First Fatherhood Moments

“You’re going to be a Dad”. This unforgettable moment, charged with emotion, is typically shared privately between partners. It’s the moment that a man accepts the ultimate challenge of showing care as man’s real strength. We tell the story for real, using real dads and the very moment that they become a father. We invite our audience in, and share with them the intense and joyous range of emotion that it engenders.

To capture this moment in the most real and authentic way we looked to the medium of video and the native digital behaviour of our audience. Reflective of the increase in “dad content” online today, the film uses a compilation of personal clips from the lives of real men to show the range of emotions that dads express upon receiving the news.

We had just 12 weeks (and an immovable deadline) in which to identify, shortlist and select the YouTube source films.

The campaign achieved impressive media scale. Coverage moved Good Morning America TV anchors to tears and grabbed headlines: “Dove’s viral Father’s Day video features modern dads. And the new definition of a strong man being reason to celebrate” (Washington Post). In June the video was #1 on Buzzfeed’s organic “Trending” list, #2 on Adweek’s “10 Most Watched Ads” and #2 most viewed on YouTube’s Leaderboard (second only to Arnold Schwarzenegger coming to life in Madame Tussauds).

• Reach: 17m video views in two weeks, making the film the most watched video in the brand’s history. The video had 50% organic views over the first 3 days after launch. 77m Facebook impressions. 9m Instagram impressions with 350k likes. 1.5bn PR impressions. 608 PR placements.

• Engagement: 1,000 comments with 95% positive sentiment. 60% of twitter FMCG Father’s day engagements belonged to the campaign.

• Achievement against business targets – the brand successfully held its place as the fastest growing men’s grooming brand and as one of the most visible brands during Fathers’ Day. The video delivered positive ad recall, with a Brand Lift of 3.4% against our target males, showing a positive shift in attitudes.