While progress has been made to end hair discrimination with the passage of The CROWN Act in some states across the US, race-based hair discrimination remains a systemic problem in the workplace – from hiring practices to daily workplace interactions – disproportionately impacting Black women's employment opportunities and professional advancement. As part of Dove's ongoing commitment to support the passage of The CROWN Act and help end race-based hair discrimination nationwide, the brand launched a partnership with LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network, to create more inclusive and equitable spaces for Black hair in the workplace.
Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable, and our efforts are intended to raise awareness of this pervasive type of discrimination in hopes of sparking systemic change and action to Pass the CROWN Act nationwide.
The campaign sought to target Black professionals by encouraging them to share their stories using the campaign hashtag thus amplifying their voices/stories and also targeted GM professionals and hiring managers by encouraging them to take action by learning more and accessing the free LinkedIn learning courses.
Lastly, it targeted all of the 18+ population and encouraged them to sign the CROWN Act petition to help end race-based hair discrimination in workplaces nationwide.
Based on NEW research co-commissioned by Dove and LinkedIn, Black women's hair is 2.5x more likely to be perceived as unprofessional and Black women with coily/textured hair are 2x as likely to experience microaggressions in the workplace than Black women with straighter hair. Because of this, Dove and LinkedIn partnered on a series of actions to help end race-based hair discrimination in the workplace nationwide.
- Provide free access to 10 LinkedIn Learning courses focused on creating a more equitable and inclusive work environment, with a goal to educate 1 million hiring managers and workplace professionals by the end of 2023.
- Illuminate the real and measurable adverse impact hair discrimination continues to have on Black women in the workplace through the CROWN 2023 Workplace Research Study.
- Elevate and celebrate the real stories and voices of Black women professionals across LinkedIn and social media platforms using #BlackHairIsProfessional to help redefine what society deems "professional" at work.
- Continuing Dove's commitment to support the passage of The CROWN Act and help end race-based hair discrimination nationwide by encouraging people to sign the petition.
The campaign garnered 1.2B+ earned Impressions, surpassing the campaign set KPI of 800M+ .
85 Unique pieces of editorial coverage surpassing the campaign KPI of 30-35 pieces
206 Earned Media Placements were secured after the campaign launch
100% of the campaign coverage is positive or neutral
95% of coverage includes New Crown Research
Viral conversation on LinkedIn platform: 9MM organic earned conversion impressions in first 4 weeks (~6MM in week1 1)
More than 450,000 professionals have taken the learning courses on more inclusive and equitable work environments
#BlackHairIsProfessional has given thousands of Black women a safe space to talk about their hair journeys at work with more than 300,000 posts, actions and tags
