Joy of Digital Award: Dove’s #ShareTheFirst champions unfiltered beauty

Dove has scooped April’s Joy of Digital Award with its creator-led campaign #ShareTheFirst – a global call to ditch filters and embrace unedited beauty in a world of endless retakes. 

Created with Edelman, the content stars a diverse group of creators encouraging people to #ShareTheFirst snap they take, before filters, angles or second-guessing take hold and launched with a digital takeover of Liverpool Street Station. 

“What makes #ShareTheFirst stand out is its beautifully simple challenge to an incredibly common behaviour,” said Joy, Chief Digital Cheerleader and Chair of the Joy of Digital Awards. “It’s not just a clever campaign – it’s a genuinely moving one. By leaning fully into creator content and putting authenticity front and centre, Dove has crafted a digital experience that feels personal, powerful and refreshingly real. Digital marketing at its best makes you feel something – and this campaign nails it. It’s social-first, creator-powered and full of heart. A worthy winner of this month’s award.”  

Inspired by the insight that 90% of women take up to 50 photos before posting one, the campaign features creators including  @raniamvr, @naomi.native and @_meaganwells. It marks a major shift in Dove’s strategy, with Unilever now directing around half of its marketing spend to creator-led content – a move that Tom Stevens, Director of Marketing & Insight at the IAB, spoke to Campaign about last month, saying that it’s “a clear sign that [Unilever] is leaning into a future where content is the dominant marketing currency and creators are media brands in their own right.” 

The Joy of Digital Award celebrates imaginative, innovative digital campaigns that push boundaries and bring big ideas to life online. 

Find out more about the Joy of Digital Award and past winners here.