Week 1
The company I chose to follow is Dove with a focus on their products targeted towards women. I decided to use Twitter as the social media platform to follow as platforms like Instagram is more photo-sharing based whereas Twitter is the most communication-based. Dove is very active with their followers/customers, they respond to most people if they tag them. It’s not always a lengthy response, sometimes it’s just a simple word or emoji, but I like how they acknowledge the majority of their fans. They also respond to news headlines about stories affecting human rights, voicing their opinion and support for those impacted. They also respond to questions about the ethics of their products, for example someone tweeted them asking if they or their parent company tested on animals, and they had a conversation with the Tweeter about it. They are also open to suggestions, and will direct anyone with an idea to a website where they can submit them. The final observation I noticed is how they deal with a damaged product, or criticism is general. Someone received a damaged product, and Dove responded with an email for them to voice their complaint. While this didn’t seem like the best response a company can make, it’s better for them to handle it privately instead of online. I just hope they check that complaint email often and actually respond.
Week 2
Continuing on the trend of last week, Dove continues to use Twitter as a way to connect to fans and reach out to those who may need assistance. Something new to add is the fact that Dove tries to stay up to date with the latest social media/communication trends, for example when responding to customers they will use the sparkle emoji, which has been a popular emoji circulating around the internet currently. They are also still speaking out politically and culturally, at the moment speaking out about hair discrimination against POC. They are co founders and supporters of a movement to pass the first law to ban race-based hair discrimination. Another thing that noticed and found really interesting was someone asking for hair advice and Dove actually responding and listening. They are a huge company that deals with several products with completely different markets, so it was cool to see them respond and help out with one aspect of their brand. Something I found to be funny was Dove responding to a very blunt hate tweet. I like that they acknowledge that some people are not going to like their products instead of ignoring them and focusing on the positive reviews.
Week 3
This week, Dove responded to many compliments and criticisms. A new trend I am noticing is that Dove treats their customers like they are friends. They respond in a very casual way instead of overly professional like I’ve seen other companies do in the past. This week, Dove responded to a verified Twitter user who applauded them for their bar soap. Dove responded by asking him to send a DM so they could send him some of “the good stuff”. It’s interesting to see what is essentially a business interaction be done online. Whether Dove is looking for endorsement or expressing gratitude for the shoutout, it was nice to see relationships like this develop. Something I’ve noticed in the past with criticisms is that Dove would just direct the user to their website where they could read further about any complaints, however this week they responded to a twitter user complaining about ingredient changes actually answering their question in their response instead of directing them to a website. They also expressed their plan to have their bar single packs not be wrapped in plastic by the end of this year in response to someone criticizing them for using unnecessary plastic.
Week 4
This week, there was not too much happening on Dove’s Twitter account. There were a few of the friendly responses to compliments and criticisms, but I’m noticing them recycle the same ones over and over again. I don’t think this is a bad thing, as there’s only so many ways to express gratitude and appreciation, and I think I’m only noticing because I’m studying them so closely. I still think it’s nice of them to get back to as many people as they are. I would say that the most important thing that happened this week was Dove making a twee in Spanish. Normally, companies will have different social media accounts in different languages so people can absorb content in their preferred language, but I think it makes a big statement that Dove chooses to incorporate multiple languages into one account. I did a little research and could not find a Dove account completely in a different language, I think it’s cool that they are inclusive and not separating content and information by something like language. They also had a comedic moment where someone mistook them as the chocolate brand.
Week 5
This week, Dove’s Twitter account really focused on women empowerment, as the other day was International Day of the Girl. They took this week to honor various women who are helping the self esteem and confidence movement. Most notable was Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudnda, who won the 2020 Nobel prize for chemistry for their work on the genome-editing tool CRISPR. I loved that they acknowledged this as this is the first Nobel prize won by women without a male collaborator, which really goes along with their campaign that emphasizes the importance of women in STEM. I think it’s really cool to see a brand go so far to promote such ideals. They are a soap and body product company, they really do not need to be this active in social issues but I love it and I think it’s a really good reputation-building strategy. Along with last week’s post, Dove announced that their Confident Me at home tool kit is now available in Spanish. This toolkit is to inform parents, mentors, and educators on boosting body confidence in young people, specifically now in those who are participating in virtual learning. It is so cool to see a company not only creating tools in which to help people accept how the school system is operating today, but to make these tools accessible to more than one language. Overall, this week was more social issue and politics based over on Dove’s Twitter account, as Dove keeps pushing the Crown Act, a law in which to end hair discrimination. They also respond to a user criticizing their heavy involvement as a body care company, and they responded in just about there coolest way they could, and how I wish more companies and influencers would as well. The response is in the last picture posted.
Week 6
This past week, Dove released a new commercial addressing the stigma around black men in today’s society. The ad called foe change of action, to share and spread stories with the hopes of achieving racial equity. This was shown alllll over their Twitter account. Many people had lots to say as did Dove themselves. There were people criticizing the ad as they did not believe that anything could be changed within the system, to which Dove replied that they have created a partnership with the NBPA in an effort to speed up action to change and vowed to keep spreading awareness and do everything that they could to educate as many people as they could. Those who met the commercial with appreciation commended Dove for trying to make things right. Dove responded once again confirming their belief that change can happen and that they can make an impact in getting that message across. They say that they recognize their responsibility and the position they are in to help people and amplify the stories and voices of those who do not have the platform that Dove does. A recent trend I am noticing is how much action Dove takes. When the Black Lives Matter movement was once again revived, many companies joined it as a trend, showing their support, donating some money, but ultimately forgetting about it and moving on. I have not noticed many companies go as far as Dove has, creating and largely supporting law for change in stereotypes and discrimination and using their platform to give voice to those who do not have the platform to do so. Dove once again runs their company and handles themselves in ways in which I wish more companies and people in positions of power did.
Week 7
This week, Dove’s Twitter feed was a mix of responses from last weeks ad campaign as well as responding to comments both about Dove’s products and about inspiring others. Dove celebrated Day of the Girl, in which they recognized individual women who are chasing their dreams an encouraging others to do the same. Dove donated $250,000 to the Boys and Girls Club to “advance their work helping young people build a brighter future”. They also responded to a girl named Naomi who is currently battling childhood cancer. Naomi’s parents posted a video of a night where she was feeling insecure about how going through treatment changed her look. Even though Dove’s products were nowhere to be seen or mentioned in this video or the overall tweet, they responded with words of encouragement and kindness and well wishes. I thought this was really cool of Dove to do, as in their tweet to her they emphasized that beauty is more than looks, which is an important thing for anyone to remember, but especially those who are going through such a thing as cancer at that age. Dove also revived their promise of reducing single-use plastic in their soap packaging, insisting that by the end of the year their beauty bar single packs will be plastic-free globally.
