Question

LEVERAGING A BRAND ASSET

Dove

In 1955, Unilever (then Lever Brothers) introduced Dove, which contained a patented, mild cleansing ingredient, into the soap category. It was positioned—then and now—as a “beauty bar” with one-fourth cleansing cream that moisturizes skin while washing (as opposed to the drying effect of regular soap). Advertisements reinforced the message by showing cream being poured into the beauty bar. In 1979, the phrase “cleansing cream” was replaced with “moisturizer cream” when a University of Pennsylvania dermatologist showed that Dove dried and irritated skin significantly less than ordinary soaps. Based on this study, Unilever began aggressively marketing Dove to doctors. Soon about 25 percent of Dove users said they bought the brand because a doctor recommended it, greatly enhancing the bar’s credibility as a moisturizer. By the mid-1980s, Dove had become the best-selling soap brand and commanded a price premium.

In 1990 the Dove soap patent ran out, and arch-competitor P&G was soon testing an Olay beauty bar with moisturizing properties, a product that rolled out in 1993. One year later, Olay Body Wash appeared and soon garnered over 25 percent of a high-margin sub category. Blindsided, the Dove brand team belatedly recognized that Dove was in the best position to compete as a moisturizer body wash and that they had missed the chance to be a leader in this new subcategory. In response, the firm rushed Dove Moisturizing Body Wash into stores. The product did not live up to the Dove promise, however, and a reformulation in 1996 was only a partial improvement. In 1999, though, Dove finally got it right with the innovative Nutrium line, based on a technology that deposited lipids, vitamin E, and other ingredients onto the skin. The advanced skin-nourishing properties provided enough of a lift to allow Dove to charge a 50 percent premium over its regular body wash and ultimately pull even with Olay in the body wash category. By leveraging strong brand equity, pursuing innovative technology, and being persistent, Dove was able to overcome a late entry into the market.

In 2000 Unilever made Dove a masterbrand, which meant that it would invest in extending Dove’s authority to a broader set of categories, including hair care, lotion, and deodorant. For example, Dove introduced a deodorant line with uncharacteristically bold advertising (one tag line was “Next stop, armpit heaven”). As it turned out, the deodorants were named as one of the top 10 nonfood new products in 2001, garnering over $70 million in sales with close to 5 percent of the market and making Dove the number-two brand among female deodorants. The “one-quarter moisturizing lotion” positioning, effectively communicated as protecting sensitive underarm skin, generated a Dove spin on dryness that differentiated the product line.

The next product extension was Dove Hair Care, with moisturizing qualities directly responsive to one of the top two unmet needs in the category. The product’s branded differentiator, Weightless Moisturizers, is a set of 15 ingredients designed to make hair softer, smoother, and more vibrant without adding any extra weight. After achieving top-selling status in Japan and Taiwan, Dove Hair Care entered the U.S. market in early 2003 with a massive introduction campaign, joining a product family used by nearly one-third of American families. Two years later it introduced Dove Body Nourishers Intensive Firming Lotion, formulated with collagen and seaweed, intended to give the user firmer skin after two weeks.

These extensions contributed to a dramatic sales success. The brand’s business grew from around $200 million in 1990 to over $5 billion today by some estimates (exact figures have not been reported since 2011). Geographic expansion also contributed. Dove’s presence increased to over 100 countries, far more than in 1990, with particular strength in Europe (where it gained 30 percent of the cosmetics and toiletries market), Asia-Pacific (25 percent), and Latin America (11 percent). Kantar’s brand valuation has Dove at $5.5 billion dollars and the eighth most valuable personal care brand in the world. How did Unilever pull off this feat?

By 2004, with no major geographic expansion or brand extension in sight, Dove looked to another route to add energy and purpose to its brand. Global company research involving 3,200 interviews revealed several surprising facts about how women thought about themselves—only 2 percent of women described themselves as “beautiful,” 5 percent “pretty,” and 7 percent “good looking,”—50 percent of women thought their weight was too high (60 percent in the United States), and two-thirds of women felt that the media and advertising set unrealistic standards of beauty. Dove saw an opportunity to take a leadership role in what was ultimately called the “The Campaign for Real Beauty.”

The result was set of advertising campaigns (first created in the United Kingdom) featuring “real women” instead of ultrathin models. In the early tick-box campaign, viewers were shown pictures of a range of women and asked to vote on billboards in popular locations such as Times Square for the words “outsized” or “outstanding,” “wrinkled or wonderful,” and “44 and hot or 44 and not” by phoning 1-800-342-DOVE. In other campaigns, Dove photographed groups of women in their underwear claiming “Real Women have Real Curves.” The campaign received enormous exposure in the media with over a thousand stories and parodies, most, but not all, positive (some felt it would be ineffective, others pointed out that Unilever was still using models for its other products, and still others thought Dove was promoting obesity). It generated a 10 percent sales boost.

Based on this response, in 2006 Dove took even bolder steps by developing a Super Bowl ad, which showed adolescent girls with comments under their pictures, such as “Hates her freckles,” “Afraid she’s fat,” “Wishes she were blonde,” and ending by saying “Let’s change their minds…because every girl deserves to feel good about herself and to see how beautiful she really is.” This ad was a smashing success as was the program that Dove called “The Self-Esteem Fund,” which funded workshops for girls to counterbalance other media and cultural ideas about beauty. Dove’s social mission was to encourage girls to develop a positive relationship with beauty, helping to raise their self-esteem and thereby enabling them to realize their full potential. Over 119 million young people in 115 countries have received help from 2005 through 2015.

