The percentage change may be questionable based on the objections raised by pkaler & jacquesm but I still think there's an obvious effect and it may not be just due to "easily convinced consumers".
In the past, my impression of Old Spice was that it was old fashioned, for seniors, etc. I'm just one consumer, but if this was a common perception, it looks like Old Spice identified their weakness and targeted it. If you ask me today what my impression of Old Spice is, it's quite different. They're a company willing to make unique commercials and take some risks. They have new scents are targeted at a younger crowd (I remember seeing After Hours in stores) and I no longer view the company as "old" Old Spice. Even though my perception has changed, I don't view it as being convinced or tricked as a consumer, but a reinterpretation of a company based on their actions. I've been wrong before.
Like you, I'm unsure whether this is confirmation bias or not - but as I hit 40, my impression is that this is the 3rd time I've seen 'Old Spice' transition from being 'generic present for Dad' to being hip for young men.
I don't know whether it's something to do with the economy (since it's very affordable compared to designer brands) or whether the firm identified a generational cycle affecting their sales and made a conscious decision to build a long-term strategy around it, which Proctor & Gamble have just perpetuated. I remember buying Old Spice for my Dad, then buying some of their wares for myself back in the 90s because it amusingly 'retro' or ironic, and a few years from now I'll be the grateful Dad getting a bottle for Christmas. During the same period they've switched their logo from an old-fashioned 3-masted sailing ship to a sporty modern yacht...and back again.
Yes, bottle - the after-shave comes in the same container that it did when I was a boy and thought OS epitomized grown-up man stuff. Back then it was advertised (on TV at Christmas, and in the cinema all year around) with a 30 second clip of a guy surfing, set to Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana' [1]. That seems like cheesy nostalgia now, but back in the 1970s it was the media equivalent of a hand grenade - overtly masculine, movie-quality eye candy, and unquestioning self-confidence. Sound familiar? And notice, if you will, that it's both new and 'classic'. Rather like their marketing strategy :-)
A cologne purchase is different from a computer purchase or something in that if your peer group thinks it's cool, that actually does make it better than the alternatives.
Still wouldn't have made it true. Without any relevant data, I could speculate that non-techies are less likely to buy a computer based on technical merits, and more likely to decide based on what their friends have (especially technical friends that they could bum help off of)
But that doesn't make it inherently better than the alternatives. The sole purpose of Old Spice (and scents in general) is to improve how others see you, and therefor whether your peers perceive Old Spice as being a superior choice decides whether it is.
Focus on "if your peer group thinks it's cool, that actually does make it better than the alternatives" instead of "different from a computer purchase" and it should make sense.
Also, I think that "a computer purchase among geeks" would have been better. Why? We, as geeks, are much, much more likely to ignore the opinions of others and chose a computer on its own merits, instead of as a fashion accessory. Whereas a non-computer geek would be more likely to choose to use a Mac because they're the cool option and many of their friends like/have/want them.
Yes, non-techies do seem quite likely to ask their friends for advice on computers, and take cues from what their friends have and what they've said about them. Word of mouth is powerful.
> The sole purpose of Old Spice (and scents in general) is to improve how others see you, and therefor whether your peers perceive Old Spice as being a superior choice decides whether it is.
I don't think that this is true. The product being tracked here is a body wash; its purpose is to keep you clean (which does, I suppose, improve how others see you). I may choose one body wash over another based on how I expect it to be perceived, but I think it's an exaggeration to say that that's its sole purpose. (I used Old Spice deodorant for a long time, because it was cheap and it worked; it had nothing to do with other people's images of me.)
In the past, my impression of Old Spice was that it was old fashioned, for seniors, etc. I'm just one consumer, but if this was a common perception, it looks like Old Spice identified their weakness and targeted it. If you ask me today what my impression of Old Spice is, it's quite different. They're a company willing to make unique commercials and take some risks. They have new scents are targeted at a younger crowd (I remember seeing After Hours in stores) and I no longer view the company as "old" Old Spice. Even though my perception has changed, I don't view it as being convinced or tricked as a consumer, but a reinterpretation of a company based on their actions. I've been wrong before.