AT AN AGE TO FOCUS ON YOUR BOOKS, WERE YOU EVER TESTED ON YOUR LOOKS?

The moment a girl child is born, the grooming to make her ‘a suitable bride’ begins. Her beauty is examined through the lens of marriageability. That’s why nearly 80% of girls face judgement on their looks when they’re just school-going teenagers. Too tall, too short, too fat, too dark – their self-esteem diminishes with every taunt and piece of ‘well-meaning’ advice.

‘Stop the Beauty Test’ was a movement against this beauty test. It questioned the beauty-judgement and conditioning that was normalised in homes and schools. The campaign got people to think about the emotional impact of the beauty test on young girls and triggered actions for real change.

The Dove Self-Esteem Program also worked to empower teenagers with the knowledge and confidence they need to counter the negative impact of the beauty tests they face.

Dove’s purpose is to broaden definition of beauty, making it inclusive and a source of confidence for women, rather than anxiety.

For Indian women, beauty-related anxieties start young. It begins with pressure from their families and those close to them, to conform to beauty stereotypes so that they can be easily married off. This results in conditioning that diminishes their self-esteem.

By addressing cause of these anxieties, Dove had the opportunity to fulfil its purpose and play meaningful role in the lives of Indian women. This was a necessary intervention in a hypercompetitive and highly price-sensitive market, where the brand was at risk of becoming one amongst many.

The Brief: Elevate Dove’s stature to make it a brand that is loved and desired by Indian women.

Objectives:

• Inspire women with Dove’s philosophy on beauty.

• Encourage actions for change that uplifts women’s self-esteem.

• Improve brand health & imagery.

BOOKS OR LOOKS? – THE REAL TEST YOUNG GIRLS FACE

A nation-wide study across 17 cities with 1,057 women aged 18-35 years revealed that 80% of them faced some form of beauty test when they were teenagers.

In their formative years, the idea of ‘perfect beauty’ imprinted on them became the unrealistic yardstick by which they measured their self-worth. It usually came in the form of ‘well-meaning’ but also ‘self-diminishing’ advice from those closest to her.

“Don’t play in the sun, if you become dark no one will marry you.”

“Cover your pimple scars with your hair, then no one will notice.”

“Breathe in, hold your tummy in, don’t let it show.”

Too tall, too short, too thin, too fat, too dark – they were made to feel inadequate, their self-esteem diminishing with every taunt, every comment, every piece of advice.

AN UNFAIR BURDEN & AN UNFAIR PRICE

Perhaps the biggest anxiety came from being made to feel like a burden on their families as their parents would be expected to pay a heavy price or dowry for her ‘not being beautiful enough’.

AT AN AGE TO FOCUS ON THEIR BOOKS,

WHY ARE YOUNG GIRLS BEING TESTED ON THEIR LOOKS?

The campaign to #StopTheBeautyTest began with a film that featured the real stories of 5 teenage girls who faced beauty-based judgement and were brave enough to share their stories with the world.

Their first-hand experiences became eye-openers for an otherwise desensitized audience for whom the ‘beauty test’ was so normalized that they failed to consider the emotional impact it had on young girls.

By challenging beauty stereotypes, Dove campaigned for a more inclusive definition of beauty and

calls to end a cruel practice that is responsible for women’s beauty anxieties and diminished self-worth.

The campaign targeted urban women, aged 18-40 years. This segment was sized at 70 million households pan India. Although they came from different cultural, religious, and educational backgrounds, there was one thing they had in common: Most of them would have faced some form of the ‘beauty test’ as a teenager.

The campaign strategy worked to deliver on the campaign objectives by:

• Provoking Conversations: By getting people to question ‘beauty test’ that has been normalized in homes and schools.

• Inspiring Change: By getting more women to share their stories and inspire other women and society at large to change.

• Triggering action: By creating better alternatives and arming young girls with the tools they need to build their self-esteem and confidence.

• Launched on Daughter’s Day, #StopTheBeautyTest, was aired on prime-time television, YouTube & social media.

• Full-page ads provoked the country to reflect on the report card of beauty tests that young girls are subjected to.

• PR drove national visibility across television, print and online publications in key markets.

• Strategic local platform-based partnerships drove reach, relevance and talkability.

• In partnership with Convosight, safe spaces were created within Facebook communities for women to open up and share stories.

• A telethon with prime-time newscasters and celebrities encouraged to take pledge to #StopTheBeautyTest.

• Dove Self-Esteem Program, in partnership with UNICEF created content on body-positivity and self-esteem that was taught to teenagers in schools and was available for download on Dove-india.com.

• Bobble Smart Keyboard Innovation - interrupted conversations when body-shaming words were used with pop-ups of body-positive messages, that got users to reappraise the message they were sending.

In one month, campaign reached 100 million+ households with organic reach of 2.18 million. It had 98.08 million views and earned PR value of USD 130,000.

IMPACT ON BEAHVIOUR:

• 278,000 people pledged to #StopTheBeautyTest.

• 10x increase in website traffic and 80% increase in content downloads from Dove’s Self-Esteem Program.

• Bobble-keyboard intervention reached 1.4 million users, affecting 18% reduction in size-based comments and 10.5% reduction in skin-color-based comments.

IMPACT ON BRAND:

• Average endorsements went up by 7% post campaign.

• Brand Trials increased in the 18-24 age group by 13%.

• Awareness to Trial ratio improved from 68% to 85%.

• Brand consideration increased by 10% & affinity by 12% in non-metros.

• Positive impact on key imagery parameters improved by 10% in non-metros.

IMPACT ON BUSINESS:

• There was a 230bps penetration gain post campaign.

• Dove shampoos registered higher growth in category in all geographies.

For most Indian women that grow up in traditional households – beauty has always had a singular purpose – to make them suitable brides. Getting the girl married is the responsibility and burden of her family. However, there is a power dynamic at play, where the power to reject a match predominantly rests with the groom’s family.

The girl’s appearance plays a big role in her acceptance or rejection. If she does not meet beauty standards, prospective grooms demand a higher dowry – which is a payment made by the girl’s family at the time of her marriage. While payment of a dowry is illegal in India, it is still widely practised under the guise of religion, tradition and customs.

This pressure results in conditioning that begins in adolescence. Young girls are groomed to look a certain way to find acceptance. Because, if she doesn’t, she becomes a burden to