forward thinking series

‘Evolution of beauty’ Dove Case Study
An applied buzz & brand activation research model

IS-2007-008

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‘Evolution of beauty’: Dove Case Study
An applied buzz & brand activation research model
Summary / Abstract
In traditional campaign post-testings only the impact of direct exposure (people actually having seen the creative) is measured. By doing so, all dynamics behind the buzz in terms of word-of-mouth and word of mouse and how this influences consumer dynamics remains unknown. Insights in the content and dynamics of these conversations could be very useful to understand the success (or failure) of a campaign however. Traditional approaches also neglect the actions people undertake after having viewed a commercial message, while commercials can be found on sites like YouTube and are shared around the world. This study tests Dove’s viral movie ‘Evolution’ and confirms that measuring indirect exposure as well consumer actions undertaken after ad exposure provides advertisers with new and useful insights.

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Introduction

The consumer 2.0 the cocktail party goes digital
Today’s empowered 2.0 consumer is very well informed, strongly connected with peers (and millions of surfers in general), has the ability to unify with them & share ideas but also has the tools to create proper content beyond control of marketers. This consumer is more sceptical, questions many things and uses intelligent ways to see through the facade of marketing actions (Jaffe, 2005). With the rise of this “new” consumer a recent trend in marketing called “word of mouse” (WoMo) has emerged. Verhaeghe et al. (2007) defined word of mouse as “the act of a consumer receiving, creating and/or distributing marketing-relevant content through online channels (both textual and audio-visual)”. WoMo is part of “buzz” defined as the act of consumers providing