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But did it move the needle?

Dove Do you ever wonder if Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty" caused a subsequent increase in the sales of Dove branded products?  I wonder about that a lot.  But I'm wondering a little bit less today, based on my reading of this post at Reveries.com:

"You can have extremely relevant information and content but if no one is seeing it, what's the point?" says Unilever's Dove marketing director Kathy O'Brien in a Wall Street Journal piece by Suzanne Vranica (4/10/08). Kathy is explaining why Dove is rolling out its new online community for women, Dove.com, on Microsoft's portal, MSN.com. She hopes that the MSN connection will give the brand "accelerated access" to its target audience. But the larger goal is to do for Dove what its wildly successful, "Campaign for Real Beauty" hasn't yet totally achieved through ads and viral marketing alone -- connect the brand itself to its mission "to promote self-esteem in younger women."

In other words, even though Dove's campaign was the subject of discussion on shows including "Ellen" and "The View," that exposure didn't necessary "incorporate actual Dove items." And even though "tens of millions of people viewed Dove's 'Evolution' video online, "the video wasn't surrounded by any product mentions." As MSN's Gayle Troberman points out: "It's challenging when you put things out on YouTube to engage that consumer with the product messages ... The video provoked debates ... but how do you get the product message in there." The brand also "spent $188 million on ads in the last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence."

So, the hope is that this new site will bridge those gaps on Dove.com with a mix of "entertainment, blogs, advice and advertising." Content includes "Fresh Takes," a Dove-produced mini-series of three-minute episodes starring Alicia Keys, "that follow the life of three young women." Also featured is "advice from a doctor on skin care and even chitchat about how beauty is portrayed in today's popular culture," in many cases with "some type of Dove ad message surrounding the content." Dove.com faces competition from sites like Glam Media and iVillage, as well as "more than one online community aimed at women," such as Capessa, via "Unilever's main rival, Procter & Gamble."

What's your take on this?

Posted April 11, 2008
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