Dove’s quest for Real Beauty: Same purpose, new frontier

This US case describes how Dove masterbrand campaigns from 2020-2023 enabled the brand to regain its salience and re-start growth in penetration and market share. Rather than view its purpose of supporting female self-esteem and real beauty as outdated for its fast-changing category, Dove reinvigorated its positioning through initiatives addressing the toxic impact of social media practices on young women’s ideals of beauty and their mental health. The work consistently outperformed engagement objectives and proof of its commercial effectiveness includes rises in key brand metrics and commercial growth equating to an estimated $508m of incremental revenue.