Week 2 Analysis: Brands & The Human Connection/Curating 3

The Dove "You're More Beautiful Than You Think" online advertisement targets women. This advertisement emotionally resonates with women that struggle with common insecurities like not feeling beautiful enough. It demonstrates how women tend to view themselves and how it compares to how others view them and identifies how women judge themselves and their beauty when, really, they are already beautiful. 

Since the 1960's, Dove has incorporated a "real women" approach in their advertising. This video is yet another effective campaign that communicates their brand message which is about teaching women around the world to appreciate their natural beauty. 

Dove engages with their audience by using real women in their advertisement with different looks and nationalities. They incorporate storytelling with the personal story of each woman and how they see themselves or what they have been told by either their mom or friends. These stories relate to many different women who struggle with the same insecurities. It's also engaging in how the video is presented with bright lighting, soft, slow music, close up shots of the women's features and emphasis on the women's responses to their sketches.

Not only did Dove use real, emotional storytelling, they emphasized on a problem or insecurity that a large demographic of women can relate to. Women of all ages, nationalities and appearances can relate to not feeling beautiful enough especially due to what the media feeds us as to what is considered beautiful. Since it targets such a large demographic of women, it explains why this Dove campaign reached such high numbers like the 114 million views less than a month after it's launch.

The results from the Dove advertisement shows the impact that emotive storytelling can have. Viewers are more likely to share content that resonates with them with others that can relate to it as well. It demonstrates the power that video and social media can have by reaching people faster and impact thousands of people in a positive way.

As a media communications student, the takeaway for me to approach digital storytelling is to find what can have the most impact. What problems are there that can resonate with a large number of people whether it's women, mothers or men etc? How can I use stories from real people that are experiencing that problem to tell the story? Another takeaway is how to present it through the use of video or social media. The music, the scenes, the lighting; all of these elements have a significant effect on the viewer and how they interpret your story.