This week marks two decades since Dove debuted its Campaign for Real Beauty, a platform to challenge society’s unrealistic beauty standards and promote self acceptance among women.

On Tuesday, Dove pushed its Real Beauty into its next phase with a pledge to never use AI to represent real women in its ads, released alongside a global study on the state of beauty in the AI age. 

Among its findings: more than one in three U.S. women would give up a year of their life to achieve an ideal look or body, and nine out of 10 women today believe that they are expected to be more attractive than their mother’s generation. 

The campaign, first launched in 2004 and adapted over many iterations, still resonates today as women face even more challenges to building self esteem, thanks to social media. 

The Unilever-owned brand won several Cannes Lions last year for work under the Real Beauty umbrella, including a Grand Prix in Media for #TurnYourBack, as well as accolades for Selfie and Cost of Beauty. 

Dove’s Real Beauty effort continues to endure as the gold standard, even as “brand purpose” falls out of vogue with marketers. Brands are broadly moving away from speaking out on social issues, both out of fear of backlash and amid a broader disinterest among consumers for brands to weigh in.

Campaign US asked industry experts, including creatives behind the Real Beauty campaign, why they think this platform continues to connect with consumers as purpose shifts out of focus. Below are their responses. 

Daniel Fisher, global executive creative director, Unilever and special projects, Ogilvy

Brands should stay true to their core values and beliefs, even as they adapt to changing market dynamics. When it comes to Dove and Real Beauty, the brand’s values have always been intrinsically linked to everything we’ve done together, and it’s what has driven the business. 

At the heart of the Campaign for Real Beauty’s success has been a true partnership, where we are committed to staying consistent and authentic while keeping each campaign fresh and relevant. The work we do together is always grounded in how we can be a catalyst for changing beauty from a source of anxiety to a source of happiness for women. Sadly, that’s even more critical today than it was 20 years ago. There are new societal issues, such as social media, that weren’t around back in 2004. 

Throughout the years, we’ve kept real women and girls at the center of our storytelling, which created more profound, more meaningful connections with our audience. 

We have intentionally evolved the campaign to be even more action-oriented, as can be seen in our work to support the CROWN Act and last year’s Cost of Beauty, an effort to advance policy that will protect the mental health of today’s youth. It’s all encapsulated with the line “Let’s Change Beauty.” 

As a father of two young girls, working with this brand has been one of the most rewarding parts of my professional career.

Lisa Sepulveda, global chief client officer, Edelman

One of Edelman’s many contributions to this campaign, in partnership with all of the agencies working on Dove, was a study called The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report, led by Dr. Nancy Etcoff, Harvard University professor and author of Survival of the Prettiest, and Dr. Susie Orbach, visiting professor at London School of Economics. The report, which explored the relationship women have with beauty, found that only 2% of women globally consider themselves beautiful. That surprising insight was the spark and foundation for the entire campaign. That commitment to constantly listening to real women about how they see themselves and how they feel is why the Campaign for Real Beauty has always been relevant.

Whitney Yando, creative director, 72andSunny New York

Real Beauty felt like it was one of the first times a brand spoke honestly to the beauty industry, and perhaps society, at large – which is why its initial success was so prevalent. This was pre-Facetune era, so to shine a light and say “Hey! Don’t hold yourself to these standards,” felt powerful. 

Dove has been able to maintain this success by staying current with the ways beauty standards have evolved and continuing to challenge them in provocative and creative ways. 

For me, the big takeaways are understanding the power of having a brand point of view. Lots of companies sell soaps and deodorants, but Dove also sells self-acceptance and confidence. If your brand has something compelling to say, it’s more memorable and interesting. 

But it’s a fine line to walk between feeling like you’re preying on social issues to boost sales, and ensuring your brand is contributing to the conversation in a more meaningful way.

Dove was one of the trailblazers in using marketing to address a bigger social issue. It gave a public voice to a narrative that many women had been keeping to themselves for years. More than anything, it normalized the insecurities we all feel. It peeled back the shame and self-doubt and built a sense of shared experience. 

Dove has kept with that formula and focus for the last two decades – which I believe (along with an actual investment in the Dove Self-Esteem project), has kept it relevant. 

Many brands view purpose through a “what’s in the zeitgeist?” lens. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We absolutely need companies to be brave enough to address the most pressing societal issues at any given time. But what often happens is that, by simply following political or cultural trends, they demonstrate a lack of consistency in their values. 

Think about Gillette’s toxic masculinity focus in the late 2010s. As soon as the tide shifted, or it got too much backlash, that messaging shifted. It sent a signal to consumers that the values the brand espoused in those campaigns weren’t really central to who it is. It was “marketing” — and people easily saw through it.

Not everything Dove has done during its 20-year Real Beauty campaign has been a 10/10. There have been some misses, and there’s been a lot of academic and scientific research on its true cultural impact. Ultimately, it’s a CPG brand trying to sell products. But, even so, the commitment to addressing a very focused, and unfortunately, timeless, issue — and evolving the work, rather than reinventing it — has given it extraordinary staying power.

Anastasia Kārkliņa Gabriel, brand strategist, author 

Dove’s continued relevance lies in the power of cultural intelligence: understanding what’s emergent in culture and leveraging it to speak directly to its intersection with the category. Dove has made it a priority to evolve in step with the cultural dialogue by paying close attention to what’s bubbling up to the surface in contemporary culture, how it relates to beauty and the deeper meaning it holds in people’s lives. 

For Dove, beauty is now a way to speak to belonging and acceptance in society — a core human need that endures over time. It’s never about chasing trends just to be top of mind at one point or another. 

The lesson here is to begin by defining a specific cultural role for a brand within the category and build trust with the audience through consistent, high-quality delivery. Then, understand the broader cultural shifts happening around your category, and, once a solid foundation is set, expand into leading the cultural conversation in other relevant areas. 

In Dove’s case, that’s racial equity, sustainability, health, masculinity and so on. Dove teaches us the importance of truly understanding its role within culture and acting on that knowledge with integrity over time.

Tyra Jones-Hurst, managing partner, InKroud

Real Beauty maintains its relevance two decades post-launch because, while it aimed to shake up the status quo in the beauty industry, it also captured the “real beauty” of inclusion, authentic conversation and a brand’s responsibility to champion both.

Brands play a key role in shaping culture, regardless of how passive or active that is. Those moving away from taking social stands risk contributing to our society’s stagnation on progress. We have a responsibility to use our influence as marketers to encourage brands to drive positive change. 

As radical as Dove’s campaign was nearly two decades ago, its premise of inclusion and authenticity proves to be as relevant as ever, sparking continued debate throughout every pillar of society. Its timelessness is rooted in the shift away from allowing the “status quo” to direct the way of the future. 

Marketers with the courage to challenge and redefine how brands of tomorrow show up to shift culture for the better are continuing the legacy of Real Beauty. They embrace the use of creativity and connectedness through diverse and authentic storytelling to advance society away from the sameness of the past and toward the multifariousness of the future.

Brisa Vicente, partner and co-CEO, Soko

Dove’s Real Beauty campaign marked a transformative moment in the advertising industry, shifting the narrative from traditional beauty standards to a celebration of diversity and authenticity. This approach not only resonated deeply with audiences globally — fostering a broader dialogue about beauty ideals and self-esteem — but also encouraged other brands to follow suit, leading to a more inclusive and representative advertising landscape. 

Dove’s integration of real consumer stories and user-generated content strengthened the brand’s authenticity and connection with its audience, setting a new standard for purpose-driven marketing within and beyond the beauty industry.

This article originally appeared on Campaign US.