Ogilvy’s CCO duo on Dove India's quest to end beauty biases

The brand’s latest campaign shifts the focus from superficial beauty standards in matrimonials to women's real essence and encourages a change in the perception of beauty.

If you’re an unmarried Indian woman in your 20s or 30s chances are that you serve tea and pakodas to unknown families who visit your house and judge you for your beauty like it’s a beauty pageant. How often have you flipped through the newspapers and stumbled upon the matrimonial section? And how many times have you rolled your eyes when you see words like ‘thin’, ‘fair’, and ‘silky hair’ to describe the nature of the ‘ideal’ wife?

In India, marital demands often place unreal beauty expectations on women, rooted in deep-seated cultural norms and racial biases. Women face immense pressure to conform to these ideals, leading to self-esteem issues and the perpetuation of gender inequality. In a world that is already comparatively tougher for women, the media and matrimonial advertisements exacerbate these unrealistic standards, making it a significant social issue.

Dove India’s latest marquee campaign,  #TheBeautyTestStopsWithMe aims to challenge this very superficial nature of matrimonials. The brand has partnered with the Times of India to challenge the beauty standards that matrimonials demand and shifts the focus from appearances to meaningful portrayal of a woman’s personality, passions, achievements and ambitions as part of ‘biodatas’.

While a few experts have criticised the campaign’s ‘causevertising’, it is a natural progression of Dove’s almost two-decade-long ‘movement’ about real beauty. Last year, Dove fought against the beauty biases forced on young women and how it impacts their self-esteem.

In 2021 also the brand had tried to take on matrimonial ads seen in newspapers. It had tied up with Times Matrimonial to widen the beauty perspective of those seeking conventional beautiful brides. It had helped readers rewrite their matrimonial ads. This time it has involved mothers to stop the practise entirely.

Speaking about the execution of the campaign, Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha, CCOs at Ogilvy India say, “Dove and Ogilvy India started the journey of #StopTheBeautyTest almost three years ago.” They say this year’s campaign brings to light the carelessness with which matrimonial ads have been written over generations.

 “The brief was to continue the campaign against beauty biases for young girls, with a sharp focus on moms as the instrument of change.”

As a part of the campaign, Dove has also partnered with the Times of India and Mindshare to enable moms and daughters to write customised mothermonials by harnessing artificial intelligence. The platform enables grooms to connect with brides based on their education, hobbies and quirks, rather than height, weight, and colour. Mothers advocate for shifting away from traditional matrimonials that view their daughters through the narrow lens of these superficial demands.

Regarding the Times Of India partnership, the CCO duo say, “This was an obvious choice because TOI is widely used for matrimonial ads. With their partnership, we have been able to set up a space for moms and girls to put across matrimonial ads without using any beauty descriptions.”

They have also tied up with Bobble and Scoop Whoop, in addition to TOI to write mothermonials.

Lately, many brands such as Ariel, Whisper, and Nike are supported strong causes like gender equality, women empowerment and racism through their campaigns. Asked about what these campaigns mean for the brand and how one can measure them, they say that for Dove, authenticity is more important.

“There are many measurements for campaigns that are designed to change behaviour and this one is designed to redesign how India thinks about marriage. The most important measurement is the participation of mothers and girls in response to the call to action. Social comments and engagement can also be measured but to us, the above measurement is most important.” 

“For each of our previous campaigns, we have seen a change in all the measurable metrics. A change for the better. However, it is important to remember that this is not a promo or a tactical campaign. This is a movement and each year we will chip away at the hurtful marriage biases little by little. Social change takes time and we are ready for the long road,” they add.

Dove’s fight against unreal beauty standards is not new. The brand took up the task of changing the culture of beauty advertising with the launch of its campaign for Real Beauty almost two decades ago.

The brand’s Real Beauty motto has challenged how women are represented in the media and encouraged the beauty industry and society at large to face up to the harmful impact unrealistic depictions have on women and girls.

With its campaigns, the brand seems to have won the hearts of industry professionals and consumers alike. In 2023, Dove delivered €6 billion (Rs. 541 trillion)  in turnover for Unilever. According to various reports, Dove holds a market share of 21.5% in India. It has won several Cannes Lions awards across various categories in the past two decades.

Asked about how challenging it is to come up with different approaches for the same message year-on-year, the duo says, “It is not challenging to find a norm to take on because there are so many. This is an unfortunate truth. We spend a lot of time discussing which norm to take on each year. About the creative work, our team led by Zenobia Pithawalla and Mihir Chanchani are deeply invested in the brand and the campaign.”