Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty Research Paper

Introduction

Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty has been started in 2004. The primary purpose of the campaign is to promote real images of women in contrast to thin and unrealistic images of models. This campaign shows that advertising is a strong communication medium that has a great impact on the attitudes and tastes, values, and choices of consumers. The campaign is based on visual communication and emotional appeal which influence perception of the message and forces information retrieval. The campaign was launched in England, the USA, and Canada as a response to declining sales caused by a saturated market and increased competition.

The purpose of the campaign

The practical purpose of the campaign is to increase sales and brand awareness. Dove is one of the top players in the body care market. However, Dove has many competitors, and thus it needs to come up with an efficient marketing tool to win a considerable share of the market (Brodbeck and Evans 2007). Even though some people might say that the images on the website are not proper, everybody will remember the company after its Campaign for Real Beauty. Besides, its target audience consists of women, and they will get attracted to the products which are claimed to make them into princesses. Every girl and woman wants to feel hot and beautiful.

The advertising strategy was chosen very carefully because the product was not new and Dove has needed a new approach to impress consumers. The campaign aims to change fashion and create a culture of meaning-affecting behavior of women and their tastes. It creates certain standards which affect priorities and buying patterns of women-consumers (Brodbeck and Evans, 2007). Many teenage girls identify themselves with their peers and ideals created by the media. In contrast, adolescent women identity and compare their self-image with successful business ladies and ideal body images of models. Fashion media has affected all spheres of our life creating special trends and markers which are accepted by the majority of society. Although, fashion became more and more risqué demanding new ways of expression and new extremes to appeal to potential consumers. Dove tries to change these traditional images and roles of women depicting the diversity of body images and ‘curves’ (Following Brachelli, 2005).

The Campaign for Real Beauty is trying to create a view of what beautiful women can enjoy every day. The Dove Company started a fundraiser for their Dove self-esteem fund to help young girls with low self-esteem and they also have collected photographs of real women for their “Million faces album” showcasing the diversity of beauty

The purpose of the campaign is to unveil false body images and help women to realize their beauty. Fashion forms social identity pf women of all ages creating and popularizing ideal body image (Brodbeck and Evans, 2007). Most fashion magazines and TV shows include information about possible services which will help potential clients to improve their appearance: nose, face, breast surgery, etc. Besides commercial purposes, Dove tries to change social images of biddy and a modern woman. From a transitional viewpoint, if a woman (despite her age) does not meet certain standards she/he can be “excluded” from social interaction. Fashion popularizes this idea depicting that ideal body and stylish clothes can make all women happier and even luckier. Social identity forces women to compare their bodies to those they see around them, and researchers (Gronow, 1997) have found that exposure to idealized body images and stylish clothes lowers the satisfaction of women with their attractiveness. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty changes these stereotypes of women, especially young girls and adolescents who are forced to change their appearance to meet criteria established by fashion. To some extent, fashion creates ideal self-images advertising stylish ways of life and depicting ideal body images of all ages (Brodbeck and Evans, 2007). The design of most fashion magazines is aimed to depict the differences between an ugly and ideal body which can be achieved by trendy clothes or plastic surgery (Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, 2007).

The target audience of Dove’s Campaign is women of all ages, classes, and nationalities. The slogan “real women have curves” attracts millions of women around the world promoting realistic images of the body and age differences. The purpose of images is to remind women that they are beautiful and sexy. Vivid images get fixed in people’s minds and always have a major immediate effect on the consumer (Brock et al, 1994). Practice shows that advertisements can have both a major immediate effect and minor effects the influence of which on the potential customers will take a long time. The major immediate effect can occur in the case when the company has something new to say in the advertisement (Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, 2007).

Realistic body images

Using visual images, Dove appeals to the emotions of consumers portraying “people like me” (see Appendix 1,2,3). The media involve TV commercials, the website, local and national press, billboards. All advertisements portray realistic body images, the daily lives of people, their problems, and possible solutions. Dove does not take it for granted that audiences have a high attention level (Brock et al 1994). Researchers underline that while the preceding figures may readily be categorized as symbolic portrayals of emotion, the occurrence of such symbols in social interaction is less apparent. However, one could argue that such basic expressions as smiling and frowning appear in so many contexts and so often that they have become symbols of emotion (Brock et al 1994). About the portrayal of such masking smiles advertising and news, advertisements illustrates a social situation in which such a masking smile might occur. “significant effects were found for the overall advertisement appeal, image appeal, and purchase intentions when there was congruency between consumer sensing/intuiting type and visual imagery across the four product categories tested” (Labarbera et al 1998, p. 33).

Following Wells et al (2005), it is possible to say that Dove uses visual images as a non-linguistic device to draw customers’ attention. It can be explained by the fact that advertising seldom leads to immediate purchase response, advertising’s effects must somehow be mentally stored away if they are to alter the probability of buying at a later time. In this sense, the brand image notion is an early manifestation of a multiplicity of perception, learning, or attitude theories. For instance, based on numerous visual clues (body images) and hints, Dove’s advertisements appeal rationally and emotionally to potential consumers (Brock et al 1994). “Largely intuitive creatives should be sensitized to the fact that when communicating the benefits of a given product or service, the target might consist mostly of sensors and that marketing communications are more effective when tailored to the predominant consumer type” (Labarbera et al, 33).

