A quick internet search reveals that the social impact of advertising is perceived largely in negative terms. Now that more brands are building socially-progressive (civil) platforms, we need to consider ways to measure the positive social impact of specific brand communications.

The recent call for a ban on airbrushing in ads by the Liberal Democrats (see previous post) prompts a need to measure not just public opinion on social issues that are at the heart of a particular civil brand, but to measure the positive impact of brand communications on political policy.

At Brandinstinct we feel that Dove’s long-running Campaign for Real Beauty, which promotes self esteem in women, helped create the environment for political action and helped the Liberal Democrats call for the ban.

Defining more civil brand platforms is not just a way to engage people in wider society, it is a way to influence politicians on values and ideas with the benefit of creating social change. Being involved in social change in this way opens up new opportunities for brand differentiation.

Measurement tools will need to evolve to include political policy shifts. If these new measures are adopted by the most active civil brands, we can capture the impact of civil branding on social progress via political-influence.

In a bold move, the Liberal Democrat party has called for a ban on airbrushing models used in advertising to young women. Front Bencher, Ms Swinson said young girls in particular were under increasing pressure due to “completely unattainable images that no-one can live up to in real life”.

“The focus on women’s appearance has got out of hand – no-one really has perfect skin, perfect hair and a perfect figure, but women and young girls increasingly feel that nothing less than perfect will do, Liberal Democrats believe in the freedom of companies to advertise but we also believe in the freedom of young people to develop their self-esteem and to be as comfortable as possible with their bodies. They shouldn’t constantly feel the need to measure up to a very narrow range of digitally manipulated shapes and sizes.”

Swinson singled out Olay ads that featured model Twiggy and Campari ads that featured Jessica Alba below as being  prime offenders for the liberal use of airbrushing to promote unrealistic body images to women.

Campari Jessica Alba before and after airbrushing

While this kind of move has been on the cards for a long time, we feel it is likely that Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty played a significant role in bringing the issue to the surface. Dove certainly did not invent the idea that the focus on women’s appearance has gotten out of hand. But they did launch a global campaign, sustained over years, that emphasised the issue in an approachable way.

Dove Raising awareness of airbrushing

While one can argue that there is more work to do in order to get more truth into advertising, this ban might prompt a generalised move toward more authentic approaches to communication.

Trying to create perfect images has been around since the dawn of advertising and fulfils the art director’s own pursuit of the ideal aesthetic, so it is hard to move away from this pattern. But this ban may create a shift in the game: a new rule. If we as marketers cannot create images of perfection, then this avenue will be closed and we will need to seek out other forms of creating compelling communications.

The ban is only a suggestion at the moment and only aimed at advertising to young people. But it does not take much consideration to see how likely it is that the ban will become reality and will be applied across all advertising in the future. How will we marketers react to this change?

Read the full article on BBC.