Her Voice Blog

When it comes to beauty and supporting a good cause, we at FletcherPR are all for it. So you can only imagine how giddy we were to be a part of European Wax Center’s promotion to support Susan G. Komen here in Knoxville.

If you’ve kept up with our blog, you may have noticed a new author posting recently. That would be me, Abbigail the Intern. (*Note: I’m thinking of patenting that for my superhero alias. You’ll see why if you continuing reading.) I started interning for FletcherPR at the end of May and have had my fair share of stories to tell.

Social media has changed how we communicate with people and how often. From things like posting pictures of our delicious breakfast to staying connected with loved ones across the globe, we can utilize social networking sites in any way we choose. We are more connected than we could have imagined and now there’s a day to celebrate it.

We’re all familiar with Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty but did you know the campaign is reaching its 10-year birthday? Since 2004, Dove has been marketing to women to celebrate their natural beauty.

With the recent success of their latest advertisement, Dove has men and women alike discussing the perceptions of beauty. Through forensic sketches, the ad revealed that we are our own worst critics and people don’t usually see the supposed flaws we do.

Dove also launched an ad in March combatting the overuse of Photoshop on women in advertisements. This involved disguising an “undo-Photoshop” tool as a “skin brightening” tool. The tool reversed all editing and stamped a demand that editors not manipulate our perceptions of beauty. Although it was not as successful as the women sketches ad, we can see Dove’s message of embracing natural beauty throughout the entire campaign.

Marketing to women has been a major focus of Dove's ad campaign but what else is it bringing up? Are women realizing that beauty and happiness are not defined by physical attributes? Or is all this talk about being beautiful refocusing our attention on beauty?

A Tumblr response to the viral women sketches video looks at the message through a different lens. Jazz Brice felt uneasy about the ad’s focus on physical beauty over inner beauty. A quote from the Dove ad video said that she should feel grateful for her natural beauty and how it’s critical to her life choices and relationships. Whether or not she meant her physical beauty or her inner beauty is left to be discussed.

One thing is for sure – Dove has us talking about the power of media and society’s view on women and beauty.

FletcherPR is a national communications firm that specializes in reaching women through the power of media. Headquartered in Knoxville, TN, we are a full-service agency providing strategic public relations, social media and marketing communications services to our clients throughout the U.S.

In just three years, Pinterest has encouraged us to become the baking, DIY, wonder women we really are. From game and craft ideas to budget-friendly tips and tricks, we turn to Pinterest for creative inspiration.

It is disappointing when we are directed to an external site to get a recipe for Grandma Jane’s melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cupcakes only to discover it’s a dead end. This also happens with eager shoppers who are ready to buy a piece of clothing they’ve seen but can never find the website that actually sells it. Well we have good news, friends – Pinterest is making their pins comprehensive.

What does this upgrade mean for us? No more searching through links and other sites to find the information we pinned. Time is saved, AND we find what we need with no fuss.

Pinterest has partnered with brands like eBay, Target, Sony and Netflix to provide its users with more information while browsing. A Pinterest spokesperson told Mashable that their hope is to have more useful pins for its users and community. Pins about desserts will list the full recipe, pins featuring clothes will have the price and pins about movies will provide more information about the cast and ratings.

This isn’t the only change for avid Pinterest users. The Pinterest smartphone app will expand its “Pin it” button to other mobile sites like Etsy, ModCloth and Jetsetter along with adding mobile notifications and mentions.

With all the focus on comprehensive pins and mobile upgrades, Pinterest seems to be creating a better venue for advertising to its users. Not only will the pins feature the logos of its contributing sites, but there’s also an opportunity for specific brand advertisements, especially those wanting to market to women.

Does this upgrade excite the bakers out there who can have the full recipe on-hand at the grocery store? Or do some of you have hesitations about the additional advertising that is imminent?