Unilever launches Dove Digital Channel

By Simon Pitman

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Unilever Advertising Marketing

Unilever says it has stepped up its marketing campaign for the Dove
brand with the launch of a digital channel aimed at bringing a new
approach to 'The Campaign for Real Beauty' online.

The company launched the channel today in the US and says it will be rolled out globally, with the first international markets likely to be Canada and the UK during the course of the next three months. The digital channel is the re-launch of Dove.com, providing what Unilever describes as 'a unified worldwide digital presence designed to be a trusted source for information, education and inspiration'. The channel is an alliance with OgilvyInteractive, one of the world's leading digital marketing businesses, and Microsoft's MSN. Site aims to forge an online community​ Unilever says the combined resources of these other two players will help it to build a site that will focus on the development of a 'robust' online community by personalizing each visitor's experience according to the interactive choices they will be able to make. The channel will feature an editorial board, which will help drive conversation between Dove consumers and enthusiasts regarding what Unilever terms 'the beauty debate'. "Our goal is to be become a global leader and a true digital media force by completely redefining the digital experience for women worldwide,"​ said Kathy O'Brien, marketing director for Dover in North America. Move aims to strengthen brand awareness​ The move to further the Dove brand may also be driven by the fact that Unilever has come under criticism for what some consumer groups have described as 'exploitative marketing techniques'. In October last year, Unilever released a video called Onslaught as part of its Dove Real Beauty campaign. It featured distressing images of women pursuing bodily perfection juxtaposed with pictures of a young girl bombarded with beauty adverts. The video ends with the message: 'Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does'. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) responded by accusing Unilever of contributing to the damaging advertising that the company criticizes in its hard-hitting Onslaught video. The consumer group points to Unilever's raunchy video advertising for Axe body spray as evidence of this. The video features a female pop group who are driven into a sexual frenzy by the Axe aroma. "Even as Unilever basks in praise for its Dove Real Beauty campaign, they are profiting from Axe marketing that blatantly objectifies and degrades young women,"​ said CCFC's director Susan Linn, at the time.

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