Dove

The Ad Makeover

The Dove Ad Makeover is an example of a creative culture working at it's best. Dove believes every woman has the right to feel beautiful, and it's this belief that acts as the master brand's constant creative brief. 

Ideas are discussed as they arise, then judged against the brand values and their possible cultural impact. Most importantly, client and agency work together to maximise the reach of the idea. 

This digital campaign for Dove gave Facebook users the power to displace adverts that preyed on their insecurities and made them feel bad about themselves. This was the first app that gave people access to the Facebook Ad Auction API to outbid negative advertisers for the keywords they typically use to target women. It ran in Australia, the UK, Brazil and 17 other countries, displacing 3.3 Billion negative ads.

This project was completely developed in-house at Ogilvy London and took about 5 weeks from concept to deployment. 

The value of a creative business culture

As Worldwide Creative Director on Dove I lead a multi-disciplined team that could cope with change and excel at the product advertising that is the lifeblood of the brand. That included global creative guidelines that gave everyone on Dove, agencies and clients, a framework to judge the value of an idea. That common understanding gave confidence to the agency, network and clients, to dream bigger and experiment more. 

The period of 2010-2013 showed a huge turnaround in Dove's reputation through consistent and culturally resonant work that was recognised around the world and inside Unilever. This was a direct result of the business fundamentals done well, a clear brand idea and the efforts of a creative culture.