Dove’s campaign for real beauty Essay

Introduction and Problem StatementUnilever, with annual revenues of approximately $50 billion and a staff of 250,000, ranks among the areas largest companies in consumer proceedss. One of its near famous labels is the personal interest sucker Dove. In an attempt to reposition the fall guy and rid it from its conservative soma, in 2004, Dove launched its radically new causal agency for Real Beauty. In-house consumer research had revealed major insecurities among women concerning their physical appearance. Hardly any womanly considered herself to keep up with the standards visualised in regular smasher advertising.Based on these findings, Dove redefined beauty in a way that had been ignored by other players before. Targeting women aged 30 to 39, the campaigns purpose was to show tangible female beauty, reflected in different shapes, sizes and ages. The core message was No models but firm curves. The campaign acquire enormous attention sales of Dove-branded products nearly quadrupled and market share enlarged signifi firetly in various core markets. (for further information please evoke to 5.1).Nevertheless, after this great success and image shift, Doves major brand focus challenge for the upcoming year is how to continue the promotional campaign.The paradox can gum olibanum be formulated a followsWhat should Dove do to prepare for the re-launch of Dove beauty products to the next level and successfully keeping this combative advantage for global use over time? options1. Alternative A Reap the benefits of brand kenOne possibility for Dove is to seize the luck of high brand awareness to extend the brand and enter new taper markets plot largely continuingwith the womens marketing mix. A beauty care line for middle-aged men would be give awayd, as this piece is non well explored by competitors yet and, age-wise, goes in line with the certain female target. Products would connect the moisturizing and mild benefit with attributes like energe tic and self confident. Regarding advertisement, this would be communicated using approach pattern, average males and gum olibanum stay with the Real Beauty paradigm. However, it is fictitious that men are less prone to be self-conscious about their looks. Therefore, perceptions would be assessed in further studies and advertising messages foc apply on the issues regarded as close critical.2. Alternative B Continue to evolveWith the current success of the campaign, it might besides be reasonable not to introduce significant reassigns. The idea would thus be to simply extend the brand communication and promotion for two aspects To give consumers some new insights and keep them excited, advertisements would not merely depict happy, normal women. They would now also include storytelling, showing how average womens self-confidence helps them in different situations (such as job interviews or dates). Additionally, Dove products would be feature more than prominently in these adve rtisements. Their connection to Real Beauty and self-esteem would be communicated more clearly by showing the women use Dove products antecedent to making a self-confident experience.3. Alternative C Its all in the productSeeing how the prevalent image in the beauty application is still one of perfection, Dove might be well-advised to provide for the possibility that identifying with imperfect women loses its appeal to the customer base. Without returning to classic beauty models, the brand could hence decide on detaching the products from body images altogether. The self-esteem topic would still be key, but the main focus lies on the product. For example, women would no longer be shown in campaigns, but merely close-ups of skin and the products packaging as well as ingredients themselves.Issues4. How easy is it for competitors to imitate the schema? With Doves focus on Real beauty seeing such great success, it is likely forcompetitors to try and get their piece of the cake by imitating Doves strategy. When utilizing a more product-focused strategy, communication will rather be on brand attributes than on the brand image that has successfully been established. As attributes are easier to copy and, consequently, convey, option C runs at a respectively higher risk of being imitated. For alternative A, as there will be a new target multitude to win over, competition is likely to be dangerous from beauty brands that already enjoy a high standing among the relevant consumers (e.g. Gillette). Alternative B builds the most on the current communication strategy, where Dove is well-established and simply needs to keep consumers interested in order to reap its first-mover benefits.5. In how far are current brand associations held up?As Doves Real Beauty campaign was exclusively focused on women, it might be hard to strain the brand associations to fit the new consumer segment targeted by the portfolio extension (i.e. men). As a consequence, prospective customer s could experience difficulty identifying with the brand, whereas current customers could perceive brand set as more or less diluted by the new attributes. Alternative B will clearly remain the most consistent with the current image alternative C, on the other hand, runs at a risk of not diluting but rather reducing the brand image by taking away its clement dimension. On top of this goes the fact that it is harder to convey brand values when they are not placed in a reference frame (e.g. that of curvy women enjoying themselves). maculation the core message and self-esteem concern will still be pursued, losing the edge of directly opposing belligerent clich images might harm the brands credibility.6. Will consumers in the long run withstand the attraction of idealized advertising? Although the move away from idealized models has brought Dove high brand awareness and appealed to many women, it is questionable whether consumers will not fall back into their learned habits of tryi ng to become more perfect. The consequence would be that they are again attracted by competitors. As explained above, alternative C would somewhat prepare for that backward shift. Alternative