Creative communications network Memac Ogilvy and beauty brand Dove have partnered to launch an empowering campaign that carries the beauty brand’s Self-Esteem Project to more people in Saudi Arabia. The project seeks to reduce beauty pressures and societal expectations faced by girls and help provide a more positive transition to womanhood.

The campaign follows a survey commissioned by Dove and conducted by behavioral experts of more than 1,000 women and girls (pre-teen and teen girls) in Saudi Arabia. The survey found that societal pressures and expectations to look a certain way materialize almost overnight after hitting puberty and often come from their closest social circles. This pressure can sometimes lead girls to alter their image and behavior at a young age.

The local survey also found that:

• 73% of girls reported feeling pressure to conform to narrow beauty standards at the onset of puberty.
• 74% feel that the pressure to be beautiful overnight negatively impacts their transition to womanhood.
• 78%, or 3 in 4 girls, wish society would stop pressuring them to look a certain way overnight.
• 76% want adults to be better equipped to educate them about body image.
• 82% believe everyone has a role in breaking down unrealistic beauty standards.

Dove’s new Confidence Kit, based in Saudi Arabia, directly addresses these concerns and others to help more young girls to transition to womanhood with confidence and positivity. The academically validated kit will also help adults become the pillars of support that Saudi girls are looking for, to celebrate their individuality.

At the heart of the campaign to bring the project to Saudi Arabia is a film devised and produced by Memac Ogilvy that seeks to challenge the beauty pressures young girls in Saudi Arabia face. The film features young girls from different backgrounds in the Kingdom sharing their interactions while transitioning to womanhood — grow your nails, remove your facial hair, wear feminine things. Bringing these messages to life, the film features artwork of the featured girls and the pressures they receive from Saudi artist, Noura Bint Saida. The message is simple: let’s erase these harsh words and help build girls’ self-esteem and confidence. To achieve this, viewers are directed online where they can download a Confidence Kit, produced by experts in psychology, that provides parents with guidance on how to help their child to build body confidence.

Boosting the campaign’s visibility across social is a paid campaign underpinned by the bilingual tagline #WelcomeToWomanhood / #مبروك_كبرتي. Several regional influencers carried Dove’s campaign message forward, namely Ascia, Basma el Khereiji, Raha Moharrak and Adwa Al Dakheel.

Till Hohmann, Chief Creative Director MENA at Memac Ogilvy, said, “Ogilvy has been there since the start of Dove’s real beauty campaign, and this next installment in the campaign amplifies the exceptional work completed by the brand so far as a champion of real beauty. Dove wants people to observe the world around them and think critically, and our creative as part of the Self-Esteem Project achieves this through emotive and genuine storytelling.”

Namrata Khubchandani, Brand Manager at Unilever added, “At Dove, our mission is to encourage all women and young girls to develop a positive relationship with beauty, which is why we've been campaigning globally to break down narrow beauty ideals for the last 20 years. We believe beauty should be a source of confidence, and not anxiety. Analyzing the statistics from our research led by experts in Saudi Arabia, we felt we could portray this global mission with a strong local campaign to raise awareness about the beauty-related pressures these young girls experience. Our aim is to get to the root of the issue by providing parents, mentors, teachers, and adults in a young girl’s life with the tools needed to raise self-esteem and allow girls to realize their full potential as they transition to womanhood.”