Campaign Strategist
Calvin Walker
Dove is known for challenging beauty standards. When they asked my former agency to make their dry spray deodorant relevant to Gen Z, we wanted to fulfill their request while still sticking to their larger brand mission. The results? Slightly subversive creative that resonated in more ways than one.
To kick things off, we needed to understand precisely what conversations were taking place with Gen Z both on and off social. From news articles to the cover of Vogue, we saw that armpit hair was hair a true revival but mainstream media was still finding ways to downplay its presence.
Root Things in Research:
‘Big d*ck energy’ has been a part of modern slang for years. After a misunderstanding in a brainstorm, I arrived at our creative wrapper: big pit energy. The concept? To show how we can love our underarms with total confidence and zero shame. Dove loved the creative so much, they increased the budget by 122%.
Reflect the Culture:
Influencers shared their own narrative about why they were embracing their underarms which helped our campaign resonate and garner 79% positive sentiment. #BigPitEnergy was then adopted by the brand for larger initiatives including an activation truck that was placed in select arena parking lots during Harry Styles’s national US tour.
Lead With Purpose:
Influencers shared their own narrative about why they were embracing their underarms which helped our campaign resonate and garner 79% positive sentiment. #BigPitEnergy was then adopted by the brand for larger initiatives including an activation truck that was placed in select arena parking lots during Harry Styles’s national US tour.
Results? 840k+ engagements. 61M total impressions. 405% TikTok viewership. Did I mention the campaign hashtag being used in experiential activations?
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Posted Sep 13, 2023
As the Director of Strategy, I worked with my team to generate subversive creative for Dove, a legacy brand looking to connect with a younger demographic.
