The technology

The internet doesn't ‘care’, because its taxonomy is organised by what it contains, not how it’s going to make us feel. This was our first challenge.

So we analysed the content of a range of websites for ‘damaging’ and ‘positive’ content and created a scored keyword list. The Chrome extension then examined the text in the body of new pages and passed that back to the tool for assessment. Damaging and positive terms were counted and the final score passed back to the browser. If the score threshold was passed, the indicator was highlighted.

In second iteration we are now using the Semantria API to assess text for damaging and positive terms. Critically we will then ‘train’ the tool using human assessment of pages. To improve response time we are also caching page scores so that the first step in the assessment is to look up the page URL before completing the full analysis.

The technology stack is currently controlled by us, using a third party API.

The experience

As the user browses, a small silver Dove hovers on the side of the page to gently increase conscious consideration of content. When potentially ‘negative’ content is picked up the silver Dove turns gold, to flag the page.

If the user wants to, they can click the gold Dove to unlock a positive quote – to help re-balance their self-perception. We find that after a couple of instances, the user no longer does that. What continues, however, is their awareness of the silver Dove and what it represents.

This is the first step on a very long journey. We know that.

Emzara is at prototype stage. It has been through UAT and also released to target Dove consumers, to assess its behavioural impact. What we’ve found is that the tool appeals directly to women at the younger end of the spectrum, and that for them it does act as a gentle reminder.

“I read these things all the time… it makes you aware that this is not normal, this is not average. It's a good reminder.”

Significantly, even women who felt they were ‘too old’ would still recommend it to a younger friend or family member. And in nearly all instances the impression it created of Dove was positive, showing the brand to be in touch with the issues women face.

“Very relevant today.”

“Unique, its not out there is it?”

We’re thrilled to report that, having seen the concept and results, Google would like to partner with us on the beta phase. Putting us on the right track to bring an internet that cares not just to a handful of women, but to billions: helping them all to feel more beautiful every day.