The newest Dove ad is a 7-minute short film called “Selfie.” While the 2013 word of the year faced lots of criticism and many are encouraging banning the selfie, Dove embraced it as a way of redefining beauty.
The film is similar to Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” in which women focus on their imperfections and later realize that those imperfections make them stand out, and make them beautiful.
In “Selfies,” beauty consultants go to a high school and ask girls to describe what they don’t like about themselves. It actually gets quite sad as you realize that many teen girls have tons of self esteem issues, and are uncomfortable speaking about them. The girls are then asked to take selfies that focus on their perceived imperfections. The selfies are presented in a small gallery, where observers post comments describing how beautiful the girls are. Then, of course, the girls realize they are in fact beautiful.
What makes Dove’s content marketing so engaging is the fact that it all follows one simple rule: it’s not about you. It is about your customers. Dove focuses on a message beyond its products, and that is helping women redefine beauty. Sure, some great-smelling deodorant and body wash can help women with their beauty, but opening conversations regarding the definition of beauty is way more important.
Even better, Dove focuses on its target audience by really making it about them: asking them to take selfies. At this point, the selfie has become such a saturated topic that many people find it annoying and self-serving. But Dove even redefines the selfie by making it a self-discovery tool, not a vain beauty tool. That makes it less about perceived negative vanity (the clothes you are wearing, protein powder or best Bluetooth earbuds) and more about the emotive core of the message.
Do you think Dove’s film speaks well to its target audience? For other great examples, you can look at the Puppy Bowl and a few delightfully strange content campaigns.
