Imagine a world where everything you were groomed for since the day you could walk, was to one day make you A Suitable Bride.

That’s the truth of 90% of Indian women going through an arranged marriage. In the matchmaking process, they face harsh judgement and rejection based on their looks, which diminishes their self-esteem and confidence.

The campaign hits hard on the cultural practice, by questioning the widely-accepted beauty-based judgements in arranged marriages. It’s a step towards achieving the Dove ambition of a more inclusive world where women enjoy beauty on their own terms.

In India, the pursuit of beauty has one goal – marriage.

For Indian women, beauty related anxieties and insecurities begin when they’re children as social pressure results in conditioning that makes them feel like they are not good enough.

This was an opportunity for Dove to make good on its purpose of making beauty a source of joy and not anxiety. And in doing so, cement its position in the hearts and minds of the audience This was a necessary intervention in a highly price-sensitive market, where the brand was at risk of becoming one amongst many.

The Brief: Build stature and strengthen brand love by being meaningful to women in India.

Objectives:

- Reach 57 million Indian households

- Provoke conversation around beauty-based stereotypes.

- Change perceptions about Dove as a ‘brand that broadens the definition of beauty & challenges negative stereotypes’

- Create a positive impact on society.

An analysis of Dove’s Brand Power showed that in 2019, Dove was the No.1 brand in terms of mental availability, but there was a sharp drop in meaningfulness and differentiation. Consumers perceived Dove as ‘friendly’ and ‘traditional’ but they did not see it as a change-maker brand that challenges negative stereotypes and broadens the definition of beauty for women.

When award-winning global purpose campaigns failed to make an impact on account of relatability, it became evident that a bespoke solution rooted in culture was required to create brand love and raise Dove’s stature in India.

The desired outcome: To make Indian women passionate fans of Dove and its philosophy on beauty through provocative and relatable content that changes how they think about beauty and themselves.

Data source: Kantar

Beauty is sold in a marketplace called marriage.

For women in India, beauty related anxieties stem from the conditioning that begins in their childhood. The end goal of which is to prepare them for marriage.

90% of marriages in India are arranged. In the process of matchmaking, women are treated like commodities and chosen basis their skin colour, body-type and height. A commissioned study about these practices revealed:

• 9 /10 unmarried women feel that they’re judged and rejected based on their looks

• 79% women feel they’re more likely to be rejected if they’re not slim/tall/fair enough

• 68% claimed that rejections based on beauty impacted their self-esteem and confidence

Dove believes that beauty should be a source of joy and not anxiety. For its intentions to have meaning, it became imperative to address the biggest source of anxiety – ‘the beauty test’ in arranged marriages.

How could something as beautiful as finding a life-partner become so ugly?

That is the big question the campaign idea was designed to provoke.

But the bigger question was, what could Dove do to make a real difference?

#StopTheBeautyTest is an idea born out of conversations with real women from across the country. The advertising brought to life stories of women who faced judgement and rejection by prospective in-laws for not being tall-fair-slim with straight long hair. It throws light on unseen impact of these judgements on their self-esteem and confidence.

By challenging beauty stereotypes, Dove campaigns for a more inclusive definition of beauty and calls to end a cruel practice that is responsible for beauty anxieties and diminished self-worth for women In India.

In just one month, the campaign reached 75% of urban households

2 million organic views on day 1.

Total 61 million views and a watch-time of 1.7 million hours ie. 192.7 years worth of content

An earned PR value of USD340,150.

Impact:

15% increase in purchase consideration

25% increase in ‘The only brand I’ll consider'

The campaign made headlines and got additional reach of 16 million as celebrities and influencers joined the conversation.

The biggest matchmaking platforms made unprecedented decisions as they extended their support to making the process free of beauty biases.

Shaadi.com - Opened the platform for messaging to its captive audience for the first time. Contextual messaging delivered over 10 million impressions on their app and website.

Times Matrimonial - The news publication allowed Dove to help their users rewrite their matrimonial ads and gave them the opportunity to publish a free ad devoid of beauty biases.