Both Faces

Dove is internationally well known, a Unilever brand of soap and other personal care products. Before, 2003, they were devising each individual marketing strategy for each country. However, They could not conquer the cultural difference and it was a turning point to change their marketing strategy standardized. Dove was launching advertisement campaign called ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ and it attracted public attention. The strategy is like this.

1. Tick Box Advertisement.

The models in the campaign are not the professional models and consumers were shocked that the company chose a 97 year old women. The advertisement includes the check box to decide the questions, such as “wrinkled?” or “wonderful?”, and consumers could see the result at the same time.

2. Self-Esteem Fund.

They also made a project “Body Talk’, which is a lecture about what the real beauty is, to make young girls have self-confidence about their looks.

1. Online Video.

Dove filmed Evolution, and Onslaught and they uploaded in on Youtube. They were able to obtain advertising effect by this and Evolution received the grand prize at the advertising festival.

This can be good example to alternative for other companies. That is a new way of making advertisement without any sexism, or racism in the advertisement. As the writer of Beauty and the Beast of Advertising states "Growing older is the great taboo", Dove tells us how to think outside of the box and shows the natural beauty. They are using different ways to communicate with consumers.

The old style of advertisement is using a woman who is a white, blond, skinny, poreless, or wrinkleless, and people cannot obtain it. Because consumers have seen the old style of advertisement for a long time, some people may not want to see the new style of advertisement. People who used to the old style scribbled on the Dove poster. It says, “I hate my agent”, and “Fat girls can be corporate shills, too”

I remember that Dove conducted the same campaign and used the same advertisement in Korea in 2005. However, In the present day, their advertisement seems to go back to the old-fashioned style. As writer says in the article of Culture,"The definition of perfection, however, changes with the needs of employers, politicians, and, in the postwar economy that depended on spiraling consumption, advertisers.”, the company change their strategy to satisfy people's view in Korea; they engage the popular beautiful actress to promote the new products. People in US think they are doing positive things for people but it is only for specific targets which is irony.