A, with going into a new target, still has some room for maneuver to introduce slight pitchs back towards higheridealization. Alternative B, however, is completely tied to alternative beauty models and thus most exposed to the risk of backward-changing consumer preferences.ConclusionThe brand management faces a constrained budget, which appoints handleing a combination of these alternatives unfeasible, at least in the short and long suit run. The task is hence to select the one most shining alternative.Addressing the issue of sustaining a unique positioning first, it is clear that alternative C provides the least protection against copycat behavior of competitors as it even partly abandons the overlord concept and thus leaves more space for the rivals to also associate their brands with a ttributes such as genuineness or sincerity. Similarly, alternative A opens a window for exaggeration even though it is, arguably, not likely to happen, as the market for mens personal care is not as profitable as to abandon rivals to simply establish themselves as followers in this way. Under alternative B, Dove further elaborates on its positioning which is deeply ingrained in the minds of customers, thus rendering imitation by competitors especially hard and consequently unlikely.As already mentioned, the question of compatibility of the current brand with mens mindset is questionable. even so though, option A does not have to necessarily alienate the current target group, provided the advertising message is adapted seamlessly and promotes the idea that real beauty comes no matter of sex as it comes regardless of age, ethnicity or shape. Alternative B stays close to the message and does not pose a threat in this regard. Alternative C, however, moves away from the concept, pro ducing incongruity within the brand image. This fact, together with the previous issue, makes alternative C seriously undermine the strategy that Dove has been following and we hence neutralise it from subsequent discussion.Regarding the risk that people regress to their old habits of following an idealized concept of beauty, alternative B fares better than alternative A. While not regress to the standard approach to fashion advertising, thestorytelling technique expands the consumers transforming of the issues and leads them to process the brands benefits more consciously. This should, in turn, inhibit the customers inclination towards idealized images in advertising. In this regard, Dove might be worse off under alternative A, as a positioning for two partly distinct target groups can reduce the degree to which each of them associates themselves with the brand.Also alternative B is a mere evolution of the current campaign. From an economic point of view, the fact that the targe t segment remains the same, the future returns are severely limited. Albeit option A is associated with a higher risk, it has to be concluded that a successful implementation would also change Dove to unlock a whole new market, making this choice more appealing.The final decision between the two options is difficult. While being somewhat weaker on the side of economic potential, alternative B ultimately outperforms alternative A in regard to other issues. Higher revenues can still be made by expanding geographically, while the image needs to be adapted to fully resonate with the customers. Yet, these alternatives are mutually exclusive only to the extent of the usable funds. Alternative A might hence very well be the logical extension of Doves efforts and the natural next step for a phase 3 of its brand relaunch.Additionally, several other factors should be taken into account, such as a possible conflict with other Unilever brands, such as Axe/Lynx. These inconsistencies should be countered with a clear positioning in non-overlapping segments and appropriate PR measures. Also the global dimension of the decision should be kept in mind and the campaign continuously adapted to local circumstances in order to display a high level of fidelity, which is completely crucial if the brand is to sustain its image. Provided Dove manages to avoid pitfalls as these, the brand is best off by evolving its brand communication to further curb female insecurities about themselves while strengthening the link between the image the brand evokes and the products. (For further detail pleas refer to 5).Appendix7. The company and campaignDove was originally developed in the United States as a non-irritating skin cleaner for pre-treatment use on burns and wounds during WWII. Nowadays, Dove products are available in more than 35 countries, generating revenues of $3 billion. The Dove product line includes body washes, beauty bars, deodorants, hair and facial care products and lotions. Before Dove set up the marketing strategy, they wanted to understand the relationship of women to beauty, without a special focus on any beauty care products. Therefore the company charged a global research firm, StrategyOne to conduct a research study. Hence, StrategyOne surveyed 3,200 women from around the world. The result of the survey showed a wide disparity between the ideal of beauty pictured in the media and the perception by women themselves. Based on this report, the company redefined beauty in a way that all competitors have ignored. To launch a new campaign Dove used a new and unconventional ideal of beauty, thus they differ significantly from their main competitors.To strengthen the emotional ties to Doves target group, the brand and not the single products should be in the foreground. The campaign was launched to increase also revenues and to re-brand Dove. Therefore the advertising budget approximately accounted for $ 27 million in Europe alone. The Campaign for Real Beauty began in September 2004, when a website for beauty debates was established. The main target group was 30- to 30-year-old women who could identify with the new brand mission statement to make more women emotional state beautiful every day, by widening todays stereotypical view of beauty and inspiring women to take great care of themselves. To transmit the core message Doves ads contained no models, but firm curves.The promotion also showed a group of women of different ages, shapes and racial backgrounds that were honest having a good time in bras and knickers. Therefore the models were chosen in a street casting to achieve a great acceptance among the observers. tralatitious television and magazine advertising was supported by outdoor ads, such as billboards, posters and signs. The results were dramatic, because the advertisement gained a massive media coverage. The brand had a sophisticated image shift and is now described by adjectives like open, active and self-confide nt. Theturnaround was really striking. 