2021 Winner
2021 Winners
Unilever
Dove "America the Beautiful"
As one of the world’s most iconic, purpose-led brands, Dove has a history of standing up for what’s right and redefining beauty. This commitment was at the core of why Dove co-founded the CROWN Coalition in 2019. Originally founded to eradicate race-based hair discrimination, it has subsequently expanded its mandate to fighting racial discrimination of all kinds. So, when protests erupted across the United States following the murder of George Floyd, Dove sought to adamantly reaffirm its commitment to fighting racial inequality.
The objective was to reinforce Dove’s credentials as a brand that stands up for what’s right by creating a campaign for Dove to unequivocally voice its support of the Black community.
Through its longstanding Real Beauty platform, Dove has become a brand associated with beauty. But while our message wanted to convey hope for a brighter future, it was coming at a time when things were not beautiful in America. So rather than shine a light on beauty, they decided to shine a light on the potential for beauty.
Their key insight was that the American Dream will never be fully realized until all its citizens are treated equally. From that insight came the line ‘America will not be beautiful, until it’s beautiful for everyone.’ A simple but powerful statement that spoke to both the ugliness of systemic racism and the commitment to eradicating it.
Their idea was to create a film that depicted the fight for social justice that was currently happening in the streets of America. They wanted the film to show the anger and the pain, but to also show the hope that today’s unrest would be the catalyst to a better tomorrow.
Working with six African American photographers located across the country, they began collecting powerful images from the Black Lives Matter protests that reflected the pain, the anger, but also sometimes the beauty, of the fight for a more just future. These photos served as the foundation of a visually stunning film set to Ray Charles’ iconic ‘America the Beautiful’. While many images were harrowing, the film resolved in a message of hope and a tangible commitment of $5 million to fighting systemic racism in partnership with the CROWN Coalition it had co-founded the year prior.
Dove’s commitment to a more beautiful future struck a meaningful chord with tens of millions of Americans. It received press coverage in major national outlets like Essence, Today and Allure and was met with predominantly positive social sentiment in Facebook and Instagram.
In addition to generating significant media coverage and social conversation, ‘America the Beautiful’ also moved the needle on key brand metrics for Dove. The film exceeded breakthrough benchmarks with a 71% ad recall on YouTube while contributing to a +28% lift in brand differentiation and +15% lift in brand affinity.
With ‘America the Beautiful,’ Dove renewed its commitment to confronting ugliness in the world and reaffirmed its allyship with the Black community both with words and with action.
The objective was to reinforce Dove’s credentials as a brand that stands up for what’s right by creating a campaign for Dove to unequivocally voice its support of the Black community.
Through its longstanding Real Beauty platform, Dove has become a brand associated with beauty. But while our message wanted to convey hope for a brighter future, it was coming at a time when things were not beautiful in America. So rather than shine a light on beauty, they decided to shine a light on the potential for beauty.
Their key insight was that the American Dream will never be fully realized until all its citizens are treated equally. From that insight came the line ‘America will not be beautiful, until it’s beautiful for everyone.’ A simple but powerful statement that spoke to both the ugliness of systemic racism and the commitment to eradicating it.
Their idea was to create a film that depicted the fight for social justice that was currently happening in the streets of America. They wanted the film to show the anger and the pain, but to also show the hope that today’s unrest would be the catalyst to a better tomorrow.
Working with six African American photographers located across the country, they began collecting powerful images from the Black Lives Matter protests that reflected the pain, the anger, but also sometimes the beauty, of the fight for a more just future. These photos served as the foundation of a visually stunning film set to Ray Charles’ iconic ‘America the Beautiful’. While many images were harrowing, the film resolved in a message of hope and a tangible commitment of $5 million to fighting systemic racism in partnership with the CROWN Coalition it had co-founded the year prior.
Dove’s commitment to a more beautiful future struck a meaningful chord with tens of millions of Americans. It received press coverage in major national outlets like Essence, Today and Allure and was met with predominantly positive social sentiment in Facebook and Instagram.
In addition to generating significant media coverage and social conversation, ‘America the Beautiful’ also moved the needle on key brand metrics for Dove. The film exceeded breakthrough benchmarks with a 71% ad recall on YouTube while contributing to a +28% lift in brand differentiation and +15% lift in brand affinity.
With ‘America the Beautiful,’ Dove renewed its commitment to confronting ugliness in the world and reaffirmed its allyship with the Black community both with words and with action.