Dove Campaign for Real Beauty

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is a worldwide marketing campaign launched by Unilever in 2004 that includes advertisements, video, workshops, sleepover events and the publication of a book and the production of a play. The aim of the campaign is to celebrate the natural physical variation embodied by all women and inspire them to have the confidence to be comfortable with themselves. Dove's partners in the effort include such marketing and communications agencies as Ogilvy & Mather, Edelman Public Relations, and Harbinger Communications (in Canada) along with other specialized consultants. Part of the overall project was the "Evolution" campaign.

The Dove Real Beauty campaign was conceived in 2004 during a 3-year creative strategic research effort, conducted in partnership with three universities in four cities around the world, led by Joah Santos. The creative was conceived by Ogilvy & Mather Düsseldorf and London. The research created a new advertising strategy, which Joah Santos later named "mission strategy". The new strategy led to all top 5 Campaigns of the Century, as rated by AdAge. The strategy discarded the brand essence ladder typically used by Unilever and called for a mission strategy "To make women feel comfortable in the skin they are in, to create a world where beauty is a source of confidence and not anxiety." All campaigns for Dove Real Beauty need then to follow the mission set forth, each with their own insight. The initial campaign insight/tension was an indication that only 2% of women consider themselves beautiful. It was created by Ogilvy & Mather Düsseldorf and London.

The first stage of the campaign centered on a series of billboard advertisements, initially put up in Germany and United Kingdom, and later worldwide. The spots showcased photographs of regular women (in place of professional models), taken by noted portrait photographer Rankin. The ads invited passers-by to vote on whether a particular model was, for example, "Fat or Fab" or "Wrinkled or Wonderful", with the results of the votes dynamically updated and displayed on the billboard itself. Accompanying the billboard advertisements was the publication of the "Dove Report", a corporate study which Unilever intended to "[create] a new definition of beauty [which] will free women from self-doubt and encourage them to embrace their real beauty."

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