Dove thought leadership campaign values at odds with sister brand?

I have stated in my book and on this blog that I think Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is one of the quintessential examples of thought leadership.  But recently I have had two interesting comments on this blog asking how Unilever (owner of the Dove brand) can purport to be a thought leader in one brand if there is a clear clash of values between the Dove campaign and another Unilever product campaign, Axe deodorant.  

The Campaign for Real Beauty is all about finding a broader, healthier more democratic view of beauty while on the Axe campaign stereotypes women - it shows a man putting on the deodorant and then having to flee and fight off thousands of beautiful, scantily clad women.

I have to say that at face value the two campaigns are at the opposite end of the beauty value spectrum.

The first person to raise this issue on my blog was Kym Kettler.  Kym had this to say: “One of the challenges that Unilever faces in Europe about the authenticity of its Real Beauty campaign is its Axe Deodorant campaign. Can a thought leader be a thought leader when it projects conflicting personas to different audiences? Doesn’t this undermine the credibility and trust needed for true thought leadership?”

Another reader, Sughanda replied: “Kym is right. Unilever tells women “You are beautiful even if you are fat” on the one hand, and tells men “Use our products if you want to be surrounded by really beautiful, skinny, sexy babes.  Hypocritical, isn’t it?”

I think they both have a point but I would be interested in your views.

My view is that a true thought leadership position should be closely aligned with the values of company and if a brand’s values are at odds with the company’s values there is a value gap.

So what you might say.  Shouldn’t brands stand and live on their own?

This was certainly true over the past few decades but times have changed and more importantly consumers have changed.  Consumers these days are demanding more from their brands when it comes to things like corporate social responsibility, the environment and a brand’s contribution to society.

Given this change, I think Unilever may well have a problem.

If a multinational’s brands are going to be at odds with the values espoused by the overarching brand then it only makes sense that they will need to review their brand positioning and align it more closely with the mothership.

Is Axe at odds with the mothership?  I don’t know, you tell me.

Is the Axe campaign at odds with the thought leadership stance of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.  I think it is.

The question is what do you think?       

9 Responses to “Dove thought leadership campaign values at odds with sister brand?”

1. Craig Pearce says:

   February 25, 2010 at 10:47

   I think the critics of the Axe ad are taking themselves and the ad way too seriously. Mind you, I haven’t seen the ad so am going on the descriptions above. But this is an ad being screened in western society. Surely, no one takes this seriously? Surely, we are inured to this sort of approach by now?

   All it does is point to Unilever’s (and their ad company’s) lack of imagination. But you know what, it is quite likely the ‘thought leadership’ Unilever displayed in the Dove campaign was a charade anyway. Money was likely the object and the approach a convenient way to achieve that.
2. Sean Williams says:

   February 25, 2010 at 23:09

   Craig, at the heart of the issue is whether Unilever is the brand, or Axe and Dove are the brands. Both are “beauty” products, but serve different audiences, have different purposes, and have separate and quite distinct brands. Unilever is fairly “small print” in these matters — their name is barely appended to either brand.

   Any multibrand company will have this conundrum — which values will the brand represent, its parent company’s or its own constituencies?

   And, further, Learned Mr. Pearce - money is very nearly the object, especially in consumer products!
3. Online Degree says:

   February 26, 2010 at 00:09

   I thought this was a very interesting post thanks for writing it
4. forex robot says:

   February 26, 2010 at 17:18

   What a great resource!
5. craig says:

   March 1, 2010 at 01:27

   Glad you thinks so
6. craig says:

   March 1, 2010 at 01:29

   Absolute pleasure - thanks for taking the time to comment
7. craig says:

   March 1, 2010 at 01:45

   Sean, you’re right, however, what happens in the instance where Unilever takes a strategic decision to up the branding of Unilever in its products, the way for example Nestle has done? I think it does change things somewhat. And Craig is right when he says the object is always money otherewise there is no ROI and no marketing or comms director can justify spend without some form of ROI.
8. Kym Kettler says:

   March 24, 2010 at 19:02

   Actually, I like both the Axe and the Dove ads. I always laugh at the Axe ads because they are so clearly over the top. Here’s the link to the one that I was thinking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tWZB7OUSU
   I especially enjoy the final scene: “Spray more, get more: the Axe effect”. This is clearly not in harmony with The Real Beauty campaign. Please be clear: I am not opposed to the Axe ads. Sure, they’re full of stereotypes, but who cares? They’re funny. I think that Unilever has demonstrated real thought leadership on the Dove campaign: they have achieved clear financial results, connected with their customers, and possibly changed the way that (at least some of) their customers think. But I also think that the authenticity of that thought leadership is undermined by the Axe commercials (and others, too–look at articles on The Hathor Legacy blog for some other examples).
9. craig says:

   March 24, 2010 at 21:54

   Thanks Kym, I agree with your sentiments but thinking purely in thought leadership terms I think your last comment when you say “the authenticity of that thought leadership is undermined by the Axe commercials…” says it all. I will indeed have a look at the Hathor legacy blog.