When I saw a TV spot promoting Dove’s new interactive romantic comedy called Waking Up Hannah (WUH), I was excited to see how it would come together. After all, around our office, the Dove Campaign For Real Beauty (CRB) is considered the epitome of a well thought out Tribal Strategy.
Unfortunately I was more than disappointed. While CRB connects with real women with real lives and helps women deal with self-esteem issues, WUH seems to be focused around a 20-something who thinks the world revolves around her. While CRB helps women connect with each other and makes them feel good, WUH isolates Hannah from the world and makes her seem more important than anyone else.
According to Barbara Owens, brand building manager for Dove skin cleanser:
“Girls in their 20s are often dealing with a lot of pressure and forget how beautiful and amazing their lives really are… It’s really about helping [them] wake up and get a fresh perspective on what’s going on,”
Unfortunately, the WUH site does not convey those messages in a positive manner. In my opinion, this site is completely misaligned with the brand image Dove has successfuly built.
On a side note, according to this article, most 20-somethings are probably more worried if they will have a job in the next few months.
Responses to “Dove’s Interactive Soap Opera -Waking Up Hannah - Completely Misses the Mark”
November 18th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Hi Julia,
Thanks for reading and commenting on our blog.
Waking Up Hannah as a stand alone may win a marketing award. I think the creative and video execution were done very well. My issue is that it is counter to the message Dove has been pushing for a while in its Campaign For Real Beauty.
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Oh please, does anyone still think that Dove is some altruistic force out to improve the lot of womankind? It cynically exploits the anxieties (or sense of entitlement) of “average” women, the better to get them to buy more soap.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Being a woman in her twenties, (who this movie seems to be targeted to,) I have to say that I am completely impressed by this! I feel like the main character is living my life. We all have our pressures everyday and sometimes they get you down and other days you beat them. She has the same struggles that I have.
Malcolm, I don’t agree with your comments that this film completely misses the mark. Dove is showing us that it’s ok to have bad days, Its fine to have money/boyfriend/beauty pressures. In the end it all works out and they portray it in a very fun and interactive way, (a way in which I have never seen before). Kinda of reminds me of that movie with Gywenth Paltrow where there are two story lines)
I commend Dove for speaking to us, and they have done it in a way that makes sense to me, although it may not for you. I challenge you to speak to other woman my age to see if it does miss the mark or not and not make the assumption that Dove has not hit the mark with us the 20-somethings.
J