“You are more beautiful than you think.”
This statement may seem like an intimate assurance from mother to daughter, or from friend to friend.
In fact, it is an assurance made by Dove to their customers. Since 2004, Dove has striven to change the way women view themselves through a powerful, mission-driven ad campaign called the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. The campaign stemmed from research findings that suggested only 2% of women saw themselves as beautiful. In these grim findings, Dove saw an opportunity to change public perception of beauty and position themselves as a brand that champions the natural beauty of their customers.
In 2013, Dove released the viral video ad “Dove Real Beauty Sketches.” According to Dove, the ad is meant to “explore the gap between how others perceive us and how we perceive ourselves.” It quickly became the most-watched video ad of all time, and now has over three thousand YouTube comments from viewers who were moved to tears by the video’s message.
The faces of the Dove campaign are not superstars or top models. They are the un-photoshopped faces of everyday people. In recent years, other companies have followed Dove’s move to celebrate the everywoman. One example is the lingerie brand Aerie, which launched their Aerie Real campaign in 2014.
The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has become more than an ad campaign: it has become a social initiative for change. It has revolutionized the way beauty brands market to their customers and has set the standard for mission-driven marketing.
Consumers are becoming more conscious about the environmental and ethical impacts of their shopping habits. Increasingly, shoppers are looking for products with the fairtrade label, which indicates that the goods were produced under fair working conditions. Brands like Dove appeal to consumers who buy with their hearts, not just their minds.
Dove shows us that a marketing campaign can do more than raise profits. Through their marketing campaigns, companies can show potential customers what drives them, what their values are, and what they are doing to make the world a better place.
Create a video ad at www.viddyad.com today, and your ad might just make our hall of fame some day.
Image source: http://huff.to/2awTboY
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