The Campaign

Dove is a global brand that stands for real beauty and real care. The brand’s cornerstone is its social mission of making real women realize their own beauty potential. While in developed countries like US and UK, the idea of real beauty has already been prevalent; in the Philippines it is believed that only 7% of Filipinas think that they are beautiful. This is a result of numerous advertising that shaped how beauty is seen by Filipinas – unnaturally fair skin, ultra-fixed shiny straight hair, and artificial petite frame. As a result, Dove proactively decided to intensify its Real Beauty campaign by creating a platform where the country’s key women influencers unite to become ambassadors of the advocacy and where real women can converse and rethink the way beauty is defined by society. In 2014, Dove launched the first ever Dove Summit, a two-day experiential event with the intent of reconnecting press and key influencers with the brand’s advocacy while creating conversations online to ignite a change of beauty mindset. Dove took 100 key influencers to a journey of rediscovering their Real Beauty through thought-provoking talks, first-ever unglamored no make-up beauty shoot, and Real Care pavilions where they experienced how Dove products enhance one’s beauty without altering any of her natural assets. While this was happening, we conducted the first-ever Digital Roadblock to help spread the advocacy to millions of real women. The country’s 8 top visited sites gave live updates of the event and sparked Real Beauty conversations online.

The Brief

Given the result of the study conducted among Filipina women, the brand's goal was to change that alarming statistic and help empower these women to love themselves. And the first step in achieving such was to engage 100 key personalities, namely the media, who can be an engine for influencing other people with the brand’s message and turn them into advocates of Dove’s real beauty proposition. In doing so, the brand had to determine a venue to reconnect with the media and engage them in a more meaningful and personal way. This was achieved through the first ever Dove Summit.

Results

PR 100% Media guest attendance from top publications and tier 1 beauty and fashion bloggers 80% write-up from media attendees 500% Return on Investment with PhP 15,704,747 worth of earned advertising value 23 no of pages in newspaper and magazines 31 features on online magazines 29 blog posts TV Php 1,000,000 worth of earned TV Ad Value Multiple segments on top TV stations in the country Attendance of tv hosts and personalities from all major FreeTV and cable networks Digital The First-Ever Digital Roadblock in top 8 female websites Record Breaking 150,000,000 Digital Impressions in 2 days - about the real beauty advocacy (no celebrities, no other news) Business Results • Dove Hair reached its highest share in April 2014 (12%) and May 2014 (12.1%) that’s double the Hair Con business of Pantene in the Philippines • Dove Skin reached its highest share in April 2014 (4.4%), stopping Olay’s growth.

Execution

Dove invited 100 media personalities to take part in the journey to real beauty and real care. On day, guests remove their makeup, followed by an intimate discussion on society’s perception about beauty and how only 7% of Filipinas think they are beautiful. It was then stated that Dove’s wants to change this starting with the guests. To make a bolder stand on real beauty, a no make-up, photo shoot followed - something the press was not used to. The day ended with an emotional dinner where Dove surprised them with videos from their loved ones saying why they think each is beautiful. On day two media got to experience what real care means from Dove through a tour of different pavilions themed on the three categories. Simultaneously, women across the country joined the discussion and conversations through the live updates and forums from the top 8 women websites.

The Situation

Dove conducted a recent study to understand the way Filipina women see themselves. The results were startling because only 7% of Filipinas think they are beautiful. And even more so, in a society where beauty pageants thrive, fairer skin and slimmer waistlines meant being beautiful and socially accepted, Dove felt it necessary to change the statistic and help Filipina women realize they are beautiful. It became part of Dove’s mission to show them that beauty is not defined by the parameters set by society or pop culture, but rather, beauty is ultimately about loving yourself.

The Strategy

Through the first ever Dove Summit, the brand aimed its efforts to reintroduce Dove’s brand mission of Real Beauty to Filipinas. A 2-pronged strategy was necessary to achieving this. Dove needed to first reinforce their proposition on real beauty as the focus for day one of the summit. This was done by defining what beauty is and empowering them to show and be proud of their real beauty. Day two focused on establishing the message that their beauty deserves real care that only Dove gives. The women got to experience what real care meant for their skin, underarms and hair through superior technology - Dove Body Wash enables women to look and feel good in their own skin, Dove Deo focused empowers women to be confident enough to raise their underarms, and Dove Hair focused helps women look and feel beautiful with damage-free hair.