The Self-Esteem Movement: Why Marketers Want You to Love Yourself (and How They Sometimes Fail)

The Self-Esteem Movement: Why Marketers Want You to Love Yourself (and How They Sometimes Fail)

Marketing has produced some profound changes in style and tone over the years, but one of the most influential and popular trends in the last decade has been the “body positive” advertising movement.

Companies like Dove and Lane Bryant have been prominent players in this movement, which predominantly targets women, encouraging these customers to embrace their looks instead of criticizing themselves. And when this method works, it gives viewers a sense of confidence, which they can then associate with the brand, creating a strong emotional brand connection. Think about Lane Bryant’s #ImNoAngel campaign, which ended up earning the company $7 million in incremental sales after months of drought.

Or consider the popular Dove “Beauty Sketches” campaign, where participants were asked to describe themselves to a forensic sketch artist and then describe other women in their participant group. The short film demonstrated the profound disconnect that exists in women’s perceptions of themselves and was such a success it became the most watched Youtube video of all time, which increased Dove’s visibility abroad and domestically. At the time this article was written, it had 67.8 million views… [ read more ]