Brave brands take center stage

by: Kristiana Lockman

I’m used to brands chasing me. Like the maker of the sparkly shoes I abandoned in a cart, the one that stalks me as I move around the Internet. Reading an article, there they are. Checking out my friend’s vacation pictures? Sparkly shoes are winking in the sidebar, like little actors determined to audition for a role in my closet. Even the other pair of sparkly shoes, the ones I DID buy, are tailing me.

That’s the reality of the world we live in. Brands aren’t sitting back waiting to be discovered. They’re trying to get in front of us, working up a sweat as they audition for the spotlight in our heads.

But you know who doesn’t have to work so hard? You know who walks right up and takes the stage? The brand that bravely starts a conversation about something that matters.

Dove has been doing this for over a decade with Real Beauty, a campaign that started as a research project and ended up tapping into a deeper, more meaningful conversation about what it means to be beautiful. This brand was able to elevate itself with a message that doesn’t feel like advertising.  Really, I don’t have the bandwidth to remember why their product will make me look softer and smoother than someone else’s product. But why my girlfriends, my mother, my co-workers, and I all feel we have to look softer and smoother? That’s a pretty interesting topic.

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