12. pesterer Analysispic think 7 PEST AnalysisPolitical factorsAs Unilever and therefore also Dove are globally acting brands, there are several political and legal factors that could twine the performance of the company. For example the political stability in different countries is not as stable as in Europe. Therefore a quick change in laws can occur, like the employment laws, health and safety laws, consumer laws etc. It is also possible that new import tariffs are introduced. Hence, regarding thosechanges the costs for Dove could increase and the demand for the products could be reduced.Economic factorsEconomic factors can have major impact on business and future decisions. Those factors include an economic downturn, volatile tack rates and inflation rates in the operating countries. It is possible that Dove has to increase prices due to different circumstances like increased ingredients price and therefore the demand for the products cou ld decrease.Social factorsSocial factors as lifestyle and cultural values vary from region to region. As Dove launched the unique campaign they have to be careful that they adapt it to the different cultural environments and lifestyles around the globe. But also brands have a great impact on peoples lifestyle and can change it.Technological factorsTechnology is also necessary for Doves success and competitive advantage. This includes for example research and development activities and information technologies (with their interactive website). To maintain the competitive advantage being a moisturizing product, Dove has to rely on the technological progress and has to be a first mover.3. Porters five forcespicFigure 8 Porters five forcesThreat of new entrantsAs Dove had great success with their real beauty campaign there is a potential risk for new entrants. But Dove is one of the best brands over the world and competitors have to face that. They have an outstanding marketing strategy and high quality products. But barriers to enter the market are low threat of new entrants can therefore be rated as medium.Bargaining major power of suppliersDove is a sub-brand of Unilever that as lots of suppliers over the world. Therefore Unilever as the parent company has power to influence the suppliers and switch them advantageously. So Dove has also a sort of pressure on their suppliers and can cut down prices and establish tight relationships with suppliers. Hence, bargaining power of suppliers is low.Bargaining power of buyersAs there are many competitors within the industry, Doves customers can easily switch to another label. But the Dove brand stands for high-quality products and promotes real beauty in their campaigns so they rely on loyal consumers. However, you cannot only trust in the sustainability of the campaign in the long run, the bargaining power of buyer has to be rated high. competitive rivalry within the industryThe main competitors of Unilever are Procte r & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive, because their sub-brands are quite similar to Dove. In the beauty industry there is verly little product differentiation and similar product offerings, as well as little trade secrets. This leaves little room for competitive advantage, but Dove has always remained at number one, because of their loyal consumers and their moisturizing skin quality products. However, it is easily to switch to other high-end products and also to private label brands, therefore competitive rivalry is high in the operated industry.Threat of substitute productsThere is a treat of replacing Dove products by competitors products, but people will always need toiletries and therefore cannot easily substitute the line. They can only switch within the existing industry, but as people love Dove and their campaign there is just medium threat of its replacement with present products.9. Alternative/Issue pitchIssues Alternative A Alternative B Alternative C Threat ofimitation 50 % - + - Brand consistency 30 % + - Ideals 20 % - + Table 2 Alternative/Issue WeightAs you can see from the alternative/issue weight table above, the threat of imitation is the most serious one. As only alternative B is to be forearmed against this risk it is the most desirable one. Also in line with brand consistency alternative B scores highest, followed by alternative A that would try to win over a new target group, but with the same values. Alternative C is the most promising one if it comes to purchase orders ideals. As markers want to sell hope, this alternative would fight against the societys upcoming doubts about average, normal models. All in all, you can see that alternative B is due to our table the most promising one.References Hips feel good Doves campaign for real beauty, Richard Ivey School of Business, Northeastern University, College of Business Administration, Canada, 2009 1 Adapted from Hips feel good Doves campaign for real beauty, Richard Ivey School of B usiness, 2009, p. 3ffFigure 1 Unilever logo, source http//www.greenerpackage.com/certifications/unilever_adopts_paper-sourcing_policy_meet_sustainability_goalsFigure 2 Dove logo, source http//quizbazaar.blogspot.co.at/2010/07/animal-logos-trivia-series-3.html,Figure 3 Hips feel good, source http//greatness-with-gumption.blogspot.co.at/2010/10/beauty-in-bottle-why-dove-can-kiss-my.htmlFigure 4 The campaign, source http//www.adverbox.com/ads/dove/Figure 6 The campaign, source http//www.adverbox.com/ads/dove/Figure 5 The campaign, source http//www.adverbox.com/ads/dove/