Other campaigns followed, including the very popular 2006 “Evolution” ad that won awards at the Cannes advertising festival and went straight to the web. This provocative footage shows a women going from a makeup session to a billboard and all of the alterations that are made to her and to her image in the process. This ad has spawned hundreds of such transformations and parodies on the web. In 2013, the Dove “Real Beauty Sketches” ad involves a blinded forensic artist capturing women’s descriptions of themselves compared to other women’s descriptions of these same women. The comparisons were striking with most women describing themselves as less attractive than others described them. The byline “You are more beautiful than you think,” supported Dove’s position. More recent campaigns to “Love your curls” encourage mothers and daughters to celebrate their curly hair and “Dove Selfie” involves girls and their moms capturing their own individualized beauty and to “redefine beauty one photo at a time.”

As intended, the Dove brand now serves as an umbrella for products in four main groups—bar and body wash, deodorants, skincare lotions, and haircare—and more than 100 different lines including facial wipes, firming lotions, shampoos, body washes, anti-aging cleansers, skin

1. What is your opinion of the “Real Beauty” campaign? Why does it work? What are its biggest challenges?
2. How should Unilever manage the Axe–Dove tension, if at all?
3. How should Unilever measure the success of the “Campaign for Real Beauty?”
4. Will the campaign sell in China? If not, should the brand position be adapted and if so, how? Discuss the costs and benefits of doing so.

Answer 1

Dove is an America-based personal care brand that is owned by the company Unilever. Its products are manufactured in several countries such as the US, Canada, and Australia. The products are for babies, men, and women. Some of its products lines include body washes, hair care, beauty bars, and deodorants. The company launched the real beauty campaign in the year 2004. A detailed discussion regarding the campaign and the answers related to the questions asked is provided in the explanation part.

1.

The 'real beauty campaign' was conducted in the year 2004 by Dove. The campaign featured real women rather than ultra thin models. The goal of the campaign was to change the attitudes of women regarding the perception of 'real beauty'. According to my opinion, the company took a bold step to change the perception of beauty through this campaign. The campaign reflects the company's approach to challenge beauty stereotypes which is worth appreciating. The campaign, by using real women, broadened the definition of beauty that prevails in society. Through this campaign, the company delivered the message that unique differences of women should be celebrated and their physical appearances should not be the reason for their anxiety but the reason for confidence. The campaign denotes the company's good value.

The campaign works because it is different from other traditional campaigns of beauty and skincare products that showcases models in the ads and provides unattainable and unrealistic images to the general people, thereby, limiting the definition of beauty. The campaign gave society a new and fresh perspective of beauty. It used real women with whom the female audiences felt a connection. They could relate more to them in comparison to models used in advertisements for such products.

The biggest challenge is in terms of presenting the message in such a way that it could deliver the intended meaning of the message to the general public. The message delivered through this campaign was new to people and thus any misunderstanding regarding the same could cost a lot to the company. However, when the campaign was launched, the company received both positive and negative feedback. Some people appreciated the campaign while some viewed it as the one that creates fear of fatness and high self-awareness among the viewers because the real women used in advertisement reminds the difficulties in attaining a thin ideal, thus, resulting in body weight dissatisfaction and body-focused anxiety among them.

2.

Unilever is the parent company of both Dove and Axe. The brand Axe promotes the message that contradicts the message that Dove is trying to promote. The advertisement of the brand, Axe, features scantily clad beautiful women getting seduced by men who use Axe products. If at all, the company, Unilever, had to manage the Dove-Axe tension, the company first needs to convey to the public that the two brands Dove and Axe is trying to deliver the message depending on their products and the way their products are focused on different needs of society. Then, the company should bring changes in the ads that promote the brand Axe and its products so that the value for which the company stands becomes clear in minds of people.

3.

Unilever should measure the success of the Real beauty campaign through ROI (Return on investment). ROI helps in measuring the sales revenue that is generated by a campaign based on every dollar spent. It also helps in measuring the quality of the leads generated by the campaign. The company, by computing ROI, measures the extent to which the marketing efforts result in revenue growth either on a campaign basis or holistically.

4.

The campaign will not sell in China the way it has been a success in places like the US and Europe. The campaign needs to be adapted according to the Chinese people and the market. The huge difference in culture between China and western countries serves as a challenge for the real beauty campaign. Also, China is a populous country with gender imbalance as well as stigma over 'leftover women' make the environment trickier for marketers. The marketing message has the risk of getting exploited or ignored in such an environment.

Yes, the brand position needs to be adapted. It should be adapted according to the culture of Chinese society. It should be designed in such a way that it rightly conveys the company's perception of beauty without interfering with the Chinese culture. The company needs to get a deep insight into Chinese women's issues and the way they think or define beauty. The brand position should be convincing enough for Chinese women to trust the brand and purchase its products.

The costs will be in terms of the amount spent on the changes that the company will bring in the campaign and the approach that the company will use to reach the females in china.

The benefit that the company will receive is in terms of brand awareness and increased sales. When people will be informed about the brand and the value for which it stands in terms of beauty in the right way, they will develop a likeness towards the brand and can be influenced to buy the company's products.

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