Dove D.J.’s Spin Rebalance

Unilever’s Dove brand is spinning its commitment to “real beauty” and “real women” with three female DJ’s in a marketing effort to draw a younger demo to Rebalance deodorant and body spray.

“These 20-something D.J.’s are arbiters of what’s cool and fresh in music, fashion and pop culture. They are sharing personal stories, style secrets and music insights they have gathered by having the pulse of all that is cool,” said Kathy O’Brien, VP for Unilever’s U.S. personal care division.

The first event in the multiplatform “Fresh Spin” campaign was last night's Video Music Awards on MTV, that last year drew 11.4 million viewers, about 50% of whom were young women, ages 12 to 34.

The Dove D.J.’s are:

• Jessica Who, a DJ for seven years, is in residence at Miami’s LIV nightclub, and reported live from the VMA’s.
• Londoner Chelsea Leyland earned her stripes spinning for the likes of Valentino at runway shows and will appear at NY Fashion Week, September 8-15, 2011.
• Diamond Kuts worked as a radio DJ at Philadelphia’s #1 hip-hop station, Power 99 and has a following that includes 60,000 Facebook fans and 58,000 Twitter followers. She’ll be online at the 'O' Music Awards later this year.

"We worked with MTV to bring these DJs to the forefront so we could show that real women have the power to inspire and set new trends," said Mike Dwyer, marketing director, deodorant, U.S., Unilever. “We think it's cool that Dove go fresh Deodorant and Body Mist are 'DJ approved.'"

The three are showcased in a new video series, website, dove.mtv.com, and interactive music game, Mix Master, as the brand focuses on social engagement rather than hard-selling the product.

Users can create their own DJ name and personalize music mixes inspired by the Dove DJ’s, then share them on Facebook. The campaign also includes a Twitter contest, #FreshSpin hashtag, where users can upload photos to be randomly selected for product giveaways and real-time Twitter party chats with the D.J.’s.

“As a brand, Dove does not want to focus on celebrities. The D.J.’s are real girls who are culturally relevant. They aggregate ideas about movements, fashion and, of course, music,” said Joe Maceda, Mindshare’s director of client leadership, who worked on the campaign with Ryan Partnership.

“We used our expertise in music and understanding millennials to help cast three young talents who have their finger on style and pop culture,” MTV's Jeannie Scalzo told the New York Times.

As for Britney and Joe Calderone… the rumor mill itself is spinning for… rebalance.