Davis ThinkingWe recently voiced optimism that the Super Bowl launch of Dove's Men+Care line would challenge the alpha male ad genre, just as its revolutionary Real Beauty spot from Super Bowl XL confronted unhealthy female beauty standards. On Sunday, our optimism swirled its sad little way down the drain.
Legendary television producer Norman Lear often said it was best to start the story "in the middle." That's where the truth of the narrative is, and the theory held for Super Bowl XLIV. Smack in the middle of a confused and confusing collection of ads was The Who, an embarrassing half-time show of old white men singing of "pinball wizards" in the age of connected gaming, and claiming some distant insight into the "teenage wasteland" of a generation to which they do not belong. Yet, they were entirely relevant context for the general fiasco of this year's ads, asking: "Tell me who are you?" With some notable exceptions, advertisers seemed to have no idea who they were this year, nor who their customers might be.
First, Hardee's showed you its B-Hole. Then, Bud Light Lime gave it to you In the Can. Now Axe, with all the class and finesse we've come to expect from the brand, wants to Clean Your Balls. On the surface, this seems like nothing more than your typical nether regions marketing. But look under the hood, and Axe's down under approach has more in common with early marital aid advertising than beer and fast food.
One of my earliest childhood memories is shuffling into my parents’ tiny bathroom at daybreak, mirrors fogged over with shower steam, to watch my father shave. He frequently ended this morning ritual by depositing a thick dollop of lemon-lime Barbasol on my nose.
The new fat-blasting wonder drug, alli, is terrifying. I’m talking “Poltergeist” clown terrifying. The product poses some unique marketing challenges, to say the least.
The truth is I have to give the “Truth” campaign credit for attempting to speak the language of the IM generation. But “Whudafxup” with the double standard?
This week, Unilever announced a company-wide initiative to ban size zero models from appearing in advertising for any of its products. The company says it “believes in a healthy balanced diet and that both men and women have the right to feel comfortable with their bodies and not suffer from lack of self-esteem brought on by images of excessive slimness."
When Unilever first announced it was launching its new Dove Men + Care line with a commercial during Super Bowl XLIV, industry watchers questioned whether making a costly, 30-second ad buy was the right strategy. It seems the move has paid off for Dove, at least, according to initial ad buzz results. Prior to CBS’ broadcast of the Super Bowl, three of the most popular terms associated with Dove were “soap,” “beauty” and “deodorant.” But in the 24 hours following the game, the Dove spot, via Ogilvy & Mather, started generating terms like “Super Bowl,” “ad” and “men," per Zeta Interactive, a New York City-based digital and interactive marketing agency.
Brette Borow is the President and Founder of Girls Guide To, the “ladies only” guide to life, and spends most of her days engaging with the community’s over 140,000 members. There are over 56 million women using Facebook in the United States, and for marketers this means one very important thing –- if you have a brand, product or company that targets women, Facebook is the place to be.
According to the Google Keyword Tool,there were 7.5 million broad match searches on the term ‘soap’ in September. Granted that some of the searches are related to “soap operas” rather than cleansing soaps, there are still quite a few people searching for the term. CPG companies are fueling this growth in search with increased investment in online advertising. In fact, according to TNS, one of the leading soap brands Dove spent nearly $5MM on online display advertising during the first half of this year. This investment is significantly greater than that of rival brands Softsoap and Olay. Due in part to their investment in online advertising, Compete’s data shows that site traffic to Dove.com are multiples greater than its competitors.
Unilever PLC said Friday that it plans to buy Sara Lee's personal care unit for $1.87 billion in cash in an effort to boost its presence in Western Europe and in Asia. Unilever is a major Anglo-Dutch consumer products maker that owns well-known brands like Dove soap and Axe deodorant. "Personal care is a strategic category and a key growth driver for Unilever," said Unilever Chief Executive Paul Polman, in a statement. "The Sara Lee brands enjoy strong consumer recognition, offer significant growth potential and are an excellent fit."
On one hand Unilever see mothers as mentors of their daughters - as we see here in this snap from a Dove soap website. On the other hand Unilever see mothers as sexual collaborators with their daughters and their boyfriends - as we see here in this ad from the guys at Axe.
Today's reality consists of multiple media channels, new technologies and consumers who have a short attention span. Traditional communications are no longer sufficient for creating loyal fans or bringing the brand to the forefront. This new reality demands a new approach to engaging consumers; this is where corporate social responsibility (CSR) as branded content comes in.
TV advertisers are finally discovering that YouTube + viral imagination = free media. The good news for you is that money is not a barrier, which means that marketers of any size can play. But the rules are different, as they always are online.
In the latest example of a network looking to build viewer retention during breaks, the CW is launching Dove-sponsored vignettes during "Gossip Girl." The 90-second pieces hope to offer somewhat real-life versions of the series.
Brands aren't simply brands anymore. They are the center of a maelstrom of social and political dialogue made possible by digital media, said Unilever Chief Marketing Officer Simon Clift, who warned that marketers who do not recognize that -- and adapt their marketing -- are in grave peril.
I only caught the last 20 minutes of Trust Me, the show on TNT, but I was impressed by what I heard. Mason was giving a nuanced discussion of a campaign idea. What a nice change, I thought, from the usual approach. You know, the one that treats the ad biz as a domain of scoundrels and the home of dumb discourse. But what really caught my attention is that the brand at issue is Dove. Not a pretend brand but the real thing.
With chocolate and alcohol among the few "non-essentials" that consumers still seem to be finding room for in their budgets, the timing of a new co-branded promotion from Mars Snackfood U.S.'s Dove Chocolate and E. & J. Gallo Winery may be propitious--and not just because of Valentine's Day.
The days of the simple brand website which served the brand with one-dimensional ‘about’, ‘products’ and ‘contact’ links, are well and truly over. What brands need is fresh content, preferably every day - an enormous pressure for every brand builder. It’s not enough to be a promoter of products. You have to be a gifted teller of intriguing tales as well.
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