Realistic body images increase motivational intensity which affects three stages of the choice processes. It affects the first stage by determining the appropriate stopping rule for a brand generation. Very low levels of motivation will cause the consumer to retrieve only the most accessible brands, whereas high levels of motivation will cause the consumer to actively “search” for brands that may be less accessible (Brock et al 1994; Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty 2007). At the second and third stages, the motivational intensity will affect the number of criteria used by the consumer to consider and select brands. Low levels of motivation will favor the use of an overall attitude when it is accessible. In many cases, viewers are impressed more by visual images than by verbal messages or information announced in ads (Stevenson, 2005).

From a psychological point of view, the “unique” effect of Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is explained by a conceptualization of the choice process. Following Lance and Woll (2006), it incorporates the use of previously obtained information including knowledge about brands, political events, their attributes, and attitudes. Second, it allows for the use of memory. In billboard messages, consumers generate some brand information from memory, rather than relying solely on externally available information. Accordingly, the current contents of working memory will cue, and bring to mind other associated information from long-term memory (Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, 2007). “These ads are real attention-getters—everyone’s talking about them. On that level, they’re a smashing success. Also, Dove now owns the “friend of the everywoman” angle” (Stevenson, 2005).

Consumer culture and fashion

In contrast to its competitors, Dove popularizes a particular lifestyle and consumer culture, it persuades the customer to buy their products as symbols of unique consumer culture and fashion. If motivation is high, consumers will attempt to use the most diagnostic information available, even when it takes effort to access it (Lance and Woll, 2006). Billboard advertisements are a good example of visual images which influence consumers’ choice and buying behaviors. This medium allows Dove the construction of persuasive messages that reflect the recipients’ self-concepts. Similarly, to motivational intensity, the opportunity to process information also will act to constrain the brand, attribute, or attitude information used by consumers during choice. Billboards messages are more effective to the extent that they use appeals that are designed to correspond to the self-concepts of the recipients (Brock et al, 1994). Dove uses information and images to impress viewers or remind some pleasant moments of their life. Relevant information will be further processed, whereas irrelevant information will be allowed to “fade” from working memory. This process affects the product choice and priorities of viewers, alter their previous choice and lifestyle. Commercial success came in 2005 when the company generated more than 650 million imprints (Brodbeck and Evans, 2007; Brachelli, 2005).

Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty proves that the success of the product is in many ways pre-destined by the advertising strategy which the company uses. In the modern era, using sex in advertising has become one of the most popular practices for companies. They do no longer need to attract consumers with advertising based on competitive prices or higher quality than their competitors. Instead, they use sex as a peculiar magnet that is going to attract consumers to their stores year after year. Statistical results show that the campaign is very successful: (1) it increases sales of Dove beauty products and new product lines; (2) it creates a dialog, debate, and discussion about the true meaning of beauty; (3) it attracts media; (4) and it promotes the CFRB website. Dove is involved in sponsorship and philanthropic activity. The company established the Dove Self-Esteem Fund and the Program for Aesthetics and Well-Being at Harvard University (Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, 2007, Brodbeck and Evans, 2007).

In its global advertising campaign, Dove pays special attention to publicity and philanthropy. Public relations (press releases, conferences, corporate newsletters, audio-video presentations, and the website) help Dove to inform the general public about the new product line and its benefits. In general, public relations are the marketing communications function that carries out programs designed to earn public understanding and acceptance (Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, 2007, Brodbeck and Evans, 2007). The marketing purpose of public relations activities is to achieve objectives that cannot be achieved by other means or as cheaply by other means. Dove uses public relations and panel discussions (at launch in New York, and later through partnership). In its campaigns, Dove involves such popular photographers as Elena Dorfman, Tierney Gearon, and Emily Shur. Dove supports an online photo gallery “Beyond Compare: Women Photographers on Beauty” (Brodbeck and Evans, 2007).

Conclusion

In sum, Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty proves that the message plays an important role in how it is perceived and interpreted by the end consumer. Despite the company’s emphasis on natural beauty in the promotion and some disapproval, the campaign is a huge success among women of all ages and cultures. Yes, the campaign encouraged natural beauty and a free attitude to life. That is the way of thinking of many young people nowadays. The company only reflects this way of thinking and achieves huge success during it. Dove says that a woman does not have to spend plenty of time near the mirror adjusting everything: she has a natural beauty.

References

1. Brachelli, E. (2005). Dove’s “Real Beauty Campaign” gives public a new insight to real beauty for real women.
2. Brock, T. C., Clark, E. M , Stewart, D. W (1994). Attention, Attitude and Effect in Response to Advertising. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
3. Brodbeck, M., Evans, E. (2007). Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty: Case Study. Web.
4. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty (2007).
5. Gronow J. (1997). The Sociology of Taste. Routledge.
6. Labarbera, P.A., Weingard, P., Yorkston, E.A. (1998): Matching the Message to the Mind: Advertising Imagery and Consumer Processing Styles. Journal of Advertising Research, 38 (6), 29-33.
7. Lance, S., Woll, J. (2006). The Little Blue Book of Advertising: 52 Small Ideas That Can Make a Big Difference. Portfolio Hardcover.
8. Stevenson, S. (2005). When Tush Comes to Dove.
9. Wells, W.P., Mariarty, S., Burnett, J. (2005). Advertising: Principles and Practice. Prentice Hall; 7 edn.

Appendix

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