DOVE EVOLUTION OF A

BRAND

Group 8Divyangana Sharma, Ritam Pandey, Sandeep Deb, Sivaraman N

& Vaishali Singh

WE WILL COVER ..Definition of BrandAbout UnileverBrand meaningUnilever Brand managementWhy does Unilever want fewer Brands ?Dove Market positioning 1950’sDove Market positioning– 2007What do the blogs say?Contribution to Brand Meaning Focus and ViewsNew media and risksDo We see risks for the Dove brand today?

DEFINITION OF BRAND AMA ( American Marketing Association )Definition

A Brand is a Name , Term, Sign , Symbol or Design or a combination of them , intended to identify the goods & services of one seller group or group of sellers and of differentiate them from those of competition.

Difference between Product & Brand Product is something we offer to satisfy a Need/Want Brand has dimensions that differentiates a product in some way from other products designed to satisfy the SAME NEED.’These differences maybe Rational & tangible – Mind Share or and Emotional & Intangible – Heart share

DIODVAC - Brand is D- delivering Quality I O – Identification & ownershipD – Differentiation VA – Value AdditionC – Confidence

ABOUT UNILEVER Leading global brand in Packaged consumer goods – operating in Food, Home & Personal Care segments

House Of Brands – Knorr, Surf, Lipton, Sunsilk, Dove, Lux , Ponds , Vaseline, Axe etc.

Initially Brand Management was geography based- decentralized .Feb 2000- Unilever embarked on Strategic Initiative “Path To Growth”

Plan was to winnow 1600 Brands down to 400Surviving Brands would be MasterBrands- responsible for creating global vision & coordinating all geographic markets .

UNILEVER BRAND MANAGEMENT

• – Pre 2000 • Product category offered multiple brands, each lead

by a brand manager• Each brand operated as a separate business,

competed its own siblings• Brand managers responsible for both brand

development and brand building

-Now• Brand management split between two groups • Brand development – develop idea behind the brand.

Centralized. Global scope• Brand building – Bring the brand to life in local

market. Decentralized. Local scope

BRAND MEANING

• Pre 2000 – emphasis on functional superiority

• Dove stood for honesty and authenticity• Medically proven and recommended by

dermatologists• Post 2000 – “Masterbrands” were created• Functional superiority alone could no longer

support a brand• Brands became a point of view

WHY DOES UNILEVER WANT FEWER BRANDS ?

To resolve control issues due to Global DecentralizationTo focus resources on a smaller number of more powerful brands in global and local markets.To concentrate R&D and advertising on the company’s leading brands.To relay more on product innovation and making new acquisitions (Unilever: Path to growth strategy, 2005).

PATH TO GROWTH STRATEGY Letting certain brands wither and decline without active

promotion and support. Forego certain brands that do not fit the company future

strategy (200-300 brands). 200 brands targeted to be merged into product families

(400 core brands) (Unilever: Path to Growth Strategy, 2005).

UNILEVER : PATH TO GROWTH3 Major Acquisitions :

-SLimFast (Diet food market leader U.S (Unilever: Acquisition and Disposals, 2005).

-Ben & Jerry which is the second global market leader for premium ice cream. (ibid)

-Bestfoods ,manufacturing and marketing consumer foods. Largest acquisitions by Unilever (ibid).

Unilever sold off Businesses could not contribute to its future development

Divesting cases in china - sold Zhang Jia Kou Purification Limited Company in 1999. -sold the stocks of Shang Hai Wen De Bao Limited Company to

Goodman Fielder in 2000.-sold the Mei Jia Jing (a famous skincare brand in China) in 2000(The game between Unilever and China brands 2004).

DOVE MARKET POSITIONING IN THE 1950.

• PRODUCT– First Dove product was the beauty bar and

was launched in 1957.– Differentiated itself by claiming not to dry out

skin like the way soap did.Marketing Strategies:

– Media Used for promotion: TV,Print media and billboards

– Tag line: “ Dove dosent dry your skin like soap does because it is one quarter cleansing cream”.

– Natural looking women were used as models to promoted the brand to build a connect.

• Results: – With its Unique Positioning it became

one of Americas most recognizable brand icons

DOVE MARKET POSITIONING IN THE 2007

• PRODUCT RANGE: Expanded Product line to include – Hair care products :Shampoo, Spray and gel.– Skin care products: soap and moisturizers.– Deodorants.

