Insight:
The social structure in which individuals are embedded contributes profoundly to how one think
and act. Capitalism has encourage a set of traits to be expected of men and women, who are
both presumed to be fundamentally different. Due to social factors, masculinity has been widely
perceived as men being inarticulate, aggressive and rational. Men are then inevitably pressured
to be the expectations society holds for them.
Dove Men Plus Care seeks to break such repressive stigma through depicting the real value of
masculinity. Masculinity can be illustrated by simply being caring, loving and understanding. As
researched by Uniliever, men themselves are unable to relate how the media has been portraying
the definition of masculinity. Indeed it is a male dominant society, but that doesn’t entail
superiority to the whole male community. Alas, only the alpha male reaps off benefits to such
absurdity.
The team aims to break the stigma of masculinity the general public have in mind through
showing the subtle affectionate ways of how men care, simultaneously, slowly changing the
general public’s expectations of men.
Big Idea:
Dove Men Plus Care believes masculinity doesn’t equate being rough, physically fit or
unemotional, but rather masculinity can be caring, or empathetic. With the ups and downs of a
man’s life, error brain not working anymore
Tagline:
Caring doesn’t make you any less of a man.
Execution:
For more on concept and execution, you can read more about the campaign which was Campaign
Magazine’s campaign of the year for 2013. The 4Cs are applied as follows:
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Coherence. From print ads and TV commercials to interactive games that allow you to throw
a frisbee from your smartphone to the cat on your PC and or sending dog bombs to your
friends, all communications adhere to the simple central premise – to take life by the scruff
and make the most of opportunities.
Consistency. Once again the strong central premise allowed comms across a series
platforms to adhere to key points. TV advertising slots drove viewers
to bemoredog.com where quizzes a quiz determine how dog they were and then share the
results through social channels. The aided reach and engagement and helped the launch ad
achieve 385,000 YouTube views in the first 48 hours.
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Continuity. While the campaign changed over time the strong central premise and it’s
application across platforms allowed long-term continuity. In fact, the creative was used as a
basis for a £7million above the line campaign to launch 02’s revamped Priority app.
Complimentary. The considered interaction of communications across platforms allowed a
momentum to grow and helped the campaign gain a wider audience through social media
and sharing.
Coherence. The fact that Small Business Saturday is now part of the US consciousness and
gaining support in other markets is due in large part to the simplicity of its message, and the
fact that the majority of people mourn the demise of small retailers on Main Street USA. Or
High Street Great Britain. Or la Rue Principale de France.
Consistency. The simplicity of this message enabled American Express to create marketing
collateral for small businesses, print advertising, Facebook apps, You Tube explainer videos
and Google Maps listings that sand from the same hymn-sheet.
Continuity. Once again, the simple message and the use of social channels (You Tube,
Twitter and Facebook) as a central hub for the majority of campaign activity meant that
communications remained consistent on both style, message and desired action.
Complimentary. Its use of Facebook as a ‘hub and amplifier’ was integrated with Twitter
interactions that allowed customers to talk about their own favourite businesses and for
businesses to publicise their participation.
Effectiveness. It won a host of awards. It was made an official ‘day’ by the US Senate. Even
Barack Obama tweeted his support. And it is now rolling out to countries worldwide.