A few weeks ago in one of my marketing classes, we explored the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign and how it served as an example of the shift in the marketing world from functional to emotional brand positioning. I’ve loved learning about the purpose behind companies and the impact that the development of a “Master Brand” can have on both the company and society. As for the Real Beauty campaign, Dove’s goal was to inspire woman of all ages, but especially young girls, to feel beautiful and confident as they are.
Media has ingrained this idea of beauty in girls’ minds, and Dove wanted to break that unrealistic expectation. Dove wanted its consumers to use their products because they love themselves and want to take care of themselves, rather than change or improve something about themselves. In other words, ladies, stop trying to achieve beauty and realize you’re already beautiful! The campaign has been extremely successful.
Recently, Axe, a sister brand to Dove, released a new commercial to address this same issue only for men. Recent research has shown that men are facing lower self-esteem, just like women were when Dove launched their “Real Beauty” campaign, as a result of unrealistic depictions of beauty/attractiveness/whatever you want to call it… The things that are supposed to make men feel confident. Axe’s commercial for their master brand, “Find Your Magic,” remains consistent with their brand equity – targeting young men through sex appeal – while taking a stand on an issue that should resonate even deeper with consumers.
The message was clear to me: guys, your confidence shouldn’t come from having abs or a ripped body (the usual images used to convince men to buy a product). Because success and confidence have been associated with this certain body type for so long, companies want to associate their products with these same things so that their products are more attractive to consumers. Axe’s commercial focuses instead on inner beauty by encouraging men to find something about themselves to love instead of aspiring to get abs or anything else that society has tried to tell them they need. (Click the link below to go watch the commercial!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzTSE6kcLwY
“Who needs a six pack when you’ve got the nose… The suit… The moves… The fire… Who needs some other thing when you’ve got your thing? Now work on it.”
I honestly really enjoyed the commercial and thought it was a huge step in the right direction! It was intriguing to me, though, the reactions of my classmates.
A slightly touchy topic came up… There were no “fat guys” in the commercial… In other words, not all men were represented in this commercial… “So fat guys can’t be confident?” someone challenged. You could feel the tension in the room. No one really knew what to say.
It was clear to me that the guys that didn’t like the commercial weren’t getting the point. It was going right over their heads. They were still too focused on image! Dove did a great job of encouraging women to love how they looked. But I thought Axe brilliantly took this idea a step further by encouraging men to love who they are, placing an emphasis on talents, personalities, and things even deeper than looks.
If you’re “fat,” do you still deserve to feel beautiful?? YES! Absolutely, yes! And I love that more and more people are learning to love their bodies and embrace their imperfections. But why are we finding our identity in these things? Your weight, your skin color, and your appearance don’t define you. I agree we should be celebrating our uniquenesses and feeling beautiful because of them, but why should we stop with our outward uniquenesses?
Let’s dig a little deeper, and celebrate our inner qualities, too.