• CAMPAIGNS: – “Real Beauty” and “Self esteem campaign”-

appealed to the aesthetic need of the consumers

– Focus less on functional benefits of soap but targeted primarily on the need to FEEL good.

– Used oversized models, elderly women, housewives to convey the message

• INTEGRATED MARKETING MEDIA USED – Dove expanded to include digital media.– Made a film “Dove evolution film” viewed by 3 million visitors in 3 months.

WHAT DO THE BLOGS SAY?• Brand Meaning – “What are you?”

– Brand performance + Brand Imagery

Marketingplusgood: “While they (Dove) took a misstep or two with the retouching, they started an important conversation. The high road has still been taken. They're still leading this thinking in their industry.”

HBR Blogs: “The principle made plain by Dove’s success is that in social networks brands must seek to provoke conversation not to dominate it... The locus of control in the marketplace shifts from marketer to consumer, and success is built on a model of co-created meaning. In Web 2.0, marketers accept that it is enough to rouse, to stimulate, to stir. Dove's strategy was to move away from functional claims and to present itself as a brand with a point of view. It placed itself at odds with its competitors. Consumers loved the conflict. They lit up the digital media, generating millions of pass-along clips for YouTube, clips like Evolution and Hates Her Freckles.

FROM ACROSS THE WORLD…• Indonesia: “Dove comes with the new definition of

beauty. Beauty is not about glamour or fame. It’s about every woman and the beauty that it in each of us. That’s what DOVE is all about. And that’s why more women trust their skin to Dove”

• A Sydney based brand consultant: “Is the Axe campaign at odds with the thought leadership stance of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.  I think it is.”

• New Zealand: “Not only do they create awareness for an issue that is clearly something that needs to be highlighted as a social problem, they also enjoy the positive brand reinforcement as a result of being seen as “outting” the reality of what goes on when “beauty” is used to market products.”

• Brand Consulting firm: “I have to admit that Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is quite fabulous. Check it out, and then let your daughter(s) check it out. Then go to the Campaign for Real Beauty website and check that out, too. Then post the video on your blog if you have one. It’s that compelling.”

CONTRIBUTION TO BRAND MEANING

• Brands will be criticized. And the brave ones will win.

• As a blogger sums up, “Dove campaign is a classical case of insight-driven campaign that explored how a brand can address a contradiction to establish meaning and trigger affinity.”

• The mental image of actual users has thus moved away from viewing the aspirational and idealized user as one who conforms to established beauty norms to one who is more “next door” and hence more democratic, affable and inclusive

FOCUS AND VIEWS• Focus of Dove Ads:-

– From challenging the norms of beauty advertising into a wider campaigning philosophy

– Increasing social agenda, looking at pressing psychological and social issues

• Views of the people after the campaign– Some people trust the brand some don’t (the reason

being lots of makeup or Photoshop)– Some people like the idea of using more natural

women for such commercials, others don’t.– With the available data, most of people who disliked

the ads were men– Most of the women, which are the target group of

Dove, have a positive opinion about the brand

NEW MEDIA AND RISKS

• Smart marketers should leverage new media to deliver interesting messages

• Risk involved - potential customers might be distracted by the comments from the non potential customers; Can you sell a beauty product without playing on women’s insecurities?

• Some views expressed online – “The beauty sector still sells dreams. We want to be seduced,

excited and inspired by the latest colours, textures, creams, fragrances and magazine pictures”

“It is a bold move to get embroiled in some of the 'uglier' sensitive issues around self worth and eating disorders. No-one wants to be reminded of unpleasant things in what is still a pleasure category”

DO WE SEE RISKS FOR THE DOVE BRAND TODAY? - NO

• “Dove touched a nerve that is behind all great stories, fiction or non-fiction, great stories cause people to say 'yes, life is like that.” – Gerry Lantz

• Current users are ready to defend their brand because they can really identify themselves in the ads and so they want to believe in it; hence they are not likely to blog and so, more negative reactions than positive ones are seen.

• Eventually, this new way of advertising only enhances the brand awareness and the attachment and loyalty of customers of the Dove brand.

THANK YOU