They say imitation is the highest form of flattery… would we say the same about parody?
When Dove created their on-line campaign ‘real beauty sketches’ they rightfully knew they were creating a conversation starter, a thought provoking campaign and for many a very moving reflection on how they see themselves.
Along with millions of video views for the Dove campaign (I don’t know if any of these were through paid activity or purely viral) a true demonstration of success for campaigns could be said of the creation of a parody within days of their video appearing on YouTube.
Video views, likes and shares are typically used to measure initial success but maybe marketers should be looking to the number of parodies as evidence for success? Though, of course, it would depend on the sentiment of the parody and what it says about your brand and/or the original campaign.
Another aspect of this campaign is showing that with compelling content you could possibly engage your audience for several minutes, rather than that 30sec-1 minute of a traditional TV advert.
