Dove targets Indian women with country-specific feel-good campaign

Tapping into the globally successful branding strategy of pedaling empowerment for which Dove has become famous, the Unilever-owned company has released a short film​, ‘Let’s Break the Rules of Beauty’, to begin the campaign.

"India is a country growing and evolving at a rapid pace and yet the traditional beauty ideal remains narrow and restrictive​,” Victoria Sjardin, senior global brand director, Dove Masterbrand, explained of the campaign.

"Our hope is to genuinely start a conversation about expanding the beauty ideal and embracing the varieties of beauty that come from a country with 631 million women, 29 states and 22 languages​."

Tapping into real beauty ​

The new Dove video and wider ‘Let’s Break the Rules of Beauty’ India campaign participates in Dove’s global ‘Real Beauty’ branding strategy, focusing on ‘ordinary women’ who do not work as celebrities or beauty professionals.

The cast of the short film is made up entirely of ordinary women, a move for which Dove has enjoyed success.

Indeed, its ‘Real Beauty Sketches​’ advertisement series catapulted the brand into the viral video hall of fame with more than 163 million views - becoming the most-watched online video advertisement ever.

Targeting India ​

Unilever’s move to turn Dove’s focus to India comes at a time when the country is enjoying a rise in middle class consumers with a strong appetite for international brands, according to market research firm Mintel.

“India is the third fastest growing facial skincare market, but still has low per capita spend at under one dollar per year, so has much more room to grow​.”

Moving to capitalise on this ongoing growth, the campaign is an attempt, Dove states, to open up the conversation around beauty in India, citing research it has carried out into attitudes towards beauty in the country.

“A staggering 80% of us feel we need to look a certain way to succeed, while 67% wish the media did a better job of portraying women of different age, race, shape and size,​” the company explains in a blog post​.