Cool Products and Stuff Blog for Canadian Moms

Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty

This is not an advertisement. At urbanmoms.ca we like to tell you about cool products and stuff that we, or our members, love! We will let you know if it is an ad.

Withered or Wonderful?  That is what you are asked by Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty. I have to admit, this campaign got my attention.  The premise of the campaign is redefining and creating a more realistic image of beauty in our society, one that reflects more women.  I admire this effort and support it.  However, I am embarassed to admit that it forced me to face some ugly truths about myself.

After seeing the billboards for this campaign I realized how programmed I am to view beauty in a certain way.  Even knowing that this standard of beauty is impossible for most women to live up to (including myself) I felt uncomfortable when faced with the questions posed in the ads - can someone who is wrinkled be beautiful?  How about a woman who is bald or overweight?  I was horrified that my initial reaction was, I don't know. 

In my every day life I accept beauty in many forms but I struggled with these images as a representation of beauty in an ad.  I want this to change.  Not only for myself and society as a whole but for my daughter.  I don't want her to feel that she is less worthy if she can't meet these impossible standards. 

Dove has just launched a new AD as part of this campaign geared to young girls with a self-esteem message everyone can all relate to.  I LOVE this ad.  I actually cried the first time I saw it.  Not only does it remind me of my own insecurities growing up but it makes my desire to change that for my daughter that much stronger.  It also helps that Dove is putting their money where their mouth is by creating the Dove Self-Esteem Fund which raises money and awareness of this issue.

I feel good about the message in these ads and the steps being taken both publicly and personally to change this warped perception of beauty.  Press the Comments button below to share your thoughts or email me with ideas.

Jen

Prison Visitor - An Ad I Can Relate To

I LOVE this ad!  None of the predicatble smiling faces and sparkling floors.  This ad captures the reality of housework in a totally humourous way.  This ad is called Prison Visitor and was created by the ad agency Zig for Unilever's Vim product.  They obviously did some great market research and built this campaign around a key consumer insight - people (mother's) want to spend less time cleaning and more time with their families.

Unilever obviously took the time to understand their target market.  Moms are busy and resent the time they have to spend on housework.  Even those of us lucky enough to have cleaning ladies (a must have if you work, how would you ever see your family?!) spend too much of our time cleaning up and tidying around the house.  Although this ad doesn't solve all of these problems it certainly makes me more likely to buy Vim.

View the ad at this link.  Let me know what you think of this one and if you have seen any other products or campaigns that really resonate with you.

Jen

Urban Moms - A Key Target Market

Urban mothers are a key target for many companies.  Organizations would love to be able to infiltrate and impact this key, influential audience.  We are usually the shopping decision maker of the home.  Often, companies are attempting to create products and marketing messages that resonate with women with young families.  Marketers spend a lot of time and money researching relevant ways to get these messages and products into the hands and minds of urban moms.

Urban moms are usually informed trend setters and early adopters.  We are also key influencers on the behaviour of other mothers.  We are involved in our communities and take motherhood and family very seriously.  Most of our information and advice influencing our purchase decisions come from within our communities through mother's groups and other mothers.  Word of mouth marketing at its best.

However, I believe many of today's marketing and advertising campaigns have fallen short.  Each of us has a unique approach to parenting, to consumerism, and to life.  Once we get past the newborn stage our pre-mom selves return with a new perspective, a broader view, and many new products and categories to explore.  However, our desire for modern, cutting-edge products has not changed.

In this section I am going to post about cool new products or marketing campaigns that I think do a good job of resonating with the urban mom.  Please email me if you purchase a product or hear of one you think I should consider.

Jen