Dove - Real Women, Real Skin
Brand: Dove Nourishing Lotion
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here
Target: Real Women
Reviewer: David
Rating: **
Description:
The spot opens to a thin redhead in a white two-piece outfit that is somewhere between underwear and a bathing suit. The voiceover is a song:”What if we loved our skin … and put nourishment in…” As the spot proceeds we see visuals of very different women - pregnant, older, overweight, one with a tatoo and even a Caeserian scar. “Introducing Dove Nourishing Lotions with 24 hour neutraserum. The first line of body lotions by Dove.” The spot ends with a URL for the campaign for real beauty.
What Works:
Here’s what works
- Engaging visuals - the white-on-white theme, interesting women and clean shots stand out.
- Dove Takes a Risk - this is not normal advertising and these women are not normal models, so Dove is breaking the mold of beauty advertising.
- Dove is standing for something meaningful to its consumers - with the campaign for real beauty, Dove along with Bath & Body Works and American Girl are trying to do something genuinely useful: change the self-perception of women against the cultural backdrop of perfection obsession.
What Doesn’t:
It is very difficult to take down a marketing company when they are trying to do something that is admirable and undeniably good with their advertising. The Campaign for Real Beauty is a an admirable idea, but it has been a disaster for Dove because it has diluted a brand positioning that was already wobbling under the weight of questionable line extensions.
Dove had a clear and unambiguous reason for being when they were about the woman’s face. Being gentle enough for a woman’s face gave them permission to be used for the rest of the body the same way that being gentle enough for a baby gave adults permission to use Johnson’s baby shampoo themselves thirty years ago. And just as Johnson’s erred in thinking that growing success outside of the baby market meant that they should move their advertising away from babies, so Dove has erred in becoming an all-purpose soft body line.
The Campaign for Real Beauty Ads, for soap, shampoo and now Dove Nourishing Lotion have taken this error a step further. In these spots, Dove is trying to substitute the brand positioning of the campaign (women come in all shape and sizes and that is great) for the brand positioning of Dove. And Dove is trying to morph into a generic empowerment message.
But it just doesn’t fit. First of all, Dove is confusing us. Soap with moisturing lotion gentle enough for a woman’s face so I can use it on my knees and elbows and feet - I get it. Now its for the whole body and the hair and my underarms and it’s really about me not being like everyone else? Huh?
Consumer are attracted to brands because they are experts at something. Dove is coming perilously close to being expert at nothing.
Here are three more problems with this spot:
- Dove is Showing Different Bodies but Talking Different Skin - which is confusing to say the least. Watching this commercial without sound would lead you to think that it’s an underwear commercial. Now if Victoria’s Secret did this, it would be a real revolution. But Dove?
- Dove is Afraid to Use Real Women - The talk is nice but look closely at this commercial and you’ll see that Dove has not really stepped out front and center and empowered ordinary women. They’re just showing models with a slightly wider range of ages and body types than the general commercial fair. They’re still much more attractive than the average pedestrian.
- The Subliminal Message is Still “Improve Yourself” - This is where being a beauty product (nourishing lotion) really kills them. The message is that you need to add something that you don’t have to make you whole. And that means you aren’t whole already. This is why this would be a much better spot for a lingerie company or a jeans manufacturer (and wouldn’t it be nice for a mainstream clothing company to acknowledge real women?). This observation, by the way comes from Adam Finley at Adjab ( click here to read his commentary.)
So what looks like it could be a real winner is really a disaster for Dove. Will they be the next Ivory Soap, languishing in the bargain basement of branding?
Branding Bottom Line -
A noble idea falls for the wrong brand - with predictable results.
July 13th, 2005 at 4:17 pm
While I can appreciate your strategic rationale, I must say that I could not disagree with you more. While “gentle enough for your entire body” was a strong point of difference for Dove products, I believe the campaign for real beauty is much stronger point of the difference for the entire brand. It creates a connection with women buyers that is making women everywhere, me included, feel good. And women who feel good spend money.
Charles Caleb Cotton once wrote the following:
“ [To] inspire a woman with love of you, fill her above the brim with love of herself; all that runs over will be yours.”
Dove is doing just that.
In your post you state that Dove is still communicating a message of “improvement.” Once again I disagree. The message I hear loud and clear is this “Your imperfection makes you perfect. You need not strive for any false measurement of beauty or perfection. Love your body and your skin for exactly what it is – exactly who you are. And treat that body/skin well (of course, with Dove products…)
I’m a big fan of your blog and tune in regularly. I’m grateful for your well-stated arguments and positions, which are worthy of my time even when I may disagree.
July 13th, 2005 at 7:46 pm
Erika,
Your comments are well taken. I very much hope that you are correct about the Dove brand and the Campaign for Real Beauty. It would be great if an important cause and a classic brand could support each other.
March 24th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
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March 6th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I agree with both comments above. I have heard that Dove’s new advertising line is not bringing in new customers - I am not sure why this is, thus I think the strategic line of thinking may have more truth in it than I want to admit. On the other hand, I remember the first time I saw a Dove “real women” ad. It was on a bus stop, an almost life size poster of a woman who I thought looked like me. I swear, I stopped in that moment and just thought “wow! someone posted an ad with the picture of a woman who I can relate to and they made that woman look good!! I can feel good about how I look, too!!” It was a very strange reaction for an advertising. It was such an amazing moment - I don’t think I can say that about any other advertising campaign.
Recently, their new campaign for Pro-Age products completely blows my mind. If Dove published a book or calendar with their ads, I’d buy it (specially if the book donated to a non-profit organization). Currently I have a real women ad from Brazil on my wall.
For me the message is simple (as it is for Erica), love our bodies for how they are and nourish them. Last but not least, Dove has in me a loyal customer. First, even though some of their products are more expensive, I prefer to support Dove. Second, I admit that I don’t like some of their products, but when something looks good, I don’t hesitate to buy it and try it out. If I like it, I come back for more. I’m hooked and I really want more and more of this kind of advertising (from other companies too).