Interesting AdAge Article: Why Dove is Lucky to be Known as “The Fat Brand�

I enjoyed reading the article about Dove’s campaign with real women. I have seen those advertisements and also had a classmate present a case studies project on the campaign. Relating to your publics is an important aspect of PR. How many women are size 2s? I know some are, but I enjoy seeing “regular” women in ads. It almost gives me hope that while walking down the street, I could be the next girl on a commercial. I have not seen the Nike ads that I can recall, but I’m sure it is good.

Besides having real women in their ads, Dove pays attention to the way women process advertisements. I am glad someone thought about the way that women interpret data when the ads were designed. When reading this, I envisioned a scene from “What Women Want” when Mel Gibson is in the bathroom trying all of the different products out so that he can figure out how to sell to women.

The seven points listed in the article have depth. As I read them, I thought about how I like to be treated and how I view advertisements. These guidelines hit how I think right on the nail, even though I don’t like to admit that. My favorite guideline was the second one–beware of talking about a “woman’s unique need” because that is so true that we don’t like to be patronized or set apart. There is that sense of independence, but if things are subtley tailored to me (as a woman), I appreciate it. My least favorite was the last one about showing emotion. All to often, I think that emotional ads are overdone–or possibly just shown too often. It can become cliche’ or just funny to me.

I agree; it is nice to see “real� women in advertising. I think Dove has done a nice job developing its campaign to target women of all body types and at all stages of life – without using the “women’s unique needs� approach that highlights differences instead of similarities. As women, we want to feel that we have more in common with the women we see in advertisements than just X chromosomes.

For instance, I especially like the message sent by the Dove “7 Day Challenge.� Its tagline is, “From armpits to underarms in just seven days.� Finally, someone has realized that women don’t just want the security of an antiperspirant and freshness of a deodorant; rather we also want smooth skin under our arms just as much as the rest of our body. And you don’t need a size 2 to send that message.

Also, I’m glad that Martha Barletta listed seven strategies for advertising to women in her article, because more advertisers should be aware of what women want. Her observations are a result of extensive consumer research and serious listening. While reading this article, I, too, envisioned the bathroom scene from “Want Women Want.� I think it is funny that Mel Gibson went to all that trouble when all he really had to do is ask.

I hope many more companies will follow Dove and Nike’s lead in revising their marketing-to-women approaches. A lot can be learned from Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign.

I actually did research on Nike advertising campaigns last semester for my Persuasive Discourse class. It’s about time to see these companies finally catch on to the idea that not all women are a size 2 and nearly 6 feet tall. I am neither a size 2 nor 6 feet tall, so, when I see that model using certain beauty treatments things like weight loss products, it doesn’t exactly appeal to my better senses.

In my research last semester, I found so much information and Nike’s new approach to advertising. They started to break away from the trend of using professional athletes and started to emphasize the average athlete to appeal to the consumers who actually buy the product.

What a concept, huh? Real people want to see other real people using the product. While this whole idea seems long overdue, and obvious to me, I’m glad that companies are finally catching on.

Thanks for the article reference. I commend Dove for being the “fat brand.”

It’s always a scary proposition as a guy to comment on something like this, but here goes.

I’m very surprised that this is the first time a company has decided to run a campaign for women, that features “real” women. It seems like this would have been a no-brainer years ago. Perhaps it’s because until recently, men have been the ones in the positions to make the final decision on a campaign and most men (not me of course) would rather see a size 2 girl. I think this is a brilliant marketing campaign and it has made women feel that Dove really does care about them and in turn, women have rewarded Dove by buying its products. In fact, recently I was persuaded to by one of its products, because someone very close to me feels so strongly about this campaign.

I think this campaign comes across as a breath of fresh air, almost lifting some of the enormous pressure that society puts on women to look “perfect.” It will be interesting to see if more companies jump on board with this idea. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we started seeing “real” women in Victoria’s Secret adds.

What about Nike? I appreciate what everyone sees as Dove’s coup de gras, killing the competition in one fell swoop, but they had a slight advantage.

Martha Barletta’s article congratulates Dove, and admonishes Nike for not being first. Not to argue with a woman who obviously knows what she is talking about, but I think that one thing separates Nike from Dove that affects the success of the ‘real women’ campaigns-the products.

