Campaign Summary

Dove took on the harmful effects of a beauty filter popular on social media.

Strategy

Objective

The Bold Glamour filter used one beauty standard to airbrush a TikTok user's face so much that some called for it to be illegal due to its potential effect on mental health. Thanks to AI, Bold Glamour maintained the effect even with a hand in front of a user's face. This feature made it impossible to tell if someone was using the filter. While some pointed out the potential harmful side effects to young girls, many influencers and everyday women used and shared the filter widely.

As the creator of the No Digital Distortion movement and Dove Self Esteem Project, Dove needed to respond. And its media response needed to be natural to the platform, using influencers to reach millions.

Context

In 2021, Dove commissioned research to understand the impact of digital image distortion such as filters and face-tuning apps.

Dove's research found that:

• 80 percent of girls said they had already applied a filter or used a retouching app to change the way they looked in their photos by age 13.
• 80 percent said they compared the way they looked with others on social media.
• Girls who distort their photos are more likely to have low body-esteem (48 percent) compared to those that don't distort their photos at all (28 percent).

Target Audience

Thousands used the Bold Glamour filter, reaching millions in a few days after launch, and these potential victims of its harmful effects were the campaign's target audience.

Creative and Media Strategy

Dove developed a simple, replicable call to action that made it as easy as a dance challenge or reaction prompt for TikTok users to participate. For a platform that relies on front-facing activity such as dance challenges and comedy, turning your back would be thumb-stopping.

Execution/Use of Media

Since influencers drove Bold Glamour usage, Dove needed influencers to turn the tide. Yet, the rapid response had to gain the support of average users to achieve scale and influence the influencers. It also required a bit of bravery. Dove and its partner influencers were taking a stand against a filter many were using, most unaware of the harm it could create. Thus, Dove targeted partnerships with influencers who worked with Dove and were committed to supporting Dove's No Digital Distortion campaign.

Within 72 hours of Bold Glamour going viral, Dove asked TikTok to #TurnYourBack to digital distortion.

The execution used 68 influencer partners to shift the conversation many influencers drove.

Actor Gabrielle Union's video post showed her using Bold Glamour, talking about how it made her feel and then turning her back. An easily replicable format that allowed every user — influencer or otherwise — to participate and drive the counter-trend.

Where available, partner influencers used a localized stat to drive home the message. This approach highlighted the prominence of digital distortion among girls and the impact on self-esteem.

Earned media outreach and paid online and out-of-home media targeting women and girls in Dove's key markets (the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, and South Africa) supported the launch.

To top it off, Union literally "turned her back" on the world-famous Vanity Fair Oscars Party red carpet.

Business Impact

With more than two decades of campaigning, Dove is well known by the public as a champion of real beauty. Its stated mission is to redefine beauty standards and help everyone experience beauty and body image positively. As part of that mission, Dove created the No Digital Distortion campaign, discouraging harmful photo retouching. It also used the Dove Self Esteem Project to arm girls and their parents with the tools to combat the ill effects of social media.

Dove's multi-channel campaign — including online, out-of-home, and print — kicked off with 68 influencers posting #TurnYourBack within days of Bold Glamour going viral. Their posts garnered 54 million video views and over 567,000 engagements, with an 83 percent positive sentiment rate.

#TurnYourBack reached over one billion from 174 pieces of earned coverage including Women's Health, WWD, PopSugar, and Vanity Fair Italia. Seventy-one percent of these pieces included Dove in the title and 100 pieces included at least one key campaign message.

The campaign also drove leading influencer agency Gleam to condemn the Bold Glamour filter and update its influencer editing policies.

Finally, #TurnYourBack strengthened Dove's leadership as an advocate for real beauty and self-esteem, which increased brand consideration and purchase intent in the U.K. and U.S.