Major Keys to Social Causes

Authenticity and consistency is paramount for brands to achieve when implementing a social cause as part of its social media campaign. Dove is a great brand to use as an example within this space. Dove launched several strategic campaigns to be the crusader in the cosmetics world of redefining what beauty is for women. The launched several engaging campaigns like the ones below:

It is an amazing story with emotion and a twist, which really helped it gain virality. I think it has done so well because it portrays honest raw emotions and conversations on a topic which is a major concern for women (their target audience). In addition, Dove has presented a very consistent brand image across all social media platforms, on their website and in-store to lend credibility to their cause. This consistency is important as being a champion for a cause can quickly go awry because one small mistake can resulting in the brand losing all its social currency and thus its status as the champion in the public eyes.

Unfortunately, this is somewhat the case of Dove, as its parent company, Unilever, also owns Axe, a Men’s deodorant company, which has a polar opposite perspective of Dove’s social cause on women’s beauty. See below:

This controversy begs the question, “ How could the same company that launched Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, celebrating women’s natural appearance over media stereotypes, be behind the arguably degrading depictions of females in ads for Axe?”. As a result, skeptics in the audience view Unilever and essentially Dove as being hypocritical and patronizing — a way for the company to pander to women for sales while practicing the very evil it preaches against. Nevertheless, I feel it is important that Dove keeps fighting the good fight and keep consistent on brand and message for things within their realm of control.