Analysis of Doves Real Beauty Sketches campaign - Essay Example

?Analysis of Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches Campaign In April Dove launched its Real Beauty Sketches campaign in the form of a YouTube video. The video showed a sketch artist drawing portraits of ordinary women based on their own descriptions. The artist then drew sketches of the same women as described by a third person. The second set of portraits were more beautiful than the first ones. The video became extremely popular in social media because it revealed that women were more critical of their beauty than were others. While the campaign received widespread praise, some also criticized it for making beauty a central part of women’s self-identity and self-esteem. The following analysis discusses the marketing concepts at work in these praises and criticisms. Social Media Marketing The video was viewed more than 14 million times within a week of its launch (Dan, 2013). This level of reach is a testament to the growth of online and social media marketing. Social media marketing through platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube empowers consumers by allowing them to share and comment on the marketing message. According to Tuten (2008), social media helps to impart a personality to brands which helps to differentiate a brand from others. Shareability of marketing content has been facilitated by the integration of various platforms. Such integration has been achievable because of the Web 2.0 technology (Zarrella, 2010). Evans (2010) explains that marketing through social media creates a deeper sense of engagement with the consumer and develop a two-way relationship with the brand. For instance, Dan (2013) states that he was alerted about the video through his Facebook page. This can also be related with viral marketing through which content reaches a worldwide audience as viewers share it with members of their social networks. Media Planning The choice of platform also reflects the importance of effective media planning by which Dove was able to ensure that the campaign was rolled out to reach the target audiences around the world. According to Funk (2012), YouTube is the most appropriate brand for visual brands such as fashion and lifestyle brand. According to this view, Dove made an appropriate choice of media platform. Secondly, Kelley and Jugenheimer (2008) argue that ethnic diversity and geography impact media planning decisions. This supports the initial launch of the campaign in English speaking countries. Role of Market Research Dan (2013) also reveals that the campaign was based on market research findings, thus helping to illustrate the importance of reliable market research for successful marketing campaigns, particularly in international markets (Craig and Douglas, 2005). According to the research used by Dove, only 4 percent of women believe they are beautiful. Dove uses this research to reach out to the 96 percent of women and convince them that they are beautiful. Emotional Branding Another aspect of the campaign is the emotional nature of the content. Gobe (2013) explains that effective consumer interaction is based on feelings and senses. The Dove campaign explores the insecurity women experience when it comes to physical beauty. Travis (2000) explains that greater trust between the brand and consumer is created through emotional branding. The campaign also shows how the looking-glass theory works by showing how women view themselves critically in response to societal pressures and norms (Boone and Kurtz, 2013). The emotional impact is further heightened by the use of testimonial advertising where the women share their thoughts and feelings with the viewer, where the spokesperson adds authenticity to the advocacy role (O’ Guinn, Allen and Semenik, 2009). Perception and Self-Reflection Perception and self-reflection play an important part in consumers’ interpretation of their behaviours (Koekemoer, 2004). The campaign shows how women perceive themselves in terms of beauty. The campaign attempts to promote the concept of real beauty by showing that women are more beautiful than they think. The campaign also shows the women reflecting on the difference between the two portraits and are apparently moved by this revelation. However, as Dan (2013) argues, the campaign eventually centers round beauty being the determining factor of women’s feelings of self-competence and self-sufficiency. By selecting mostly fair, young, and thin women, the campaign fails to show diversity. However, according to Burgos and Mubulade (2011), diversity should be reflected on several aspects such as profession, age, and not just ethnicity. On this basis, the campaign is effective because it does not target a particular ethnic group. The campaign adopts the position that Dove can make women feel adequate and positive about their beauty. According to Martinez (2012), brands that become associated with positive emotions tend to perform better in the market. Such emotional branding adds to the persuasive appeal of the campaign and invites the consumer to engage with the campaign through feelings more than thinking. In this way, the brand becomes a tool for reinforcing the consumer’s self-esteem and makes them feel good about themselves. According to MacInnis, Park and Priester (2009), brands enable consumers to engage in impression management. The brand thus moves beyond being a product and becomes an extension of the consumer’s personality. The Dove campaign succeeds in doing so by addressing the deep rooted anxieties most women experience relating to their beauty. Dan’s (2013) sole criticism against the Dove campaign is that it perpetuates the conventional belief that women are defined by their beauty. As opposed to promoting a healthier attitude towards women’s self-perception, the campaign conveys the idea that beauty determined women’s success n their various roles. However, the success of the brand is indicative of the fact that the values in the Dove campaign have resonated with the values of the consumer (de Mooij, 2013). Conclusion The Dove campaign has been one of the most successful social media campaigns and has generated the buzz which the brand managers had hoped for. The success of the campaign can be attributed mainly to the effective social media strategy and the emotional content created by the marketers. The YouTube campaign was not only able to reach millions of viewers but it also left a deep impression on many of them, which shows the growing relevance of social media marketing for brand managers. References Boone, L. E., and Kurtz, D. L., 2013. Contemporary marketing, 15th ed. Cengage Learning. Burgos, D., and Mubulade, O., 2011. Marketing to the new majority. Palgrave Macmillan. Craig, C. S. and Douglas, S. P., 2005. International marketing research, 3rd ed. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Dan, A., 2013. Dove’s New Video is a beauty, but is it a bit skin deep. Forbes [online] Available at: < http://www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2013/04/21/doves-new-video-is-a-beauty-but-is-it-a-bit-skin-deep/> [Accessed 2 December 2013]. De Mooij, M., 2013. Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes, 4th ed. New York: Sage Publications. Evans, D., 2010. Social media marketing: The next generation of business engagement. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, Inc. Funk, P., 2012. Advanced social media marketing. Apress. Gobe, M., 2013. Emotional branding. Allworth Press. Kelley, L. D., and Jugenheimer, D. W., 2008. Advertising Media Planning, 2nd ed. New York: M. E. Sharpe Inc. Koekemoer, L., 2004. Marketing communications. Lansdowne: Juta and Co. Ltd. MacInnis, D. J., Park, C. W., and Priester, J. R., 2009. Handbook of brand relationships. New York: Society for Consumer Psychology. Martinez, P., 2012. The consumer mind: Brand perception and the implications for marketers. London: Kogan Page Limited. O’ Guinn, T. C., Allen, C. T., and Semenik, R. J., 2009. Advertising and integrated brand promotion. Cengage Learning. Travis, D., 2000. Emotional branding. Prima Venture. Tuten, T. L., 2008. Advertising 2.0. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. Zarrella, D., 2010. The social media marketing book. Sebastopol: O’Reilly Media. Read More