There were four main objectives for Dove’s Super Bowl campaign. The first was to drive mass awareness for the campaign and the Body Confident Sports program via proximity to the Super Bowl and a series of high impact, unmissable partnership moments, engaging in person activations and a team of voices that break Dove into sports culture and beyond, maximize press opportunities and reach subcultures of Big Game fans. The second was to Illuminate the issue by highlighting the Dove commissioned research, specifically the 45% drop out rate stat to help audiences understand the impact of self-esteem in sports for young girls and encourage them to take action. The third was to reinforce Dove’s existing commitments that tackle harmful beauty ideals and positively impact 250 million young people by 2030 via the Dove Self-Esteem Project. The fourth was to spark a movement via deep impactful storytelling that provokes parents to consider the emotional impact this issue has on young girls involved in sports and inviting them to join us in making sports a source of confidence not dissatisfaction.
Dove returned to the big game after 18 years with an important message about girls in sports. The strategy was to create unmissable proximity to the Big Game via a strategic earned media approach, strategic partnerships and meaningful activation that engaged the local community. The 3 key phases included the Back in the Game Announcement. In mid-December, Dove officially announced it was back in the Big Game with a :30-second TV commercial, tapping into a built in news cycle to establish brand narrative. The second phase included announcing Dove’s partnership with Kylie Kelce and TVC release. Dove and Kylie Kelce joined forces to call on all to #KeepHerConfident with the Body Confident Sport Program and release of the TV commercial across channels. The last phase was the brand’s on the ground presence in Vegas. Dove hosted a star studded "45 Yard Line" flag football game in Las Vegas with tennis champion Venus Williams and Football legend Steve Young to support girls in sports ahead of football's biggest night, fostering connection and community while putting tools from the Body Confident Sport program into practice.
This campaign was executed by following a multiphase process and strategic partnerships.
We began by pre-pitching the commercial launch in December, focusing on trade outlets, sports and business. After securing pre-launch coverage, we focused on our talent interviews and coverage.
Back in the Game Announcement: In mid-December, Dove officially announced it was back in the Big Game with a :30-second TV commercial, which would premiere in the first quarter of football's biggest night, tapping into the built-in news cycle to establish brand narrative.
Kylie Kelce Partnership Announcement & TVC Release: Dove and Kylie Kelce partnered for a social forward premiere of the new ad, which broke on her Instagram and simultaneously appeared on multiple national broadcast shows, including GMA and TODAY. In the days leading up to the big game, we also brought the Body Confident Sport message to the Drew Barrymore Show.
Cast of influential voices: Dove enlisted influential voices in sports including Tennis Champion & Entrepreneur Venus Williams, Athlete & Coach Kylie Kelce and former NFL Quarterback Steve Young to support the campaign across touchpoints, leveraging their authentic ties to the campaign and relevancy in culture to gain mass awareness and drive PR buzz.
On the ground in Vegas: Dove, in partnership with youth organization, GENYOUth hosted a star studded "45 Yard Line" flag football game in Las Vegas with tennis champion Venus Williams and Football legend Steve Young to support girls in sports ahead of football's biggest night, fostering connection and community. Our celebrity partners, Venus Williams and Steve Young participated in the event as guest coaches sharing helpful advice from the Dove Body Confident Sport program to help keep girls in sport.
Dove outperformed campaign KPIs by securing 1.3K placements across online, print, and broadcast for total of 11.4 Billion impressions
Ranked number 6 in prestigious USA Today Ad Meter, outranking all other beauty brands at the Big Game, Fortune CEO Alan Murray’s Daily Newsletter gave Dove the #1 spot, named “one of the top three ads” through a segment on CNBC, we received accolades in the likes of CNN, Yahoo Sports, CBS News, AP and more.