Dove is a cosmetics subdivision of the Anglo-German giant Unilever /www.unilever.com/. The brand was founded in 1957 in the USA, revolutionizing soap production, adding 1/4 moisturizing cream to the then standard formula...
In 2004 Dove published a report called "The real truth about beauty", in which
they study the perception of female beauty in ten different countries. During the research it became clear that the idea about beauty is replaced with significantly narrower definition of "appearance", and that the word beauty itself was associated mainly with physical attractiveness. This constantly imposed by mass media external beauty definition is the actual reason for female low self-esteem and dissatisfaction. The report, on the other hand, clearly defined the components of real beauty, including not only physical attractiveness but factors such as happiness, kindness, wisdom, dignity, love, authenticity and self-esteem.
Full Report HERE
Later on the company launched the "Dove Self-Esteem Fund", in an attempt to set a new standard for perceiving female beauty. The social mission of the brand was focused on increasing women's self-esteem and fighting for a more realistic perception of beauty as subjective and individual, opposite from the one imposed by consumer culture.
Dove's goal to protect natural beauty started with a series of ads, that used regular women, instead of professional models.
The campaign received extraordinary media attention and was claimed to be one of the most successful on the market. Apart from the actual marketing success, Dove's campaign managed to create a real community around its products and philosophy.
In 2013 several new campaigns appeared, following this mission. One of them was the creation of a Photoshop Plug-In, that promised to bring back the glow to the photo, while it actually reverted the settings to the original (obvious critique towards the massive retouching of photos in female magazines).
Dove: Thought Before Action
In the spring of 2013 Dove launched the Real Beauty Sketches campaign. The basic concept was the discrepancy between our own perception of our appearance and the way other people see us. The video gathered a total of 114 m. views and became one of the most shared and discussed videos on the internet.
Real Beauty Sketches
And here comes the question - aren't Dove going too far with exploiting the emotional side of their target? The moving videos, the tears, the voice, the touching music...
Once planned as a noble march for boosting female self-esteem, Dove's campaigns are turning into melodramatic stories, which doubtfully represent reality as it is. The clever and amusing slogans from the early ads are being replaced with serious and patronizing tone of voice, which not only fails to reach the intended effect, but goes way too far in its emotivity.
At first one would think that Dove keeps its brand consistent by delivering the promise to defend natural beauty. Yet, at a second glance, one can see that a good cause is turning into a successful method for exploiting consumers. The commercial element (who did the video) is no longer hidden, which undermines the trust and loyalty in the brand.
In an era when consumers are exceptionally active and at the same time skeptical, every insincerity can affect the brand in a negative way. Brands that claim they do something in the name of their customers, while simultaneously imposing their trademark, compromise the results of their campaigns.
It's also interesting how Dove's vision about women corresponds with the one in Axe's advertisements, also a Unilever brand. Or how none of the company's latest videos talks about love, dignity, wisdom, but physical appearance only.
See any discrepancies?
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