A lot is going to be written and discussed about Weiden + Kennedy’s brilliant move yesterday when they decided to put the Old Spice guy front and center on the interwebs and have him answer questions via videos on YouTube that came from the public on Twitter, FaceBook and YouTube comments. From what I can gather, they posted around 115 videos, each of which got thousands of views within a few short hours. Who knows how much product will be sold because of the effort, but I think we can all agree that when it comes to digital PR, Old Spice just raised the bar.

But here was the most interesting part for me: Sure, they decided to respond to big name folks like Ellen Degeneres, Asthon Kutcher and The Huffington Post. But you know what? They also responded to those that the social media consultants WOULDN’T consider an “influencer” and wouldn’t give a second thought to.

There was the video for jordan_ferguson, who ONLY has 94 followers on Twitter. Or pancakehumpr (106 followers). And wheresweems with a whopping 140 followers on Twitter.  And while it was cool to see Old Spice “use” those with large social media circles like Guy Kawasaki, but I guarantee that it doesn’t mean as much to them as it does to the people who don’t aren’t celebrities on the internet (or in real life).

So the lesson here is don’t forget about the everyday Joes. Don’t forget that they are the ones that actually buy your stuff. People. Not celebrities. People are your customers – not celebrities. The everyday Joes that Old Spice took the time to respond to will more than likely talk a lot more and a lot longer about how they were recognized yesterday than Ashton and Ellen will. So remember that next time you’re engaging the public  – and your fans in particular.