In October, our creative director Laurie Hix mourned the passing of Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign. For seven years, Dove had celebrated women with body fat, freckles, wrinkles, gray hairs, and other “flaws.” In the first two months of the campaign, Dove’s U.S sales increased by 600 percent, illustrating the immense power of brands that know how to market to women.

After that, the company launched a self-esteem saver and continued to redefine beauty. It made many women, including me, very, very happy.

When Dove shifted gears and started producing spots with sassy, skinny women soaping up in the shower, Laurie wrote, “It seemed like all the progress they made just evaporated.”

Well, it seems Dove got the message. If the company was seeking redemption with its new video, it has succeeded in spades. The film instantly went viral, with almost 3.5 million views as I write this. A 6.5-minute version has gotten almost half a million views. And while I’m at it, Dove’s Facebook page has more than 13.7 million likes, which blows competition like Olay’s 1.6 million likes away.

The video portrays women who’ve been partnered with a stranger for reasons unknown to them. After spending some time together, each subject goes into a sunny loft and describes herself to a forensic artist. The artist is separated from the subjects by a screen and draws their images based on the subjects’ descriptions only. Next, the partner describes this same woman to the artist. Then the subjects come and view their two sketches side-by-side. Invariably, the self-described portrait looks heavy, unattractive, and downright melancholy compared with the prettier pictures made with input from the strangers.

As the women view their sad self-images, their faces fall. One of them even cries. I must admit, when I watched it, I teared up, too.

The message at the film’s end, accompanied by quiet piano music, is, You are more beautiful than you think.

I’m excited by Dove’s return to its Real Beauty roots for a couple reasons:

1. Money Talks
   Such a quick reversal might indicate that Dove’s sales fell when they started using conventionally beautiful models instead of women who were both beautiful and (take your pick) short, flat-chested, overweight, or older.  This shows that a cultural shift has indeed happened. In addition, a powerful branding phenomenon has happened. Dove spent years carefully and even lovingly building a brand around this idea of real beauty. They sent positive messages in both their advertising and their products like the lotion they named Pro-Age instead of Anti-Wrinkle.

   That’s why women felt so connected to the Dove brand—and why they may have stopped buying when the Real Beauty ended.

2. The Expansion of Advertising
   These videos (you can choose between a 1.5 minute version, a 3-minute one, and a 6.5-minute one) are not commercials. They are films, with a narrative arc, beautiful art direction, and a real emotional impact. (Have any of your Facebook friends shared the video with the comment, “This made me cry?” Several of mine have.)

   Dove isn’t pushing product here. They don’t even mention a product, or the Dove name, other than a brief flash of the logo at the end. Yet the impact on the brand is massive.

This shows me just how powerful it can be to think both outside the box and in long-range terms when you’re molding a brand. If we’re brave, genuine, and give our target audience—women—what they really want, we can achieve big, big things.

When Dove does a more conventional soap sell, as Laurie pointed out, it looks just like its competitors. It’s when the product takes a step back—and lets the beauty of real women shine—that the brand really stands out.

I hope the instant success of this video encourages Dove to stick to its guns—to connect to women in a unique, respectful, and beautifully real way. In short, to make an emotional connection.

Justin Timberlake is back, but not just with a new album. He is the biggest supporter and face of a new networking site – the New Myspace. The fresh site is putting itself on the level of Pandora and Spotify and backing away from social networking giants Facebook and Twitter. The New Myspace won’t compete with Facebook anymore; instead it will provide content that can be shared via social media.

The new site is all about music and making connections. Users can connect to and get updates from all their favorite artists. You can even become a number one fan of an artist if you interact with them more than any other user. When connecting to friends, the New Myspace shows your “affinity” or commonalities in music with that person. You can also connect to mixes (playlists other users create), music videos and radios (artist based radios – similar to Pandora.)

It’s also all about being visual. The profile pages allow you to put a very large, high quality cover photo and then as you sideways scroll across, you can see smaller pictures of music, comments and connections. The homepage is also very photo based – giving you the latest news on your connections and the music world.

Other cool features include a large search toolbar that appears no matter where you are on the site and a music player that remains on the bottom of the screen always.

There is no advertising on the site right now, but it will be added over time. What does this mean for marketers in the future? It means connecting to a targeted demographic in a new way. When advertising does come to the site, it won’t be in the same cluttered way as the old site. Options could include pre-roll videos before music videos and branded content (articles, photos, etc.) The advertising would be more integrated in the site and not just a mess of banner ads.

Marketers could target a specific age group with specific interests easily. At first, the New Myspace will definitely skew to a younger demographic, but also might attract the original Myspace users who are a little older. As time goes on, more and more people of all ages will become users. You can narrow down who to target by what music they listen to and what they list as their interests – similar to Facebook.

Pandora advertising is taking off and the New Myspace could follow suit. Do you see yourself joining the New Myspace? Or more importantly, can you see yourself advertising on it?

While driving to my daughter’s martial arts class this week, a bold, new sign on an old downtown fixture caught my attention: Vibe Credit Union.

The credit union formerly known as Telcom has joined the ranks of the newly rebranded. Like the hundreds of credit unions that preceded Vibe, the credit union shed its namesake for the sake of growth.

