Dove Men+Care: A Transparent Marketing Reminder
There’s been quite a lot of discussion about Dove’s Men+Care Super Bowl ad, and rightly so. But, (for the love of…) don’t let their success lead you to the extremes of “me-too” and “we’ve got to get in on this marketing to men thing.”
I can see it already. When Dove first started releasing their various more noticeably women-focused, Campaign for Real Beauty ads – and they were effective/much talked about – brands all over the place went nuts trying to be similarly clever in jumping on the women’s thing. Except, the women Dove was reaching so well were a very specific group of women, and no other brand, product or industry could simply slap a real women/not models campaign together and succeed.
Oh, but they tried.
“Marketing to men” may be the latest shiny object for marketers. But, I’m advising you to take a chill pill, step back – and perhaps revisit the “transparent marketing” guidelines in my book, Don’t Think Pink. Here are three:
1. Narrow your focus (and narrow it more and more and more – almost to pinpoint). There’s no way you are ever marketing to all men everywhere. Dove knows that, and did a ton of research. That’s why the reality their Super Bowl ad depicted seems to resonate. Guys are not being represented as uber-manly but more like the normal guys many of us know and love. Life for adult men isn’t ALL about drinking beer and ogling hot chicks (who knew?).
2. Get to know and understand your customer community intimately. Dove found out that men connect with life in real ways – first you are young and goofy, then you get a job and find a great mate, then have kids and so on. Life is rich and full. The idea is to understand a day in the life of the man you are trying to reach, and also to understand a day that he may dream of (even if you don’t pose the question to him in quite that way).
3. Gather, utilize and acknowledge feedback. Without really talking to a few of the people they were trying to reach in developing the Dove Men+Care message, the skin care brand would never have gotten the tone and humor of this ad right – just as was the case with their ground-breaking Campaign for Real Beauty women’s efforts. And now, I’m guessing they are keeping track of how the ad campaign resonates and what is being said in blog comments and on Twitter to refine their future efforts. Women are not the only ones who appreciate being heard, and given all the lame caveman vs. superwoman ad representations running now, guys are probably very receptive to brands countering that theme (which has become cliched, in case you haven’t noticed).
Being guided and inspired by the customers you serve is the definition of transparent marketing. Male consumers would likely say they don’t need a manly/blue filter on campaigns trying to get their attention. Like women, they’d much rather be respected and connected with around values and ideas that are important to them. So leave the grunting and burping for the beer ads – they do it so well.
*I’d give this ad campaign an “A” for concept and execution.
