Only four percent of women worldwide consider themselves beautiful according to Dove, whose latest installment of its famed Real Beauty campaign presents a social experiment to dispell negative personal perceptions. 

The tagline of the campaign, "You are more beautiful than you think," demonstrates the disparity between a woman’s self-image and a stranger’s perception, playing on the common saying , "You are your own worst critic."

Created by Ogilvy Brazil, FBI-trained artist Gil Zamora, an forensic expert who has sketched more than 3,000 eye witness reports, first drew portraits of seven women of different ages and backgrounds according to their own description, followed by sketches of those same women according to strangers who had just met them on the same day. 

In the "Dove Real Beauty Sketches" video (watch below) produced for the campaign, the participants say things like, "My mom told me I had a big jaw," "I kind of have a fat, rounder face," and "I'd say I have a pretty big forehead."Continue reading...

The idea of launching the Axe Face Line with a Facebook promotion obviously was too literal. So the Unilever brand is launching its new line of facial-care products instead with a "Facescore" campaign on Tumblr as a social face-off, supported by ads running on various media websites — and, of course, a presence on Facebook too.

In doing so, Axe is entering a segment of the men's care business of the first time — a more challenging territory than when it had a fairly singular focus on helping young guys simply smell great so they could attract hordes of women.

The launch of the Axe Face Line—including a face wash, shave gel, and post-shave hydrator in four variants—also gives the brand a chance to circle back to promoting Unilever's "Astronaut" marketing platform for the Axe brand (and Lynx brand, in certain territories) grand giveaway of 22 trips to space in 2015.

"Research has shown that a majority of guys don't use facial cleanser; they reach for bar soaps or shampoos or other things to wash their face," Mark Link, Axe US brand manager for Unilever, told brandchannel. "We're launching [the Face line] to address their skincare needs."Continue reading...

In a day where digital design renders face-lifts, tummy-tucks and general tune-ups de rigueur, Dove remains an innovative stand-out as they extend their "Real Beauty" campaign beyond advertising. 

33 million women made over advertising that highlighted their insecurities and impacted their self-esteem as part of the Dove Ad Makeover campaign last year, and in honor of International Women's Day, the brand is reprising the campaign and taking it global.

The Dove Ad Makeover invites women to send positive messages to other women through a Facebook application. "Dove has always listened to women and we feel that International Women's Day is the perfect time to once again inspire them by bringing our Ad Makeover Facebook app to America and to 18 countries around the world," said Rob Candelino, VP Unilever Skincare, in a press release.

The Unilever-owned brand is refreshing its long-running, and highly acclaimed "Dove Campaign for Real Beauty"—which fights unrealistic portrayals of women while pushing for realistic, positive ad messaging—with a social media-promoted Photoshop Action that works like a Trojan Horse by leveraging the element of surprise on those responsible for "unreal beauty" images in advertising.Continue reading...

Women's issues are top of mind, with International Women's Day on March 8th and the the 57th Session the main focus of the United Nations' Commission on the Status of Women now underway in New York, with about 700 related events taking place March 4-15.

Kicking off CSW, UN Women executive director Michelle Bachelet today formally convened the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (follow on Twitter at #CSW57). The recent gang-rape and murder of a student in Delhi and the One Billion Rising campaign drew global attention, Bachelet notes: "2012 demonstrated that this [violence] is a terrible reality for many women every day. I'm an optimistic woman and I believe it's clear that we can't continue in the 21st century with this terrible violation of women's human rights."

More than 6,000 UN officials, NGO workers and women's rights activists are expected in New York to debate and create action around the issues, lobbying behind the efforts to counter the work of rightwing groups and countries such as Iran, Russia and the Holy See who are already calling for “removal of key lines of this year's draft document that relate to reproductive health and rights, and those that suggest governments take responsibility for tackling gender violence,” notes the Guardian.Continue reading...

It’s the kind of coincidence that can’t be let alone. The same week that Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer banned working from home in a move that caused major upheaval among the media and the public, “Makers: Women Who Make America,” premiered on PBS, telling the story of the last 50 years of the American women’s movement.

Beginning with the publication of Betty Friedan’s book “The Feminine Mystique,”— which is credited with codifying women’s ennui as housewives and mothers—the three-hour documentary puts the iconic Gloria Steinem, founder of Ms. Magazine, front and center discussing the 70s. “It was heady and exciting and naïve, imagining that if we just explained it to people, that it was so unjust, that surely it would change.” 

Makers is a very modern model of a truly cooperative effort. The project is funded by many companies and organizations including AOL, PBS, Unilever's Simple skincare brand, the Charles H. Revson Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Narrated by Meryl Streep, the film focuses on the famous and infamous from Steinem and Abzug to Barbara Walters, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and barrier-breaker’s like tennis legend Billie Jean King.Continue reading...

Kimberly-Clark is selling conversation – and its working. Their U by Kotex brand has taken 7% market share of the $2.6 billion feminine-protection business in the U.S. since launch in 2010, and now they’re turning up the heat in an integrated marketing campaign, “Generation Know,” which launched January 7th.

The tone is refreshingly direct in talking about issues of vaginal health, menstruation and wellness, with a goal of busting myths and letting young women understand issues key to their well-being and self-esteem.

“There’s way too much misinformation about girls’ health and bodies out there today; so much that more than half (51%) of girls say it’s hard to separate myths from facts when it comes to vaginal health,” Lauren Kren, brand manager, U by Kotex brand, told brandchannel.

TV spots hit the airwaves, dancing around the “V” word to pass network standards, while franker videos aired online such as the ones above and below, featuring two bold personal testimonies.Continue reading...

In April, GODIVA Chocolatier launched its Lady Godiva Program, honoring inspirational women on a local and national level who embody the original Lady Godiva’s selflessness, generosity and leadership as seen above.

Every two years, GODIVA selects a National Lady GODIVA Honoree and this year its first recipient is Lauren Bush Lauren, Co-Founder of FEED Projects, whose non-profit has provided over 60 million school meals to children living in 62 countries throughout the world through the United Nationals WFP since the launch. 

GODIVA committed to sell one-of-a-kind FEED 10 bags, with each providing 10 school meals to children in cocoa-producing regions, and most recently, launched exclusive limited edition products like the FEED 8 Origins Collection of chocolates, where for each box sold, 8 meals will be donated to children in Ecuador and Uganda.

“The Lady GODIVA Program takes this notion of giving one step further.  With the creation of the Lady GODIVA Program, we will honor outstanding women that make a difference both on a national and local level as well as the causes that matter most to women,” says Jim Goldman, President & CEO, GODIVA Chocolatier.Continue reading...

Consumer product marketers have long known that women make most of the household buying decisions. That's why mega-marketers like Procter & Gamble unashamedly target the majority of their products, and their product promotion, to moms specifically and women in general.

Car makers have discovered that women are also a key demographic when it comes to buying a new automobile, but they have, for the most part, veered away from creating a car specifically for women. 

Now Honda is looking to shake up the industry with a new sub-brand of the Honda Fit called, in a fill-in-the-blank kind of way, "She's." It's pinktastic, and has nothing to do with Breast Cancer Awareness other than an affinity for the feminine hue.Continue reading...