Dove is one of a few beauty brands going extra lengths to build a mobile presence in its marketing efforts this year. By seeking direct partnership with Priv, Dove Hair can serve as a personal reference for consumers from any mobile device.

“Real women are at the heart of the Dove brand and we strive to make the world of beauty feel very personal and adaptive to her routine,” said Rob Candelino, vice president and general manager for Unilever Hair Care, New York. “Today’s woman has an increasingly plugged-in, hyper tasking life, and we want to show up when and where she needs us.

“Together with Priv, we’re bringing excellent hair care literally to her doorstep with accessible, on-demand services and products that will nourish and improve the condition of her hair,” he said. “We want to provide an experience that not only makes her look beautiful, but feel beautiful too.”

Building a presence
The partnership will go from Oct. 15 to Nov. 15 and will aim to make the world of beauty personal and adaptive to a woman’s everyday routine by bringing hair care to her doorstep.

This collaboration marks Priv’s very first in-app brand collaboration.

Users who schedule a hair service appointment via the app during the above time period will receive access to several offers, such as an in-app look book containing hair styles from Dove’s celebrity stylist Mark Townsend, Dove hair products used during their hair appointment and Dove’s Advanced Hair Series Pure Care Dry Oil product gift set.

Priv agents will give away these gift sets to users to make appointments during this promotional period. The gift set includes Dove Pure Care Dry Oil Shampoo, Conditioner and Nourishing Treatment in a branded cosmetic bag. The gift set cannot be purchased in-store, but the products included in the gift set can.

During this promotion with Dove Hair, Priv’s participating stylists will use Dove Pure Care Dry Oil products as well as other Dove Hair products during  appointments. The specific products used will depend on the specific look the client selects.

Priv offers a unique type of service to the cosmetology industry by delivering services and products to the consumer, rather than the consumer travelling to a beauty shop or bricks-and-mortar beauty retailer.

Users can search for cosmetologists on Priv by proximity, prior experience, history, user ratings and comments. Tax and tips are included for user convenience.

Priv offers all types of services, including makeup, blowout or blow dry, haircuts, manicures, massages and personal training.

Beyond outer beauty
Dove has taken to mobile in interesting ways to build a second screen presence.

The beauty brand encouraged a multi-screen experience that incorporated social media and free product samples in conjunction with the telecast of this year’s Emmy Awards.

The campaign marked Dove’s first effort at product sampling through Twitter, where the Unilever-owned brand has more than 120,000 followers. It marked another step in the efforts among brands to leverage social media as a platform to escort customers down the path to purchase (see story).

Similarly, Dove extended the reach of its ongoing “Campaign for Real Beauty” via a partnership with digital greeting card company Open Me in June to land an emotional plea around friendship for a female audience (see story).

Earlier this year, Dove Men+Care rolled out an extensive mobile and digital campaign as part of the brand’s sponsorship of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Men’s Division I Championship basketball games.

The consumer packaged goods brand launched a mobile and Web experience that brought together video, a sweepstakes, social media and real-time content to connect with college basketball fans through March Madness. Dove Men+Care has leveraged mobile in a couple of similar ways in the past, but this year’s campaign stood out from others because of how comprehensive it was (see story).

If Dove continues to be available on multiple channels, the beauty brand will likely receive more backers and increased conversion.

“The Dove Hair partnership makes sense for us because the brand values wellness, cost-effectiveness and convenience just like we do,” said Lauren Holloway, manager of content and marketing at Priv, New York. “It also shows how dynamic the app can be and that brand partnership opportunities are endless.

“We love collaborating with and showcasing brands that share our values and make sense for our clients, such as Vita Liberata,” she said. “We use their products exclusively for all spray tan applications because besides being the best product line out there, it is non-toxic and organic.

“We look forward to future possibilities for partnerships and are excited for our upcoming Halloween promotion. Starting October 29th, you can Priv special effects, airbrush and traditional Halloween makeup. Finding the perfect costume is hard enough, so let us do the rest.”

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York