DOVE
REDEFINING
BEAUTY
ported that only 2 percent of the
women interviewed considered
themselves beautiful, the executives at Dove saw an opportunity.
As they moved beyond the bar of
soap and introduced other products such as shampoo and body
wash, could they also start a conversation about beauty? Would a
campaign that tapped into what
women were thinking and feeling
help Dove become more relevant
— and more profitable?
Dove’s first steps in the Campaign For Real Beauty included
“Tick Box” billboards, which
debuted in Canada and spread
across the United States and
United Kingdom. The outdoor
HUFFINGTON
02.09.14
How did a brand associated
with a plain white bar of soap
get men and women worldwide
to think about the narrow
definitions of female beauty?
billboards featured images of
women with two tick-box options
next to them such as “fat or fit?”
and “grey or gorgeous?”
Passersby could text their vote
to a listed number, and the percentages appeared next to the
image on the billboard. The campaign led 1.5 million visitors to the
Campaign for Real Beauty website, alerting Dove that it was on
the right track — this was a topic
women wanted to talk about.
One of Dove’s
“Tick Box”
billboards.