The silent influencers- written in 2004, Bradford, UK

The Silent PersuadersCreating Beauty brands for the

“heartscape”

Buying Beauty off the shelves

Promises through the years

• A picture perfect face

• New Beauty benefits

• Value added products

The formula hasn’t changed

The Adman’s ( woman’s) cut

• Weave dreams

• Perfectionism

• Creating beauty icons

A face speaks a thousand words

Lakme

Creating a difference

• Investing in emotions

• Unique cuts, unique executions

• Focus on the “persona”

• Brands with attitude

AttitudeKnock out Beauty

Knock out

Good ads, well executed, clear message…But…is there more to beauty…

What can make us stand apart…

Learnings

Lost in the “sameness”

Superficial beauty

Impossibly beautiful “perfect” women

Emotions /benefits restricted to “feelings”

( confidence, freedom etc)

Result: Very replicable.More of the same.

What Women Say

Quotable quotes

• “ I think the worst part is the model’s bodies. When I see them I hate my body. I want to be like them and they make me diet all the time. I am really tired of this.( Eva, 22)

• “ The girls in the ads are too beautiful. I try to be like them but I can never have their hair and skin.”- Meera, 19, Kolkatta, India

• “Everybody has limitation and better be realistic about it and do the best that you can. No matter how much make up you wear, it can’t turn you into Cindy Crawford.”- college student, Indonesia

• “We are bombarded today with images of the "perfect" woman... She is tall and willowy, weighing at least 20% less than what her height requires. She rarely looks older than 25,( 18 in India) has no visible flaws on her skin, and her hair and clothes are always immaculate. One "perfect woman" looks pretty much like the next…” Naomi Wolf ,in her book, “The Beauty Myth”

Where does this leave our consumer?

• Stereotypical beauty aspiration– Not a choice but a

compulsion

• Unachievable beauty images

• Disbelieve and disenchantment

• Goes for price as a deciding factor– Commoditising the brand

Learnings

Buying into the category, not necessarily the brand

Cynical disbelief

Does not resonate with her life, the issues she faces

Result: Does not bond with the brand

A Moment of reflection

I have often wondered…How can we create a mark?

How can we make them see differently? 

What if we made them “see” …but not through just their eyes?

What if we made them “see” through their hearts…

The Heart of a Woman

From Head to Heart- “Heartscape” brands

• Defining Heartscape– Space in a woman’s heart

• Defining Heartscape brands– When the brand in her “heart’s eye” takes the form of an entity, a

relationship.

• The power of the heartscape– Influencers

• Role of beauty in the heartscape

If beauty can trigger off strong emotions for a woman, there exists a powerful potential for creating strong heartscape brands for beauty products.

How can advertising help create

“heartscape” brands?

How can we move away from picture perfect imagery to

credible, achievable and a “realness” in

beauty?

The lotus flowerEmbodiment of Simultaneous Cause and Effect

Complete the spectrum

Cause

Feelings

Action

How do we create a concept of achievable beauty that reaches out to

her heart?

• Create a beauty definition that transcends looks

– It is about action

• Address issues close to her heart– Celebrate her as a woman.

• True beauty does not end with just an external payoff like appreciation for “looks”.– The appreciation stems from what she does with her

looks

Result

Unique

Not replicable

Meaningful

Demystifying beauty- Cause and Effect

• By using “real” women

• By using “real life” scripts,

– Where Beauty and brains coexist– Where Beauty is a means to an end and not an end

in itself

1. “Real women”in reel life

• Dove in the U.K– As tested on real

curves

• Boots in the UK– No impossibly

beautiful models

• Women comfortable with their bodies

• Realistic benefits

Dove

Boots

2. “Real life”in reel life

• When beauty and personality go hand in hand

• Beauty brands act as enhancers for confidence and self belief, leading to positive action

• Real life advertising– Heart Insights – Life scripts– Happy women

Pond’s

What women want…“Half the sky”

Listen to her heart

• What appeals to her

• What concerns her

• What makes her smile

• What does she dream of

• What does she aspire for

• What does she look for in life

The power of affirmative imagery

• Making her believe in herself

• Using beauty as a spring board for realizing her dreams- use it as her strength

• When beauty is no longer a face value

• Make her stand up and take notice

• Reach out to her deepest emotion

There’s more to beauty than just “beauty”

• Beauty

• Glamour

• Fundamental women truths

• A powerfully expressed thought

Breaking the category idiom

To Conclude…

• Beauty is a strength, to spur us to action in whatever we want to achieve and realize

• Beauty is the means to an end

• It’s the end that determines a truly beautiful person

Reflections…

Three months in Bradford

Questioning myself

• What do I want out of life?

• Am I truly happy?

• If not, what am I doing about it?

• What is it that will make me happy?

Rediscovering myself

• What I think of myself vs what others think of me

• Wanting to make a difference– As a professional– As a woman– As an influencer

Life Learnings

A beautiful person is one that wins the heart

Perfectionism can be a weakness

Identifying my leadership style

Respecting the team

Being aware of discrimination, however small

Being open to change

Friends can be soulmates too

Thanks to the beautiful women, who made me realize how special it is to be a woman

I go back to a new morning, a new beginning…