Background
Dove Invisible Dry is proven to leave no white marks on 100 garment colours – but how do we demonstrate this in a locally relevant way?
Our campaign was rooted on the insight that Africa is a colourful continent where women wear bright, bold colours to express themselves through fashion every day.
In 2018, we partnered with African contemporary fashion house Rich Factory to design a bespoke 100-colour fabric, inspired by Africa to celebrate the rich, diverse culture of our colourful continent.
Dubbed the 100 Colours of Africa print, the now iconic and easily distinguishable fabric was first revealed at Africa Fashion International Fashion Week 2018 worn by Dove Deodorant’s campaign partner, Nomzamo Mbatha, who graced the runway in a showstopper dress.
The campaign generated a lot of interest and gained significant media coverage.
Continuing to build on the momentum achieved in 2018, we accelerated the campaign in 2019 infusing new elements to drive awareness, excitement and engagement.
We focused not only on elevating the partnership with Ri.Ch Factory, but also a strong consumer-centric element that looks to bring consumers along on the journey, ensuring that they ultimately share in the magic of this collaboration.
Solution
By delving into the current trends in the African fashion market, it was clear that bold, bright and colourful prints that emulated traditional designs were on the rise, but with a twist.
Working to understand the market also revealed that our consumers love to celebrate Africa, in authentic ways that matched their modern lifestyles.
Two more iterations of the original 100 Colours print were created: in black-and-white monochrome and another in pretty pastels, keeping the much-loved original colours, but adding a little twist.
Careful selection of our partners was key and working with a young, local designer and influencer partners who already celebrated their African heritage, with a modern twist too. Rina Chunga-Kutama of Ri.Ch Factory, our Dove Deodorants influencer partners; and model search winners who were chosen according to Dove’s Real Beauty ethos which promotes the Inclusion of a diverse range of women In Its campaigns.
Making sure that the brand was represented throughout the process was also key, from keeping the models confident and stain-free through the design process, to keeping the garments stain-free on the runway, the product was always in context and used thoughtfully to add to the narrative, rather than take away from it.
To make the #100ColoursofAfrica print more accessible to women in South Africa, we launched a limited-edition capsule collection with three pieces that are essential in every woman’s wardrobe.
Execution
Refreshed the 2018 campaign for 2019 by using the original print design to create two new different colour palettes – pastels, black & white.
Revealed the newly designed capsule collection at the Africa Fashion International spring/ summer showcase, using a diverse group of models that were chosen through a search targeted at consumers.
Brought to life the vision of spreading the campaign further than South Africa’s borders by gifting Influencers In other markets on the continent with Items from the newly created capsule collection.
Took the campaign into the homes of everyday women – our consumers – who are all different and have different needs/ style, by creating a capsule collection with statement pieces that women of all shapes and sizes can purchase and own.
All proceeds of the sale of the capsule collection were donated to the Design Indaba Emerging Creatives programme.
