To help alleviate the pressure on mom and raise confidence in her new anxiety-charged role, we commissioned several world-renowned female photojournalists, including Pulitzer prize-winning Lynsey Addario and Ami Vitale.

Over three days and nights, they immersed themselves in 6 moms’ lives, capturing the beautifully imperfect side of motherhood like never before. The resulting 120 photos in our online Gallery of Real Moms provocatively depicted the good, the bad and the messy sides of being a real mom.

In out of home and newspaper, we ignited conversation by showcasing some of our most powerful photos along with #BeautifullyRealMoms. We also gave moms a way to become a part of the solution by:

1. Inviting her to visit our photo gallery and be inspired by the beautiful realness of other moms

2. Posting her own #BeautifullyRealMoms photo in support of real moms everywhere

We wanted to be where mom is most. This meant being on BabyCenter.ca, the number one site for expecting and new moms. Because BabyCenter.ca is a J&J-owned property, it was not available to us. So we focused on another channel where mom spends her time: Social Media. Through social, we drove to our Gallery and invited moms to show their support for #BeautifullyRealMoms. Our social campaign consisted of:

A 360º Photo Gallery sampling that seeded the issue, “Are perfect photos putting too much pressure on mom?”

A :10 sec video asking moms to pause and appreciate the beauty of being a real mom.

A carousel unit inviting moms to “Help us reduce the pressure 99% of moms feel to be perfect.”

A Mother’s Day carousel, inviting moms to share their own #BeautifullyRealMoms photos.

We sparked conversation and drove to #BeautifullyRealMoms also using OOH digital billboards and newspaper.

Our Gallery of Real Moms received 143,202 visits, more than double our goal. PR reached outlets such as Huffington Post, National Post, Toronto Sun, Today’s Parent and Cityline.

In our first year on the market, Dove’s powerful brand equity and understanding of real women allowed us to capture a 9% share, while J&J Baby lost 3% share. We achieved an ROI of 4:1, based on media spend. And Baby Dove added over $5M worth of sales to the Dove base business in Canada.