. Overclaim. Pun without shame.
Moments: cricket
India's biggest calendar moment, owned by the can.
Selling the range
Fresh, Magnate and Sport, launched together, then pointed at a named store.
Chapter 1 of 5 · 2013
Dad's aftershave, in a category that sold one story
Axe led the deodorant market until 2012 with a share above 20 percent on the boy-gets-girl script. Fogg overtook it in 2013 on a value claim. Old Spice was known as an aftershave and was adding deodorant sprays. Young men saw it as their father's brand. We needed them to look again, without copying the category script.
Category context: IIM Calcutta case, Deodorant Wars in India; Business Standard, January 2014; Indiantelevision.com, 2013.Sources for the market picture
Chapter 2 of 5
Give the brand a character: Mr Mantastic
Mr Mantastic speaks in the first person, never doubts himself and takes credit for history. On social the joke was always on his own self-belief, never on winning women. That is what separated him from the category.
The Smell Mantastic films with Milind Soman were made by Wieden+Kennedy Delhi, as reported by Campaign India in October 2013. ibs Fulcro ran the social voice, the listening desk, the #MrMantasticSays response programme and Mantastic Me.
Chapter 3 of 5
The voice, in six moves
Put the product behind a famous event. React to the story people are already reading, on the day it runs. Retell pop culture with the can in it. Turn the old bottle and the ship into icons. Give a deodorant impossible powers. Let the joke be obvious.
The Abbey Road, Lord of the Rings and Man of Steel posts borrow third-party properties. They are shown here as work from 2013 and 2014. We would not propose borrowed IP to a brand today.
What the launch delivered
The Smell Mantastic launch, in four numbers
Source: ibs Fulcro published case study, Old Spice Direct Response, fulcroworld.com/portfolio/old-spice-direct-response. The figures cover the full Smell Mantastic launch, including the Wieden+Kennedy Delhi films, and are not attributed to social alone. The same case study records 6.6 million organic impressions in three days for #MrMantasticSays, 1.2 billion media impressions and campaign awareness up 70 percent.
Chapter 4 of 5 · March and April 2015
India's biggest calendar moment, owned by the can
Cricket is the strongest moment in the Indian marketing year. On the day of the World Cup quarter-final, Old Spice Sport was the bat. On the day the IPL opened, the ball became a disco ball and Old Spice After Party launched on it. Both ran on the date, which is the whole point.
Chapter 5 of 5 · July to October 2014
Selling the range, and pointing at a named store
The character carried the range launch without changing register: three cans leaving the pad like rockets. Before that, social pointed at retail by name, with co-branded posts for Star Bazaar and More Megastore. In 2026 the equivalent of that retail tie-in is quick commerce.
What the work shows
A character outlasts a category script
Every other deodorant in 2013 sold the same promise. Old Spice sold a man who believed he had invented the moon landing, and the can was in every frame. Because the voice was a character and not a campaign line, it could react to Amazon's drone announcement, the Steve Jobs biopic, a World Cup quarter-final and a supermarket tie-in without losing shape.
The dates on the posts are left in on purpose. Moment marketing is only proof if it landed on the day.
Frequently asked questions
What did ibs Fulcro do for Old Spice India?
ibs Fulcro ran Old Spice India's social media voice from August 2013 to April 2015, including the Mr Mantastic character on social, the listening desk, the #MrMantasticSays response programme and Mantastic Me. The Smell Mantastic films with Milind Soman were made by Wieden+Kennedy Delhi.
Who is Mr Mantastic?
The character ibs Fulcro gave Old Spice India on social. He speaks in the first person, never doubts himself, states absurd claims as fact and takes credit for history, and the can never leaves the frame. The joke is always on his own self-belief, not on winning women, which set the brand apart from the category script of 2013.
What results did the Old Spice Smell Mantastic launch deliver?
ibs Fulcro's published case study records shipments 24 percent ahead of target three months after launch, a 300 percent increase in value share against pre-launch, purchase intent up 15 points, 71 percent positive sentiment after the #MrMantasticSays response programme, 6.6 million organic impressions in three days for #MrMantasticSays, 1.2 billion media impressions and campaign awareness up 70 percent. The figures cover the full launch including the Wieden+Kennedy films.
What was the problem Old Spice faced in India in 2013?
Old Spice was known as an aftershave, the white bottle on a father's shelf, and was launching deodorant sprays into a market where Axe had led on a boy-gets-girl script and Fogg had overtaken it on a value claim. Young men saw Old Spice as their father's brand and needed a reason to look again.
Why are the post dates shown on the page?
Because the work is moment marketing, and a reaction only counts if it ran on the day. The drone post ran days after Amazon announced drone delivery, the Apple posts ran the week the Steve Jobs biopic released, and the cricket posts ran on the World Cup quarter-final and the IPL opening day. The dates are the evidence.
Which agency ran Old Spice India's social media?
ibs Fulcro, a digital agency in Mumbai operating as Fulcro Consulting Pvt. Ltd., ran Old Spice India's social media from August 2013 to April 2015.