Launched in September 2004, Dove’s Marketing campaign for Actual Magnificence challenged conventional magnificence requirements and promoted self-acceptance, that includes photos of actual girls of various ages, shapes, sizes and ethnicities that bucked the traits of earlier campaigns within the sector.
It was primarily based on the perception that solely 2% of girls globally thought-about themselves to be lovely, largely due to the idealized photos of girls they have been bombarded with in promoting, media and well-liked tradition. And keep in mind, this was earlier than the daybreak of smartphones and social media which have piled on the stress much more.
It resonated a lot that the important philosophy behind the marketing campaign remains to be being utilized in Dove’s communications and advertising to today, as evidenced by the #TurnYourBack activation that gained Marketing campaign of the Yr at March’s 25th anniversary PRWeek Awards.
#TurnYourBack pushed again on the Daring Glamour generative AI filter development that swept social media final yr. The filter airbrushed customers to a single magnificence customary, altering individuals’s faces a lot that some thought it ought to be banned for its potential psychological well being results. Inside 72 hours of the filter’s launch, Dove partnered with 68 influential creators asking them to #TurnYourBack on the filter.
It was a basic extension of Dove’s No Digital Distortion motion and Self-Esteem Undertaking, which have been themselves constructed on the Marketing campaign for Actual Magnificence idea.
These days you see girls of all ages, shapes, sizes and ethnicities on the entrance of magazines, on vogue present runways and past. This isn’t solely right down to Dove’s marketing campaign, however it positive contributed a hell of lots to the revolution.
Originated by Ogilvy & Mather and activated in partnership with Edelman, the marketing campaign was named better of the final 20 years at PRWeek’s 20th anniversary awards again in 2019. It was the final word proof of the worth of performing purposefully by way of constructing a model and producing revenue for a corporation, exhibiting that the 2 are usually not mutually unique.
I keep in mind being on the launch of the Marketing campaign for Actual Magnificence in London in September 2004. Curiously, the lead presenter was a person, Ogilvy’s legendary inventive strategist Rory Sutherland, which I’m positive wouldn’t have been the case right now.
However Sutherland’s distinctive tackle advertising and branding definitely fitted the temper of the evening, as the nice and the great of the British promoting trade gathered to have fun what was instantly clear could be an iconic piece of labor.
Sutherland’s mantra has all the time been to do issues backwards. In different phrases, begin with the patron and make the most of bottom-up technique to work towards the enterprise case on the high of the funnel. And that was definitely the philosophy of the Marketing campaign for Actual Magnificence. As Dove’s CMO Alessandro Manfredi mentioned this week: “Now we have demonstrated there isn’t a tradeoff between function and revenue.”
Kathryn Fernandez, senior director, Dove function and engagement North America, and the remainder of the Dove staff rang the opening bell on the NYSE earlier this week, noting on LinkedIn: “This long-standing marketing campaign continues right now with its unwavering dedication to illustration, confidence and empowerment.”
Dove additionally marked the milestone by recommitting to the philosophy behind Actual Magnificence and pledging it might by no means use AI to characterize actual girls in its promoting.
It launched a world magnificence research that estimated as much as 90% of what we see on our screens would be the product of generative AI by 2025. Nearly eight out of 10 girls (73%) really feel extra stress to be lovely than eight years in the past, and practically 9 out of 10 girls and ladies (85%) say they’ve been uncovered to dangerous magnificence content material on-line.
So, the work is under no circumstances completed but. I’m wanting ahead to seeing how the Dove staff and different model entrepreneurs use creativity to deal with vital points reminiscent of these over the following few years, whereas persevering with to promote extra merchandise and make revenue for his or her firms.