Old Spice sees major social video boost thanks to co-creation with influencers

Welcome to Ad Age Datacenter Weekly, our data-obsessed newsletter for marketing and media professionals. Google keeps cookies, marketing world breathes a sigh of relief—and stews “Google’s futile endeavor to reinvent online advertising without cookies led ad tech partners on a winding trip to nowhere,” Ad Age’s Garett Sloane reports. The details: “On Tuesday, Google announced it would keep cookies in their current form,” Sloane notes, “meaning that Privacy Sandbox, its alternative programmatic ad platform, would no longer be core to the future of internet advertising as originally envisioned.” Essential context: “There was some exasperation over the wasted time spent on developing the alternative ad tech, but also some relief that advertising would carry on unimpeded,” Sloane adds. “The nearly six-year venture into Privacy Sandbox cost tens of millions of dollars—hundreds of millions, even—when accounting for the dozens of companies that worked on it, according to ad leaders who participated in its development.” Keep reading here. Plus, Google’s search advertising helps Alphabet beat estimates. Macroeconomic news and data in a nutshell • “U.S. Jobless Claims Rise Slightly,” The Wall Street Journal reports • “Mastercard CEO says consumers’ fears about the economy haven’t affected their spending yet: ‘They still want to make that trip,’” per Business Insider • Companies from Chipotle to Delta are worried about Trump’s tariffs. Here’s what they’re saying,” from CNBC • “Here’s how much Costco’s hot dog combo would cost today—if accounted for inflation,” from the New York Post Previously: US ad employment dropped in March for the fourth straight month ICYMI: Early warnings signal a recession may already have begun—what brands need to know Old Spice’s social video strategy gets a major boost from creators Social video measurement firm Tubular Labs is out with new data—shared first with Datacenter Weekly—revealing that Procter & Gamble’s Old Spice is killing it on YouTube and Facebook lately. In March, its unique video viewers across those platforms hit a record high of 28.5 million—up 131% month over month, which puts it at No. 5 among U.S. brands. Part of its success has to do with consumers seeking out and sharing its famously humorous commercials, including “Caught Red Handed” and “The Expert Advice.” But Tubular also notes that Old Spice is working with creators such as Nick Urtega, Thoren Bradley, James Henry and Melyssa Galindo to shoot shorts. Urtega’s video, for instance, has racked up more than 1.3 million views since it was posted last month. The bottom line: Old Spice is co-creating with influencers to drive social media viewers to its content ecosystem. 199,000 That’s the number of domestic broadband customers that Comcast lost during the first quarter—steeper than analysts’ estimates of 144,500—per Bloomberg News (via Ad Age). Don’t miss Ad Age’s Data-Driven Marketing Playbook event Where will you be on May 22? We have a suggestion: at City Winery in Manhattan for Ad Age’s Data-Driven Marketing Playbook event focused on unlocking the power of data to shape marketing strategies, refine media buying decisions and elevate customer interactions. Speakers include Jamie Barnard, co-founder and CEO of data tech company Compliant; Obele Brown-West, president of Stagwell’s Colle McVoy; Jeremy Cornfeldt, president of Tinuiti; Arielle Garcia, chief operating officer for digital advertising watchdog Check My Ads; Daniella Harkins, senior VP of go to market at LiveRamp; Kyle Shank, director of media technology, analytics and operations for Hershey Co.; and Dirk Shaw, co-founder and head of product at Veylan, the first AI-native operating system for advertising. Learn more about the event—and sign up for it—here. Just briefly • “South Korea says DeepSeek transferred user data, prompts without consent,” Reuters reports • “Fashion’s Unexpected Data Treasure Troves,” from Business of Fashion • “Foot Locker taps Ometria to drive data-powered customer marketing,” per Retail Customer Experience • “Inside the desperate rush to save decades of US scientific data from deletion,” from the BBC The newsletter is brought to you by Ad Age Datacenter, the industry’s most authoritative source of competitive intel and home to the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers, the Ad Age Agency Report: World’s Biggest Agency Companies and other exclusive data-driven reports. Access or subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter at adage.com/datacenter. Ad Age Datacenter is Bradley Johnson and Joy R. Lee.

Old Spice sees major social video boost thanks to co-creation with influencers

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