Inner Beauty
Dove has been committed to building confidence in beauty. In a world with high beauty standards, women have taken to social media to share their opinions on beauty. “In 2014 alone, women posted 5 million negative Tweets about beauty and body image. Women are two times as likely to say something negative about themselves on Twitter as they are to say something positive about themselves on Twitter” (ShortyAwards). After performing market research on their customers through netnography, Dove observed the harsh reality of the negativity within women’s opinions of beauty. Dove set out to change the narrative around beauty in 2015 by partnering with Twitter.
#SpeakBeautiful
Dove wanted to see if a campaign launched in inner beauty and self-love could spark confidence within their observed group on Twitter. Dove launched #SpeakBeautiful to research how to change a group’s opinions of beauty. Dove and Twitter launched the campaign during the 2015 Oscars with a 30-second commercial describing their initiative. “We kicked off the campaign with a 30-second commercial during the 2015 Oscars red carpet to drive awareness, showcasing Tweets from real women to spell out the problem. The ad urged women everywhere to join Dove and Twitter to turn negative Tweets into positive ones” (ShortyAwards). They choose to launch during the Oscars, as it is normally a period of high traffic surrounding beauty on the red carpet.
Netnography Results
Dove and Twitter then used netnography to observe the traffic in the beauty realm on Twitter. They identified the most popular positive and negative words associated with beauty and created data visualizations to measure the usage of #SpeakBeautiful. The movement revealed when beauty confidence was at its lowest, and Dove and Twitter partnered to target individuals during these moments to help elevate their confidence. “Based on Twitter research showing that beauty confidence is lowest during mornings, Mondays, and weekends, we created content specifically for those moments when women needed it most. Targeted Twitter promotion enabled us to reach women during these key windows, effecting change day-by-day, week-by-week” (ShortyAwards).
Dove’s use of netnography, both before and after the #SpeakBeautiful campaign, revealed promising results on the beauty issue.
“In 2014, there were over 5.3 million negative Tweets about beauty or body image sent by women. In 2015, that number dropped to 3.4 million – a 36.8% decrease year over year. . . Throughout the course of the year, women were inspired by our (Dove and Twitter’s) message, using #SpeakBeautiful more than 168,000 times and driving 800 million social media impressions of the campaign” (ShortyAwards).
Netnography’s Positive Impact On Dove
Dove’s use of market research also led to a positive impact on its brand. Through netnography observations, they attempted to change the narrative of beauty. Dove’s ability to use netnography during the campaign allowed them to observe the positive change in beauty standards and success within their brand. “According to Twitter, the #SpeakBeautiful campaign drove affinity for the brand, with brand sentiment increasing 17 percent” (ShortyAwards). Dove and Twitter’s work proves that netnography can help identify critical issues within the world and that these areas can ultimately help brands grow in success.
To read more on Dove:
https://shortyawards.com/8th/dove-and-twitter-speakbeautiful-2