Telcom Credit Union dates back to 1936 when it was formed by a group of employees at Michigan Bell Telephone Company in Detroit. At the time, membership was restricted to employees and their families. Today, Vibe Credit Union is open to virtually anyone, thanks to a clever cause marketing relationship with the Salvation Army.

Still, “Telcom” doesn’t exactly translate as “welcome all” in consumer speak. And in a market where consumers are already tripped up over the word “union,” credit unions must take great pains to clear all potential barriers to entry. It’s the same reason T&C Federal Credit Union opted for Genisys, Communications Family assumed Wildfire, Royal Oakland is Our Credit Union, EECU became Michigan Community Credit Union, Metro changed to Extra…

Changing markets and repositioning alone build a credible argument for rebranding. The challenge is to craft a new moniker that fits the bill—ideally a name that maximizes existing brand equity, is progressive, and hasn’t already been claimed (i.e. anything with “Trust,” “Financial,” “Lakes,” “Michigan,” “Lake Michigan,” etc.)

Vibe has covered all three bases, according to the FAQ page on its website. The new name pays homage to its roots, while embracing an increasingly technology-based personal banking environment and altogether different generation of customers. And it’s the first credit union to become Vibe Anything, or Anything Vibe.

The most difficult work is now underway, integrating the credit union’s key attributes to create a brand proposition that resonates with new consumers without alienating its current, loyal base. Is the new brand too irreverent? Too nontraditional? Too disco? Will consumers catch the Vibe or tune it out?

Do the ads that play on Pandora while you listen to your favorite playlist pertain to products or brands you are likely to purchase? As advertisers, it’s our job to make sure our client’s ads are being served to the right people. Pandora is making this easier, as they just announced their integration with STRATA, Mediabank and Mediaocean, the advertising industry’s most popular media buying platforms. This means that radio buyers will be able to compare Pandora's audience data side-by-side with broadcast radio stations across the country and make more informed decisions about their media mix.

Thanks to Pandora, advertisers will now have a more complete representation of the radio industry that includes both broadcast and internet radio. Because of Pandora’s information gathering upon free registration (birth date, gender, zip code and music), advertisers can target who they want (whatever demo) and where they want (US, region, state, DMA, County, etc.).

Being able to reach a specific target is important, but we love when media platforms take it a step further. Pandora is the perfect tool for marketing to women because it allows users to create their own listening experience which establishes a positive and more personal relationship. Listeners are more likely to feel Pandora is innovative, provides a great experience, and even contributes to the happiness of their day-to-day lives. This translates to better ad receptivity with engaged listeners tuning in to the ads and feeling positively towards the brands. According to a study done by Added Value Research, 77% of Pandora users said that listening to Pandora always put them in a better mood. 67% said that Pandora has a positive impact on their day-to-day life.

Although there is and will always be a place for advertising on AM/FM radio, there is a strong opportunity to connect with highly engaged consumers in the Pandora environment. According to Nielsen @Plan, females 25-54 who listen to Pandora are 41% more likely to have shopped online for health insurance in the last 30 days than the general online 18+ population. Females 25-54 who listen to Pandora are also 36% more likely to be the primary grocery decision maker in the home. The Pandora space is filled with listening ears with buying power. So next time you are listening to your favorite play list, pay attention to the ads that are being served your way. Chances are, the products and brands that pop up on your screen are tailored just for you.

Have you ever purchased a product or brand after being emotionally engaged to it via Pandora?

It’s always been tough getting Medicaid moms to their prenatal and well–baby visits. Which is why UnitedHealth’s new game, called Baby Blocks, is a great idea. When moms attend prenatal and well-baby check-ups (which is easier said than done), they get to unlock “blocks” in the game.  And voila, they are rewarded with gift cards for much-needed baby related stuff. Like maternity clothes, diaper bags and baby apparel. Pretty spot on for this younger, low-income, yet gaming-savvy, target. And it seems to be working, as 2296 members used the Baby Blocks pilot in 2012, logging 7098 prenatal appointments (an average of 3.1 prenatal blocks per member).

The rise of healthcare gamification can be attributed to the rise in smartphone and social media use and related desire for engagement. “Using motivational techniques from games is part of it, as is creating engaging experiences for people,” says Kevin Werbach, Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics. In the Pew Future of Gamification report, neuroscientists claim that "interactive design elements can cause feel-good chemical reactions and in certain situations can improve learning, participation and motivation."

That’s the intent behind HopeLab’s Re-Mission, a video game developed specifically for adolescents and young adults with cancer. Nanobot, Roxxi, travels through fictional cancer patients destroying cancer cells, battling infections and managing side effects associated with cancer and cancer treatment. Research shows the game has been an effective tool for young cancer patients, now distributed to over 185,000 patients worldwide.

A related tool worth applauding is the pain diary app, called The Pain Squad, developed by The Hospital for Sick Children. This innovation was designed to help pediatric cancer patients track and address their pain. How intense it is, how long it lasts, where it hurts, how it impacts their mood and daily activities, and what helps to treat it. Since inadequate assessment and patient reluctance to report pain are the biggest barriers in pain treatment, the goal is to make it easier for kids to track their symptoms by using technology that’s fun and familiar. And the hope is better pain management and quality of life for these youths.

It seems in many cases the ramification of gamification in healthcare is improved health status. Let us know if you have any favorite healthcare games or apps that are  helping people.