Discover the Inside Story - Inside Effectiveness with Lucy Tone-McGurk

Lucy Tone-McGurk, Category Client Lead for Dove at Ogilvy UK, reveals the insights behind the multi Gold and AME Awards Campaign of the Year- Europe winning campaign, “The Real Cost of Beauty” in our exclusive Inside Effectiveness interview.

Ogilvy UK, London,has claimed the #1 spot on the 2024 AME Agency Report, a testament to their outstanding results-driven campaigns.Their impactful work for Dove, “The Real Cost of Beauty,” earned multiple trophies and elevated Dove to the #1 Brand in the AME Brand Report, highlighting Dove’s success in championing safer online spaces.

In the interview below Lucy shares why this campaign resonnated with audiences, what inspired the concept, what role media and influencer partnerships played in the campagins success, behind the scenes challeges, and so much more!

AME Awards: What inspired the concept for "The Real Cost of Beauty"? How did you approach telling such an emotional and impactful story?

Lucy Tone-McGurk: In the last few years we have taken an active role in trying to detoxify the world of beauty on social media with Reverse Selfie and Toxic Influence. These campaigns attempted to give girls and parents the tools to cope with these emerging threats to self esteem. But with Cost of Beauty we realised we needed to go further. We needed to make lasting change. That meant a change in approach from highlighting individual issues, to showing the devastating impact.

AME Awards: Dove's 'The Real Cost of Beauty' was preceded by two powerful campaigns, 'Courage is Beautiful' and 'Turn Your Back.' How did those campaigns set the stage or influence the direction for 'The Real Cost of Beauty'?

Lucy Tone-McGurk: These campaigns are examples of a recent shift in how we active our Real Beauty strategy. In the 2010s, Dove focused more on the critical inner voice. However, in recent years we have seen more and more that women and girls are suffering more from external threats to self esteem. Thus, Dove has become more of an 'actionist' brand, taking action in culture calling out toxic beauty practices.

AME Awards: How did you align the campaign with the U.S. Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to raise awareness about the mental health crisis in children?

Lucy Tone-McGurk: In the lead up to this campaign we discovered that the majority of parents, struggling to navigate a complicated social media landscape with their children, now believed that policy was needed to enact change. Once that became clear, we knew that policy was the next step.

AME Awards: With over 69 million views and 11.1 billion impressions, this campaign has become Dove’s most shared film ever. What do you think resonated most with the audience?

Lucy Tone-McGurk: I think this campaign was one of the best examples of Dove’s commitment to never using actors and committing to Real women in advertising. Seeing the real footage of Mary gave the story an emotional resonance that cannot be shot retrospectively.

AME Awards: What role did earned media and influencer partnerships play in amplifying the campaign’s reach and message?

Lucy Tone-McGurk: We launched our campaign with an press event that laid the foundations for a wave of earned media. The event itself was livestreamed to 5,000 high profile influencers, journalists and experts, while editors from top-tier publications were invited to hear the story in-person.

Lizzo, who had collaborated with Dove for the Reverse Selfie campaign, was also present. Her presence was vital in generating mass awareness of the campaign by sharing content on her Instagram.

AME Awards: How did you measure success for "The Real Cost of Beauty"? Were there any metrics or moments that surprised you?

Lucy Tone-McGurk: We use a campaign effectiveness ladder to ensure we are hitting our targets from reach, right through to more commercial metrics. We used the same format here, tracking key metrics like Brand Power before and after the campaign, along with reach/engagement metrics and commercial metrics like penetration and sales.

AME Awards: The campaign doubled its goal, securing over 100,000 signatures for KOSA. How did you strategize mobilizing support for this important cause?

Lucy Tone-McGurk: The communications plan was focused on directing people to our hero film. From there, we hoped to make a powerful emotional impact. At the end of the film there was a call to action directing people towards the petition hosted on the Dove website.

AME Awards: The Real Cost of Beauty" also earned multiple Gold, Silver, and Bronze AME Awards. What does this recognition mean to your team and the campaign's legacy?

Lucy Tone-McGurk: We’re already so proud of this campaign and the impact it has made, but to be recognised by the AME is the icing on the cake. Our ambition for every Dove brief is to combine creative excellence with real-world impact, so we’re delighted to be recognised by an organisation that values those same objectives.

AME Awards: Can you share any behind-the-scenes challenges or breakthrough moments you encountered while creating the campaign?

Lucy Tone-McGurk: We were concerned that using footage of such a traumatic experience would potentially open the door to critics who may have felt it to be inappropriate. We worked with experts to ensure that our film would retain its power and impact, but without triggering or harming any viewers with lived experience of eating disorders.