How Dove's ad campaign became an overnight sensation

In 2013, there was a video that went extremely viral with over 114 million total views within a month’s time. Any guesses?

No, I am not talking about Gangnam Style.

Actually it was neither a comic nor a music or a dance video. It was the Dove’s “Real beauty” campaign ad that broke the charts and became one of the most viral ad videos during that time.

The Dove “Real Beauty Sketches” explores how women perceive their own physical appearance to an forensic sketch artist. Their own descriptions depict their low self-confidence resulting in portraits that look closed-off and plain-looking. However, when strangers describe these same women, what is sketched is a more happier and flattering portrait in every case. The point being that women are often overly critical about their appearance and ignore the natural beauty they possess. Have a look yourself:

Despite all the criticism, the ad was successfully able to rattle the previous record holder ) for most viewed online ad — The Evian Roller Babies (111 million views) from the top spot. Moreover, the ad was uploaded in 25 different languages and has been viewed in more than 110 countries. In fact the video became so popular that people started making parodies and spoofs of the Dove’s “Beauty Sketches”.

But what made a video SO viral? Let’s find out.

I think the main reason that the ad went viral is that it actually moves you.

Most people cry after watching this ad and not just women, men too. They think about their mothers, sisters and daughters. Dove was successfully able to connect with the audience and give them a reason to share.

I think ads these days don’t evoke any such emotion they just plainly communicate their product information.

Even if they try to leverage emotion, it is not that easy to take off. One such failed campaign was the blog “Wal-marting across America”. In this blog, two average Americans travel across the country visiting Walmart locations and reporting their interaction with the store along the way. However, it was later discovered that the trip was paid for by Walmart and the entire thing was a campaign created and managed by the company’s PR firm. The entire campaign did not receive a warm reception throughout the internet and was deemed as a “flog” (Fake Blog).

Conclusion

The Dove “Real Beauty Sketches” ad elicited an intense emotional responses of warmth, ‘happiness’ and ‘knowledge’ from the viewers along with the subtle play on people’s social motivations which paved the way to a sensational response.

What do you think are some other examples that went mega-viral on the social media space? Do comment.