Years ago Dove funded a research effort to uncover "The Real Truth About Beauty." According to their site, their "global research highlighted a universal issue: that beauty-related pressure increases whilst body confidence decreases as girls and women grow older -- stopping young girls from seeing their real beauty."
Some of their key findings:
* Only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful
* Only 11% of girls globally are comfortable describing themselves as "beautiful"
* 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful
* 80% of women agree that every woman has something about her that is beautiful but do not see their own beauty
From this research was birthed a marketing effort: The Campaign for Real Beauty. In this campaign, Dove began to redefine "beautiful" and highlight the beauty found in each woman. A goal was to pull away from the typical, the standard of beauty our society has established, and to reimagine a new model of beauty.
The parallels between this campaign and virtual learning are striking to me. We have a current model that cannot live up to its promise nor can anyone live up to the promises it wants to make.
It is time, not to merely find another model that is younger or has a certain look about her. No, it is time for virtual learning to reflect the beauty it has to offer in a real, authentic fashion. It must build to serve the audience it can best serve. It must redefine "learning" and break completely from the current way of seeing things.
The "Campaign for Real Virtual Learning" must exist because the individuals who are influenced the most by this effort are the same ones we all say we want to serve: KIDS.
If Dove can do it for beauty (see images in Target and other stores that reflect this new definition) then it can also be done for virtual learning.
houston@figment-consulting.com
