Dove's Cinematic Spot Puts Pleasure First

Dove, the biggest chocolate brand of Mars in China has launched a major brand campaign to reinvigorate the brand and redefine the role of pleasure for a new generation of consumers. 

Conceptualised and created by a coalition of brand, media, communications and specialist agencies, led by BBDO Greater China and 180 Beijing, together with MediaCom, Edelman and Kongming, the campaign ‘Put Pleasure First’ is based on the insight that people tend to deprioritise what they love to do, in face of what they need to do. This is especially true when navigating the unprecedented global pandemic and new ways of life which have made this year a challenging one for all, where we often feel pressured to delay or cancel occasions and treats that we find pleasure in, to give way to a seemingly more important agenda. 

Mars understands that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today, and as part of this philosophy, is dedicated to supporting the communities in China, to fill the world with more happy people with that freedom to pursue pleasure in life.  “Dove believes the pursuit of pleasure begins with saying yes to living life fully with no regrets, and aims to celebrate people who put pleasure first. To help deliver better moments that make the world smile, we want to encourage everyone to pursue what they love despite challenges or stereotypes especially in times of uncertainties through the Dove Reborn campaign “ Clarence Mak, president, Mars Wrigley, China.

The new brand campaign breaks conventions of how brand communications are delivered by focusing on creating a holistic brand experience across different-platforms, driven by data-led understanding of the behaviour of new generations. 

At the core of this experiential experience is a 10-minute short film, ‘The Endless Fun Fair’ starring Zhou Dongyu and Liu Yijun, directed by rising star female film director Yang Mingming. The creation of the film was entirely crowd-sourced, firstly through a Douyin challenge, where people across the country could participate to win the chance to be featured in the film by simply showing their own user-generated content of pleasure. Secondly, it was produced by an all-female crew consisting of outstanding female film professionals recruited from an open challenge on Xinpianchang Studios. Because who can better exemplify the spirit of putting pleasure first, despite challenge and stereotypes, than women in the film industry that’s dominated by men?

The story follows the final opening day of an amusement park that is about to be shut down - a metaphor for the situation the whole world finds itself in due to COVID-19. The last remaining employee is an optimistic girl who sees pleasure no matter what, but on this sad day, she meets a depressed stranger who she eventually discovers is the park owner. Her attitude of putting her own pleasure first rubs off on him, and he begins to see the world in a new positive light. The approach to this short film, as first and foremost a cinematic content project, is set apart from the sea of brand micro-movies that are seen in the market today.

Equally innovative and pioneering, the mass premiere of the film was live-streamed on Tmall, where consumers could watch the film, access exclusive content on Zhou Dongyu and the crew’s thoughts from the filming journey, and directly purchase the limited edition Dove Donut Chocolate that was featured in the film. The launch coincided with the official launch of Dove’s Super Brand Day on Tmall. Consumers can also enjoy the film on the first ever Mobile Cinema, which is a brand-new film experience for modern and mobile savvy consumers.

On social media, a Behind-the-Scenes documentary was released, chronicling the making of this unique crowd-sourced all-female crew film; On Douyin, we encouraged consumers to showcase their pleasure moments; On Bilibili, we created the first ever virtual character – Dove Girl. By communicating to GenZ in ways they love, we invited them to join the pleasure story and create content of their own specialty. After all, Dove is committed to encouraging everyone to do the things they love.

Such a multi-platform integrated brand experience was made possible by the close working of the agency coalition with BBDO developing the strategy and creative concept, 180 Beijing on creative concept and digital & social planning, creative and execution, MediaCom on media strategy & execution, Edelman on event concept & execution and PR communication, and Kongming developing eCommerce activations & collaborations. This cross-agency, cross-network team worked seamlessly to break new ground on Mars campaigns both in scale and ambition and successfully refresh the image of Dove among the Chinese consumers.

“From the very beginning the ambition of this idea was to be breakthrough, not only in terms of the messaging but also in terms of how consumers will engage, encounter and be inspired by it. The experience truly spans across the platforms our customers live on, but centers around in a piece of film that more than an advertisement, sparks conversation and has a positive impact on society.” – Arthur Tsang, chief creative officer, BBDO China

"We are honoured to be a part of this great work. We believe that a good idea can express the same conviction through various media vehicles. In this campaign, we leverage Top 4 social media platforms to engage with young people and call on them to join the campaign. By arousing the young generation to pursue, show and share pleasure to the rest of the world, “Dove put pleasure first” becomes the power.” — Howard Mok, chief creative officer, 180 Beijing.

“We are very proud to participate in this inspiring and category redefining project which intends to propel women to put their pleasure first and pursue what they truly love.  This project is one of the most supreme moments of our longstanding partnership with MARS.  We are delighted to share our expertise in driving industry leading collaboration between content and media to deliver the holistic movie experience to millions of Chinese audiences empowered by intelligent media data and insights” – Rupert McPetrie, CEO Mediacom China.

“It’s our pleasure to be part of this evolutional Dove Reborn campaign. As the biggest PR firm globally, we have always been committed to helping brands generate positive communication with consumers to drive positive social development and evolution. So was this campaign. We worked with worldwide famous movie star Dongyu Zhou to promote the concept of " Put Pleasure First" and Dove's new products through an innovative online launch, giving everyone tips on how to lead a pleasurable life and planting the seeds of " Put Pleasure First" in everyone's heart.” said the SVP of Edelman Brand Marketing, Ms. Cathy Yue.

“We are very proud to be a part of the team and excited to bring this new and wonderful experience to consumers. As a bridge between the brand, Tmall and the consumers, we had the great opportunity to work with both the brand and Tmall to create these unique product stories. We believe the campaign showcases a unique way of integrating brand story with a consumer centric product experience.” Shanshan He, Business Director, KONGMING.

“Our limited-edition Dove Donut Chocolate was developed with agility and quick go-to-market ability in mind. By utilising the trends and consumer insights of the TMALL Super Brand Day team and the product development capabilities of Mars Wrigley’s Pilot Scale Plant and C2M2C Model, we were able to successfully turn brand story-telling into business performance.” Maise Huang, Demand Reinvention Officer, Mars Wrigley, China.