magine a tan without sun, streaks, or skin damage. Natural, comfortable, and confidence-boosting. That’s exactly the story Initiative and Burda Media Ukraine created for Dove—a brand long associated with real beauty and care.

In spring 2025, Initiative launched not just an ad campaign, but a social trust experiment. Real women—from nano-influencers to top bloggers—were the first to test the new Dove Summer Revived line. Their experience became the backbone of a campaign that reached millions and proved: self-tan can be not only beautiful but also safe.

Campaign objective: reshape perceptions of self-tanning

The Dove × Naprobu campaign aimed not merely to introduce a new product—the goal was to change attitudes toward self-tan as a phenomenon. At the center was Dove Summer Revived, which combines a gradual tanning effect with gentle skin care.

Key tasks:

  • Present Dove’s new products with emphasis on hydration and a natural finish.
  • Build trust through experience: spark a wave of honest reviews and “before/after” content.
  • Highlight benefits: easy application, pleasant texture and scent, no irritation.
  • Show self-tan as a modern alternative to sun exposure.
  • Trigger WOM across social platforms, marketplaces, and real conversations.
  • Collect insights via surveys.

Strategy: Influencers + Word-of-Mouth + Media = a trust ecosystem

To shift perceptions and build confidence in Dove’s new product, Initiative engineered a holistic communication ecosystem where every element amplified the others. This wasn’t just a campaign—it was a living network anchored in real user experience.

Influencers: trusted voices

With our partner Burda Media Ukraine, we engaged 8 creators across beauty, lifestyle, and fashion—voices with strong audience bonds. They didn’t just promote; they shared personal experience, showed before/after, talked texture, scent, and ease of use. The content felt genuine, looked great, and sparked real reactions: 40,000+ interactions and a 6% ERR.

WOM via Naprobu: the power of real stories

Initiative enabled 200 nano- and micro-influencers to test Dove Summer Revived through the Naprobu platform. They became brand ambassadors in their circles—posting UGC, leaving marketplace reviews, and sharing impressions with friends. The effect snowballed: 850+ posts, 100% willingness to recommend, 95% confirming a natural, streak-free result.

Media: expert reinforcement

To deepen trust, Initiative integrated the product into editorial pieces with our partner on MarieClaire.ua and Liza.ua. These features educated readers on how to use self-tan properly, why it’s safer than sun exposure, and how to avoid mistakes—pairing native Dove presence with authentic participant feedback.

Result: a trust ecosystem where every channel—from a creator’s story to a marketplace comment—worked toward one goal: showing that self-tan can be simple, natural, and safe. And it worked.

Experience & trust: the campaign’s core KPIs

Dove × Naprobu was built around real experience—and that’s what created trust. Beyond reach and likes, Initiative measured perception shifts, willingness to recommend, and emotional response. The numbers say it all:

Trust depth

  • 100% of Naprobu participants are willing to recommend the product to friends and family.
  • 100% confirmed no dryness or irritation.
  • 95% said their skin looked naturally bronzed, without streaks.

Experience analytics

  • 1,400 surveys—real feedback that helped us better understand audience needs.
  • Two-wave research (before and after testing) to capture perception change.

When experience speaks louder than ads

In the Dove × Naprobu campaign, Initiative and Burda Media Ukraine bet not on loud slogans but on real stories—and it paid off. Authentic, personal, lived experience became the engine of trust.

When a product truly works, you don’t need to shout. You just let people try it, feel it, and share it. That’s when advertising turns into recommendation, and a brand becomes a natural choice.