Changing mentalities: An analysis of Dove's "Campaign for real beauty" (2006)

Résumé du document

The brand Dove is part of the English-Dutch group Unilever. It accounts for 3% of Unilever's turnover. In 1957, Dove created soaps that contained 1/4th moisturizing cream, especially for sensitive skins (50% of women). Since then, Dove has always known how to appear different from its competitors, keeping a strong link with health experts, and becoming one of the major body care brand all over the world. Dove started with soaps and then its range of products became ever wider with several liquid soaps, moisturizing creams for all kinds of skins, deodorants and eventually shampoos and hair conditioners. Today, Dove goes beyond its mere image of peace and sweetness and aims at helping every single woman to be aware of their "real beauties", and so to go beyond stereotypes. Thus, in 2005, Dove launched the "Campaign for Real Beauty" in the USA, in Canada and in Europe, showing that there is more than one strict definition of beauty. This campaign has already been rewarded all over Europe.

Extraits

[...] No doubt it wants to make it again for the new products of the brand, the firming products (body lotion, shower gel). Unlike most brands and magazines that praised physical perfection, Dove just used a realistic image of women and validated a first objective: namely to distance itself from the competition and, therefore, to appear on a saturated advertising market.[3] In addition, a lot is at stake because the expense for anti-age products multiplied tenfold within ten years and over 50-year-old women represent of the total consumption today. [...]

[...] Changing mentalities: an analysis of Dove's Campaign for real beauty (2006) Content Introduction I. Presentation of the campaigns A campaign for real beauty? Used Formats and Means II. Why such a campaign? What for? Background Analysis Social and Commercial Goals III. Results : A great success A great commercial success Impact on mentalities IV. Criticisms. Paradox The use of body image Conclusion Bibliography Annex Introduction The brand Dove is part of the English-Dutch group Unilever. It accounts for of Unilever's turnover. [...]

[...] On the contrary, it has helped Dove to sell more products. Conclusion This study of Dove's advertisement campaigns has led us to wonder if a company can change mentalities especially concerning women's body image. Indeed, Dove has created new yet not totally different from what we are used to, and has launched a new fashion, that we have called “Dove's campaign effect”. But is it really a proof that they succeeded in changing mentalities? If this has had such a success, was it not because it was rather fashionable and not revolutionary? [...]

[...] Used Formats and Means This campaign goes far beyond classical ads (billboards, TV and internet). One illustration is the two-billion-euro plurimedia investment that has been made for it. In the first place, there is Dove's “Self Esteem Fund”. Dove discovered that most women, regardless of age or ethnicity, suffered from a low self esteem and it can be a disaster: introversion, withdrawal from social life or waste of potential can be some of the consequences. Because Dove did not want that a more inclusive definition of beauty remained mere wishful thinking, it raised people's awareness by creating the Dove Self Esteem Fund. [...]

[...] What matters is the conclusion of the study: First, a majority of women would like to see the change in the way the media represent beauty. Second, the idea of beauty seems to have been narrowed to physical appearance by the mass media, whereas, at the beginning of the twentieth century, it included moral criteria. Women's answers show that they are aware of these criteria. Still, they compare their beauty to the ideal one represented by the media, which is a source of frustration and which lowers their self esteem. [...]