Dawn: A New Day?
June 25, 2010 at 12:24 PM by Research & Insights
After 30 years helping to rescue wildlife from oil pollution, the Dawn Saves Wildlife campaign is more relevant than ever before, amid the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The connection to the crisis is direct – it has donated thousands of bottles of its dish liquid to clean birds affected by the Gulf oil spill. So it would seem that the company has a credible opportunity about which to communicate its efforts, yet Dawn does not appear to be altering its strategy in light of the oil spill.
A few media outlets have highlighted Dawn’s support, including a placement in The New York Times and a mention on CNN. One article noted Dawn has purchased Google adwords to direct searchers to the campaign Facebook page. But, the company itself has not made substantive changes to its TV advertising messages (e.g., a Gulf-specific tag), Web site or even issued a press release in light of its continued commitment to relief efforts. In fact, the current ads were slated to run before the crisis occurred, and there’s no word whether Dawn will continue the campaign after they are scheduled to stop at the end of June.
The choice by Dawn to keep its efforts under the radar comes in stark contrast with other corporate relief efforts – Hooters has touted its donation of pantyhose to make booms that will absorb oil, and Microsoft teamed with TV host Stephen Colbert to donate money to relief efforts every time Colbert said the word “Bing” during his half-hour comedy show.
Times of crisis are bound to be sensitive, and Dawn has to be careful about how it communicates its efforts. The worst thing the company could do is appear to be leveraging the spill as an opportunity for its brand. But because Dawn Saves Wildlife is an established, credible cause effort, there may be a real opportunity for the brand to tweak its messaging (and perhaps even its charitable contributions) in light of the very real, very relevant disaster we face today.
What do you think? Voice your opinion about Dawn’s communications, and what its communication strategy should be moving forward by voting in our latest blog poll.
Tags: causebranding currentevents environment campaigns crisis
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After 30 years helping to rescue wildlife from oil pollution, the Dawn Saves Wildlife campaign is more relevant than ever before, amid the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The connection to the crisis is direct – it has donated thousands of bottles of its dish liquid to clean birds affected by the Gulf oil spill. So it would seem that the company has a credible opportunity about which to communicate its efforts, yet Dawn does not appear to be altering its strategy in light of the oil spill.
A few media outlets have highlighted Dawn’s support, including a placement in The New York Times and a mention on CNN. One article noted Dawn has purchased Google adwords to direct searchers to the campaign Facebook page. But, the company itself has not made substantive changes to its TV advertising messages (e.g., a Gulf-specific tag), Web site or even issued a press release in light of its continued commitment to relief efforts. In fact, the current ads were slated to run before the crisis occurred, and there’s no word whether Dawn will continue the campaign after they are scheduled to stop at the end of June.
The choice by Dawn to keep its efforts under the radar comes in stark contrast with other corporate relief efforts – Hooters has touted its donation of pantyhose to make booms that will absorb oil, and Microsoft teamed with TV host Stephen Colbert to donate money to relief efforts every time Colbert said the word “Bing” during his half-hour comedy show.
Times of crisis are bound to be sensitive, and Dawn has to be careful about how it communicates its efforts. The worst thing the company could do is appear to be leveraging the spill as an opportunity for its brand. But because Dawn Saves Wildlife is an established, credible cause effort, there may be a real opportunity for the brand to tweak its messaging (and perhaps even its charitable contributions) in light of the very real, very relevant disaster we face today.
What do you think? Voice your opinion about Dawn’s communications, and what its communication strategy should be moving forward by voting in our latest blog poll.
Tags: causebranding currentevents environment campaigns crisis
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 Megan Johnson |
June 25, 2010 2:39 PM I think it's very nice that Dawn donates money to saving wildlife, but it's a blatant example of greenwashing. As long as proctor and gamble tests on animals, they are just creating a front. Why is the wildlife Dawn pledges to save different than that rabbits they torture in their labs? Why do these animals they save have more value? Until dawn becomes less reliant on animal testing, and stops using Tricoslan in their dishwashing soap, which according to the Environmental Working Group is toxic to some aquatic wildlife, they're just an example of corporate liars. |
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Megan Strand |
June 25, 2010 4:13 PM I did a post on this when I first learned about the Dawn campaign after the oil spill hit. One of the points I raised mirrors yours exactly - isn't there some way for P&G to delicately raise the awareness around this long-standing, 30-year campaign? When the oil spill first hit, P&G did pretty much nothing to promote their $1.00/bottle donated to wildlife rescue, which left me scratching my head. They also didn't have any "front and center" presence on their website. So agreed. This is NOT cause washing or green washing. Stand up and be proud to talk about the good you're doing in the world. |
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Casey Brennan |
June 28, 2010 2:24 PM Megan and Megan- Great points here. Perhaps Dawn is simply being cautious by not choosing to have its Gulf efforts "front and center" to its communications. Still surprising that the company did not announce additional funding/support for clean up, especially considering the donation cap has almost been reached. Casey Brennan Insights Associate Cone |
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