August 15, 2005On the wings of a Dove |
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I've been following the Dove thread for a while now and truth be told, haven't blogged it yet because I've been too excited about it...and wanted my post to be "just right", but then thinking about it, realized that procrastination would be tantemount to the lies, misdirection and bullshit that has come from Madison Avenue for too long now through retouched photography, use of starving beautiful people (AKA models) and all the other falsehoods associated with portraying things not as they really are, but how they would be in Utopia (which when last I checked was not a town in suburbia)
Here's a good piece written on the subject in Slate.
I take my hat off to the folks at Dove for their honest (some might call it risky, but not me) incorporation of real people in their most recent campaign. How novel...use the very people that you would hope would buy your product. Doesn't take a genius to realize the value in migrating away from fooling people and insulting their intelligence to respecting them through authentic messaging.
It's part of a very strong trend which underpins the new consumerism brought about through/by new marketing: "consumers aren't as stupid as they used to be" iow, fool me once, screw you! You don't get a second chance anymore...
P.S. Sales for this campaign in the UK soared a whopping 700% in case you're wondering whether honesty pays off
P.P.S. Even Nike is getting in on the act!
P.P.P.S. Great news for models, inc. You can start eating again.
P.P.P.P.S. Score extra points if you correctly credited the post title with a song by Madness)
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Comments
It would be intersting to find out what else Dove was doing at the time. Too many times I see "ad launched, sales increased 1000%" stories when the real difference was a 300% increase in retail footprint. And who's to say they couldn't have just used graphically touched up, smooth skinned elephants, and got the same result?
Posted by: Paul
The use of "street casting" was a perfect for Dove who needed to relate to its customer base in an authentic manner. Over reached claims are getting old in the cosmetic industry. Does anyone really believe they can look like Andie McDowell if they use the same face products? No. Dove made it believable.
Don't look for this to be a strong fashion trend, however. It's fairly understood in fashion forward industries that sales respond to fantasy. Consumers want to believe they can buy a piece of their ideal. Our pocketbooks don't get excited by seeing someone who looks like me in an Armani Suit. Excitement comes from my fantasy of what I might look like if I buy that suit.
Oh… One more thing: Those women in the Dove commercial are very pretty young women. Ok, they’re not Madison Ave models but certainly not plucked out of the Mall in Pine Bluff, AR during a weekday morning.
Posted by: Bruce DeBoer
