Recently I had the opportunity to meet a beautiful, dynamic woman with an impressive resume. Shelly Gompf is a senior vice president at Ulteig in Fargo. She’s also the newly-crowned Mrs. North Dakota International.  Our conversation reminded me of one of my favorite integrated brand advertising and public relations campaigns—the Dove© Campaign for Real Beauty.

Dove first launched the campaign in 2004 as it expanded its product offerings. Using women of all shapes, sizes and ethnic backgrounds the campaign confronted our cultural perception of beauty head-on and worked for positive change. It still does so today.

The Dove campaign came up because Shelly’s platform as Mrs. North Dakota revolves around building self-esteem in girls and women. She is a trained facilitator of self esteem workshops through one of Dove’s partners, Girls Inc.. Dove’s efforts map perfectly to its mission to make more women feel beautiful every day by widening stereotypical views of beauty, by provoking discussion and encouraging debate.

This campaign has definitely created discussion and debate. And you’ll find it integrated into every aspect of their communications—ads, websites, print, social and more. The Dove website links directly to bloggers on girls’ self-esteem, videos, many of which have gone viral. (I’ve been forwarded the link to the video Evolution multiple times since this video reached more than 3 million views on YouTube in 2006.) Customers are encouraged to be part of the effort on multiple levels, from entering UPC codes to increase the Dove self-esteem fund to becoming a fan on Facebook.

You’ll hear our PR team talk about developing and adopting community relations programs and initiatives that make your brand relevant to your customers and important audiences. The really good programs are those that are genuine, enduring and map back to your mission. This one is a beautiful example.

Can you think of others that are equally as integrated, effective and impactful?