Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty – Join the debate!
You-are-fine-the-way-you-look way of marketing and commercial gain is becoming quite the trend amongst cosmetic and beauty businesses. Dove released a new marketing campaign of 2008 – playing less on super models, layers of make up and coca-cola bottled curves and laying more emphasis on “real beauty”, real, normal people posing for the camera without any accessories.
Their posters can be seen all over the world and the campaign invites recipients to join the real beauty debate on their website. Bossting the cause, videos about the distortion of beauty has been posted online (look above). The purpose and aim of the campaign seems honest but let’s not forget it is also a good old marketing strategy, a way for Dove to increase their sales. The Reason Dove is, for you who are unfamiliar with the brand, produces soap and shampoo. In an industry where most players has more than at least 20 different marketed products Dove were experiences a decrease in their sales. Dove is furthermore part of a bigger cosmetic concern and when the time came for the board to decide whether or not to trash the brand, it was decided to give it one last shot. CampaignForRealBeauty is hence the result of a hired advertising agency, a very good one, and the goal to increase Dove’s sales figures. When successfully getting the consumers attention with a new and fresh marketing concept Dove tripled their anual profits. What might seem like an honest attempt by this cosmetic and skin-care company to crack the riddle of real beauty and inner beauty, can be argued to be nothing more than a simple attempt to make some money on other people’s beauty complexes. 
Economic Interests in Making You Feel Good! Although it might feel wrong when these marketing schemes make economic profits on regular people’s desires, dreams and insecurities, in this example Dove has also done more than just putting up some posters. The Campaign for Real Beauty invites not only to an online debate about real beauty but has gone well out of their way in tackling this subject by e.g. starting a self-esteem fund. 
Of course they wouldn’t do it for free, but perhaps this type of marketing and brand building efforts will become an example of how capitalism and humanism can join forces that will gain both parts, financially as well as beauty-building. Commercial Good Will? The final judgement concerning Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty is that a global campaign like this will probably, and hopefully, gain a lot of people and clear their self-image on beauty. The debate is on thanks to dove, or the over-payed genius at the advertising agency, the concept of Real beauty is astep in the right direction and a breeze of fresh air when most competitors remain in the conservative marketing-pit. What do you think about Dove’s real beauty campaign? Join the debate by commenting below 🙂 Age is just a state of mind/The Beast
