So what exactly is Dove?

Well of course, as the ad tells us, it is one-fourth moisturising cream. And it's also got these marvelous little things called neutral cleansing ingredients. But is there some other secret ingredient besides?

Well, there certainly is a lot more to Dove than creams and cleansers. Based on a formula developed during World War II, Dove was introduced in the US in l954. Since then the brand has maintained its consistency over time and across continents. Always communicating its values through genuine testimonials given by women who've tried Dove. (Oh all right, there are certain exceptions -- such as in Canada where Dove ran a commercial featuring a man. But in these days of gender equality, who can complain.)

Hindustan Lever brought Dove to this country five years ago. Andlaunched it with the first set of testimonial-based commercials featuring Indian women -- one of whom explained to us that it was Dove, and not love, that had put an entirely different complexion on things.

The essence of Dove is distilled in these commercials -- commercials that have worked like a charm. A charm that lies principally in their authenticity. A quality that advertising often aspires to, but rarely achieves. It's something you see on your television screen and say, ``That is real. I believe her.'' Simple as that.

But actually, making these commercials is far from simple. First of all you have to go out there and find the right women. Now, if Dove were to use models, like other brands do, the advertising agency would simply have to go to model co-ordinators and pore over their banks of model photographs till it found the right face.

But Dove demands real women. Every day honest-to-goodness women who combine sincerity and warmth with a certain unmistakable sophistication. (A pretty tallorder, huh?) So agency people have to step out of the make-believe world of advertising and find women who not only fit this bill, but are also willing to try Dove and then reveal to their sisters a little bit about their life and how Dove changed it for them. This revelation, which is brought about through gentle probing, is recorded on video. And aired as a commercial. To do this, the client and the agency take the help of an indispensable third party: the ad film-maker.

All the Indian Dove commercials have been directed by one man: Rajeev Menon, who is the maker of Sapne

and Mani Ratnam's cameraman for Bombay

, besides being one of the top ad film producers in the country.

His genius lies in helping make the Dove woman open up and share with the advertising audience something about herself -- her own experiences, her own thoughts and feelings, said in her own words. It's the hardest thing to capture on camera, but Menon has managed it every time.

If the Dove woman had been a model or anactress, who was delivering memorised lines, the commercials would have been so easy to make. But so ineffective. Because they would have struck a false note with the Dove consumer.

So there it is. The soul of Dove. Illuminated through women speaking honestly about their experiences with the brand. A revealed truth that is conveyed to the consumers without filters and, for once, without the manufacturer getting in the way.

Beyond the one-quarter moisturing cream. Beyond the neutral clensers. That is the secret ingredient. That is the magic of Dove.

Sumanto Chattopadhyay is associate creative director, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising. His opinions, however, are not necessarily shared by his employers.