Nike is a brand that makes running shoes, athletic equipment, etc, while Dove makes beauty products…no brainer right? Nike’s target audience is athletically inclined, leading to the need for their spokespersons and advertisements to be a reflection of these women. It would be hard for an overweight spokesperson to sell the latest running shoe, we would prefer to see someone who is in shape (maybe not even unrealistically so).

Dove’s job is easier. A person of any size can be beautiful, have great skin, or fabulous hair. The women in the Dove ads represent people we can relate to, and we are motivated to buy the product. The Nike ads appeal to me more that those from Dove. Nike’s magazine ads don’t even show an entire person, just the specific body part. I can better put myself in that situation, and therefore relate to the message. The Dove ad with all the women in their underwear makes me want to change the channel, or flip to the next page. The Nike ads draw my attention: I read what they say about thunder thighs, and hips and shoulders. More than showing the real than ideal, they have an ad that IS me.

Nike’s website has a feature to show each body part, and how it relates to a real woman.

Women and their bodies. Ouch! This has always been such a sensitive subject to talk or even think about. The Dove and Nike campaigns are just the first step towards what will soon become a national trend in marketing to women. People are going to use the approach that works best, and the unimagined success of both of these campaigns will surely lead many others to follow in their footsteps.

I also think that the Dove campaign is fantastic. But not for the same reasons most others do. It is new, it has never been done, its original and it appeals to millions of average women worldwide. That is why it’s so great.

As a women, the Dove campaign doesn’t particularly appeal to me. I liked Dove just fine before, and I like them just fine now. I didn’t really buy their products before, and I don’t really buy them now. I like seeing all of the beautiful average women in the ads/commercials, but I also like seeing all of the outrageously gorgeous women in traditional ads. Yes, it’s not realistic, but it’s still an ideal that women strive for, whether we admit it or not. We may not be like the women in these traditional ads, but we WANT to be like them, at least on the outside. Who wouldn’t love having the perfect body?

Women do have a long list of things they like to be perceived as; one of the big ones is beautiful and captivating. There is no one set way to do this, as the Dove and Nike campaigns prove.

Martha Barletta’s Seven Strategies for Successful Advertising to Women is something that i never really thought about, but all of it is so true.

Last week, I was skimming through Cosmo and the new Nike ad struck my eye. I loved it. It was the ad about thunder thighs. It made me smile and think WOW that is so true. My friends then showed me all the other women body parts Nike described. I think it was great for a big company to say how most women do not have that perfect body.

Like Nikki, I have never really been a Dove buyer. I think it is great for some companies to advertise their products by using average size people, but for some its better to use the size 0.

I think its great for Dove to take the step to use the average size woman and “kudos” to them because obviously its working.

I agree with Justin in saying that I am surprised that this is the first of this type of campaign. It just seems so common sense but I guess like they say “sex sells.� Although I really like and agree with the Dove and Nike campaigns I do know that some women no matter what their size would buy a product. They would buy it because the model in the ad was hot, happy and skinny and that’s everything they want and they feel in buying the product they could just maybe get a little closer to achieving just that.

However, with the average women size being 12 these new “real women� campaigns are perfect. The typical women can now feel more like she is actually an average woman. Because most people forget that the average women is size 12 because of the size 2 models that we see everywhere.

In reading Martha Barletta’s thoughts on the Dove campaign I ran across something that interested me. “A woman is captivated by the person using the product.� I thought about that and decided that with the new campaign the women now feel they are at the same level as the “average� women in the ad. I think that tactic gives women hope and more confidence.

After reading Erin’s comment I checked out the Nike website and found it very intriguing. They used average looking women to talk about each body part and a positive thought about that part that they used to be self conscience about. I thought that Nike choose a positive way to sell their product by making people feel more confident about their body.

I am sure we are going to see more and more Ad campaigns like these. However, unlike Justin I don’t know if the world is quite ready for Victoria’s Secret to use “real women� as models.

I like the new Dove and Nike ads. Some women pay a lot of attention to ads. How they look, what they are saying and how they can relate to them. Having normal women in these ads is a great marketing strategy, and could attract more attention than your typical everyday ad. Dove and Nike are appealing to a variety of women on all levels.

