A smart move

Many of you have probably heard about or seen the recent ads by Dove which focus on one problematic aspect: how people (especially women) define beauty. All these ads are part of a bigger picture: Dove’s 
“Real Beauty” campaign. The campaign was initially launched in 2004 and since then, every year the company releases a new ad or more as part of this campaign. 
All of them have one central message: “You are more beautiful than you think!”

One of the most famous ads is “Dove Real Beauty Sketches”, released in 2013, where an experienced FBI forensic artist makes two different sketches of a series of women. One sketch is based on their self-description and the other based on other people’s 
description. The difference is remarkable and serves as a reminder for women to change their perception about their appearance because they are more beautiful than they think.  Only one month after its release, the video was viewed 114 worldwide, uploaded in 25 different languages to 33 of the brand’s YouTube Channels.

This year, Dove introduced a short film at the Sundance Film Festival called “Selfie”which brings together teenage girls and their moms to take selfies and try to overcome their insecurities about their looks. That's rights, they want to embrace the power of selfies!

But, is Dove’s really trying to change the way people (especially women) perceive beauty or is this just a smart way to attract customers and their intentions are purely materialistic from this campaign? The intention is not very clear, but Dove has certainly made a smart move with the “Real Beauty” campaign. Why?

First, they have understood that their audience needs are: to feel beautiful and a need to be accepted by the society for the way they look like. The messages in these ads are crafted in a way that these two needs are addressed. As a result, the reactions of the audience were very positive. So, they are giving to their audience what they want to hear.

Moreover, with the introduction of the “Real Beauty campaign” they have shifted the brand positioning in the market. Before they used to sell soap and similar products, now they sell “restored self-esteem.” Many people are more familiar with their ads than the products they offer.

Source: www.dove.us

In general, there are similar campaigns produced which address social issues with the tendency to improve problematic aspects in the society; however they fail to prolong their impact. Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign is an example which demonstrates that if you invest in an innovative idea, such initiative can become profitable for the company and who knows… maybe impact the society too.