evolution of dove
TRANSCRIPT
Contents:• Introduction
• Case summary
• Reasons
• Marketing strategy
• SWOT analysis
• Achievements
• Recommendations
• Learnings
Unilever
• Anglo-Dutch company
• Merger of Lever Brothers and Margarine Union
• Major brands: Knorr, Lipton, Bertolli, Surf, Vaseline, AXE, Lux, Pond’s, and Lifebuoy
Brand footprintPersonality:
Everyday womenwho enjoys
taking care ofeverything
Functional benefits:
1/4th cleansingcreamMild
Good for your skin
Core values:Gentle,Clean,
Moisturizing
“I’m clean and moisturized,but still me.”
Silvia Lagnado, global brand director of Dove, led a worldwide investigation into women’s
responses of beauty industry.
Nat-ural
Av-er-age
At-tractive
Fem-inine
Good look-ing
Cute Pretty Beautiful
So-phis-ticate
d
Sexy Stunning
Gor-geous
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
31%
25%
9% 8% 7% 7%5%
2% 1% 1%1%
1%Averag
eAttractive
Good-looking
Cute BeautifulSophis--ticated
SexyStunning
Findings
Only 2% of the womenthought they looked beautiful
• April, 2004 - “Dove firming lotion”
• Ads are “Let’s celebrate curves”
• Sept,2004- launched a global campaign
• Campaign for Real Beauty
As a result..
“We want to challenge the definition of the beauty. We believe that beauty has become too narrow in definition. We want to
defy the stereotype that only young, blond and tall are beautiful.”
-Philippe Harousseau, Dove’s Marketing DirectorCampaign for real beauty1. First phase2. Second phase
Why?
• Declining sales
• Increased competition
• Resulting advertising clutter
• Stagnation
• Brand positioning
“Real Ads by Real Women”
• Try the product
• What does “luxury” mean to you?
• Explore the world around you
Media planning
✦ Oprah winfrey dedicated a whole show
to low self-esteem
✦ The ad was one of the most downloaded
commercials on Youtube
“…surpassed $1 billion mark in 2004 global
sales… expected to gain between $60 million and
$70 million in lotion sales..”
“…within amonth sales ofthe Dove range
of firming creams had doubled.”
“..behind a 700% risein sales of Dovecreams in the
first half of the year
Results
BRA ABG USA CAN GBR ITA FRA NLD PRT JPN
Women who are beautiful have greater opportunities
in life
68% 52% 44% 28% 37% 50% 49% 40% 50% 39%
Physically attractive
women are more valued
by men
69% 60% 59% 51% 50% 63% 71% 40% 73% 57%
The media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that
most women can’t every
achieve
66% 77% 81% 69% 74% 80% 72% 72% 62% 20%
I wish the media did a better job of portraying women of
diverse physical attractiveness-
age, shape, size
91% 86% 80% 75% 75% 81% 77% 69% 66% 41%
Beauty can be achieved through
attitude, spirit, and other
attributes that have nothing to do with physical
appearance
88% 82% 87% 82% 64% 76% 74% 72% 81% 57%
I do not feel comfortable describing
myself beautiful
40% 49% 44% 35% 54% 45% 41% 34% 36% 41%
Global Survey
“Walk the talk”✦ Global Dove Self-esteem fund✦ Helped build girls, aged 8-17, build self-confidence.
Unilever
Product category
Brand
Building thebrands in
specific markets
DevelopmentDeveloping idea,
innovationBringing the brand to
life in marketplace
Pros Cons
✦ Memorable
✦ Social sensitivity
✦ Socially responsible image
✦ Refreshed Dove’s image
✦ Built a relationships with its
actual customers, viz real women
✦ No strong connection between the
ads and dove products
✦ Questionable image
✦ Painted themselves into a
corner
✦ Too much focus on cause
and not the product/brand✦ Hypocrisy of criticising
beauty industry and selling “beauty” products.
Strengths
• Unconventional• Effectiveness of
advertising• Emotional touch
Weakness
• Contradictory in nature• Women featured were
comparatively slim
Opportunity
• Male customers• Continuous
innovation
Threats
• Risk for being a brand for “fat” girls
• Marketing risk• Undermining the
• aspiration of customers• Sustainability in the long run
TAKEINITIATIVE
INTERACTIVEMARKETING
Case basedmarketing
Social sensitivity
GlobalRelevance
GlobalRelevance
CONCLUSION✦ Landor Associates identified Dove as one of the 10 brands with the
greatest % gain✦ Dove had grown by $1.2Billion
-Alicia Clegg, brandchannel.com
Taking up the cudgels for reality is a risky strategy for Dove. The underlying idea is appealing; the difficulty is in how to express it. When Dove ran its Masterbrand advertising, it was criticized by some for choosing unrepresentative “real” women—a 96-year-old, described by one marketer as: “the old lady equivalent of a super-model”; a heavily freckled, but enviably cute, 22- year-old, and so on. The latest campaign has a harder edge, tipping the balance away from aspiration toward realism. It may be more honest, but does its honesty leave women enough freedom to dream?” Seth Stevenson, a columnist for the popular online magazine Slate, went further: “Talk about real beauty all you want—once you’re the brand for fat girls, you’re toast.”4
Connect campaign to Dove products
Move away from issues and focus more on products: MakeDove Self-esteem Fund separate from Dove products
Keep real people and customers involved: Take advantage of online buzz with separate websites for products and funds.
Connect women to specific products:“How does Dove make you feel beautiful?”
Problem:Lost control of the
campaign. Themessage overpowers
the brand.
SolutionReal women,Real BeautyCampaign tofocus on how Dove productshelp women
achieve beauty