Dove is more than soap. Dove has built its brand and products around skin care and the beauty industry. Over the past decade, their focus has shifted from cleansing to self-image targeting audiences of all ages. Why? The beauty industry focuses on perfect looking people. We feel the pressure of society to look a certain way which causes a great deal of anxiety. Dove started a campaign targeting girls because low body confidence and anxieties keep younger people from being their best selves.
Dove’s Self Esteem Project is a great example of a brand that energizes the groundswell by having a conversation with mothers, teachers, children, and youth leaders. This marketing tactic transformed Dove’s original brand and evolved it into something that resonates in today’s complex world. Adweek researches thousands of brands and praises Dove for doing an amazing job. Through transparent and genuine storytelling, asking questions, and providing useful resources, Dove has built a robust and strong social media community. Dove also targets young girls, which is a genius marketing strategy, because they will become part of their loyal consumer-base when they become teens and adults.
Dove’s Self Esteem Project was also recently recognized as one of the “Top 30 Brands with an Excellent Social Media Strategy,” by Econsultancy. Talking with groundswell versus shouting at them encourages women of all ages to join in the conversation and share their stories through comments, videos, and selfies. It empowers every woman to see their own individual beauty.
We learned that one of the three techniques for energizing enthusiasts is creating a community through social media. People can openly comment on their products by giving them reviews and honest feedback using word of mouth marketing. There are so many beauty products out there so hearing consumers’ honest and genuine feedback with their product reviews influences our decision to try something new. Especially when the people giving the feedback are people like you and me.
As Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff advised, you should only dive into the community groundswell if you have enough resources to manage the community and engage with them. As we delve into Dove’s social media community, you will notice that not every story, video, or post is well-received. Some of the critics and conversationalists have viewed the campaigns as racist. Race is a very sensitive subject, so it relies on the right person to manage and engage with their community in a genuine manner, as well as asking for forgiveness at times.
Beauty is a state of mind. Dove creates real products for real women to help them feel good about themselves.
"For more than 10 years, we’ve been helping parents, mentors, teachers, and youth leaders deliver self-esteem education that’s reached more than 20 million young people so far. Join us to help reach even more.”
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Good job Tara. I like your post.
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