I personally love Dove products, so the ads don’t really make a difference to me. However, I don’t purchase Nike products on a regular basis, so their ads could have more of an influence. I agree that Nike did a good job of focusing on self-confidence issues in their ads, and targeting the ads to what women are thinking.

I believe that some ads, such as high fashion ads, are better off having size 0 models. That’s what they represent and that’s what is considered beauty to that particular industry. Women look at those ads and want to look like the models. It would not be smart for Victoria’s Secret to have this type of campaign because the appeal of Victoria’s Secret is sexy models that wear beautiful lingerie. And we all want to look like them. Dove and Nike ads are different. They will benefit more by relating to the average women. Both have done a good job, and I believe other companies will follow.

I think right off that it is obvious that both Dove and Nike accomplished their mission… Generate interest in their product, create an image that shows “reality” and get people talking. The last is the most successful or we wouldn’t be discussing it right now.

These two companies stepped up to the plate and accepted the fact that women don’t just want to be shown images of what they could possibly be if they used a product, they want to know what they look like now while using the product. The whole idea of the Olay campaign to “love the skin your in” comes to mind. Women are beginning to embrace the idea that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and that it isn’t always dictated by the ad campaigns of different companies.

Granted women do like to imagine ourselves with the perfect figure, hair, nails, etc. but realistically do we need to be shown women who remind us we are “other than perfect” just to purchase products. I Think the idea of making me feel like this product will make me feel beautiful, no matter what I look like now, is so much more creative and “captivating” than looking at a size 2 model any day. (I know I’ll never be a size two, even on my best day, so why would I buy a product that made me feel like that was how I had to look?)

Kudos to both companies for stepping over the barrier that was once in place making the discussion of a “real” woman’s size taboo. I applaud the effort and I hope that others follow suit and encourage young woman that it’s okay to be who you are as long as you are happy and feel beautiful.

(I will say that I think Natalie is right in saying that the world might not be ready for the “average” model in their ads. Lingerie is still one area that women want to imagine we look amazing regardless of reality! If I think I am going to look like a Victoria secret model by putting on their lingerie all the better for me!)

I think both Dove and Nike have hit the nail on the head with their respective campaigns. I am drawn to both advertisements and have noticed myself paying more attention to those campaigns than I have to any other cookie-cutter ad with a beautiful, thin woman. Even though ads with the size 0 model does make products sell and are sometimes more effective than ads with real looking women on them, for companies like Dove and Nike, real women should be used. Dove and Nike are both doing incredible jobs of targeting a mass number of women.

Although I believe both companies are doing a great job of targeting women with “real beauty”, I sometimes feel like Dove’s campaign is condescending to women who happen to be smaller. In most of their ads, they show women who are overweight. Those women do represent the majority of women in the United States, however, Dove neglects to represent women of smaller sizes.

Nike’s campaign is one I’m especially drawn to and look forward to seeing in magazines. I think their idea of taking a picture of what would be perceived as a woman’s flaw and then putting a caption next to the photo explaining how the woman loves that part of her body. It is very uplifting and tells women of all ages to embrace and love their quirks and flaws.

I’m glad you brought these campaigns up for discussion and I hope that many more companies follow suit and target women with “real beauty” in a creative way as Dove and Nike have done.

Two years ago, I wrote a speech about why the definition of beauty in the world needed to change. I conducted research on this topic, and a lot of information I found was from the “Dove Study on Beauty.” This particular study was conducted in 2004 by the Dove Institute and surveyed 3,200 women in 10 different countries. The results of this study played a role in the development of the new Dove campaign which showcases “real” women in its ads.
According to my research on the study, I feel the main (and most upsetting) statistic discovered through the survey, was only 2 out of 10 women consider themselves to be beautiful. My first thought was, how could this be true?
Then I thought about the media bombardment of size zero models and celebrities. I feel the overexposure of these stick thin women in magazines, television and movies has shown the world there is only one way to be beautiful. That is, you are only beautiful if you are thin.
Recently, it seems many celebrities are admitting to having developed eating disorders to keep up to par with the other models and socialites in Hollywood. So how do real women, the majority of women, keep up?
I feel Dove should be congratulated for taking the risk of thinking differently about the way women are portrayed in the media. They have shown to be a company strong enough to take a stand against the current ideals of women displayed in advertisements, and show the world what women really look like.