Background

Dove has been involved in a number of activities to support women's self-esteem. With more chores to deal with the pandemic, Japanese mothers are busier than ever and are working harder than ever. Their share of household chores is much higher, but their self-rated scores as mothers are surprisingly low. When Dove asked 500 mothers how they rate themselves as a mother, the average was only 54 points. This is a social problem, and depression among mothers is not uncommon. Dove tried to create a momentum for Japanese women to regain self-affirmation, for themselves and society. For this, we thought that Japanese mothers need time to take care of themselves.

Describe the cultural / social / political climate in your region and the significance of your campaign within this context

In Japan, working together has become the normal, but the burden of housework and childcare remains skewed toward women. The situation is very unequal between men and women. There aren't enough social support system in place, and mothers are working very hard and patiently in a lonely environment, but they are exhausted and have low self-esteem. Dove, who has always believed in the importance of nurturing self-affirmation, attempted to create an opportunity for these women to regain their sense of self. In order to do so, Dove thought that Japanese mothers need time to take care of themselves. Even if they couldn't change the whole society right away, it was very significant that we were able to give mothers who had given up on taking time off the opportunity to realize that it was okay and important to take time off and take care of themselves.

Describe the creative idea

As a relaunch campaign for Dove Moisture Whip, Dove proposed to working mothers, to make their bath-time OFF-time. In Japanese, the word OFURO means Let’s have some OFF-time and is also the same pronunciation for BATH. For Japanese people, bath-time is an important time to refresh one’s mind and reflect on oneself. But with Japanese-style baths, mothers have to take a bath with their children and cannot enjoy bath-time alone. This is why we felt there was a need to offer bath-time alone, as a gift, so that Mothers can care about themselves and regain their self-esteem.

Describe the strategy

The target audience is Japanese mothers who are busy working hard but have low self-esteem. Dove thought they need time to take care of themselves to regain their self-esteem. We announced the campaign on Twitter, which is heavily used by Japanese mothers and then, we received a flood of applications. Hard-working Japanese mothers don't use babysitting services as much as mothers in other countries because they feel guilty, but the catchphrase in Japanese, "MAMA-wo-OFF-ro," really resonated with the target audience. In addition, the experience movies of national child-rearing celebrities, who are very popular among the target audience, also contributed greatly to gaining the sympathy of Japanese mothers.

Describe the execution

・DOVE provides Japanese mothers with the experience of breaking from mommy duties during a relaxing bath alone. Specifically, DOVE provided babysitting services for 4 hours. ・On August 26, 2021, the day known as "Bath Day" in Japan, the campaign began with an announcement on Twitter. Due to the popularity of the first campaign, a second campaign was launched, which lasted until November 25, 2021. ・At the same time, the campaign movie featuring national popular celebrities who raises children was released on Youtube. ・A total of 400 hours of OFF-TIME for Mom was provided to Japanese mothers by Dove.

Describe the results / impact

・Dove market share reached 137.5% of pre-campaign ・The campaign offer received: 10,864 applications /11,777 Tweets ・Earned media value: over 100 million JPY ・Campaign movie views: 3.37 million impressions
 ・And now, 84.8% of Japanese mothers have answered. “If only we had a bath time alone once a week, we would be free from stress. “