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Dove: Evolution of a
Brand – Case Solution
This case study analyzes the development of Dove from a
functional brand to a brand with a point of view. This happened
after Unilever called it as a master brand and with the brand's
portfolio expansion to include other categories besides the
original bath soap. This growth resulted in the brand team
taking a second look at the cliches of the industry. It caused the
unfolding of the Real Beauty campaign. With some issues about
the campaign, Unilever resorted to the Internet, particularly the
use of social media to manage such issues.

JOHN DEIGHTON
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW (508047-PDF-ENG)
OCTOBER 10, 2007

Case questions answered:

1. What is a brand? Why does Unilever want fewer brands?
2. What was Dove’s market positioning in the 1950s? What is its
positioning in 2007?
3. How did Unilever organize to do product category management
and brand management in Unilever before 2000? What was the
corresponding structure after 2000? How was brand meaning
controlled before 2000 and how is it controlled at the time of the
case?
 4. Spend a little time searching blogs, using Google Blog Search,
Technorati, BlogRunner, or any other blog search engines, to get a
sense of what people are saying about Dove today. What does this
discussion contribute to the meaning of the brand?
5. Footnote 1 of the case leads you to a blogger who asks, with
reference to the age of YouTube advertising, “Is marketing now
cheap, fast and out of control?” Footnote 2 refers to Dove as having
started a conversation “that they don’t have control of.” In “When
Tush comes to Dove,” Seth Stevenson writes about the “risky bet
that Dove is making.” Do you see risks for the Dove brand today?

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Case answers for Dove: Evolution of a Brand

What is a brand? Why does Unilever want fewer
brands?
A Brand is a way to distinguish various companies using their name,
logo, and personality. A company uses these traits to create a unified
message with a distinctive image for their consumers.

Unilever’s vision was about reducing the number of brands to allow

Unilever to improve the company’s brand management. The current
decentralized approach resulted in a somewhat fractured approach to
brand management in its various geographical markets. Considering that
the company used different individual brand managers across different
geographical markets, it resulted in a number of different brands with
varying of both brand identity and strength. They wanted to consolidate
their 1,600 brands in order to embark on their “Path to Growth.”
However, they instead wanted a global brand unit for the 400 remaining
Masterbrand’s that had a global vision and would inspire cooperation
across the markets.

 Basically: Reduce 1,600 brands to 400 brands:

 o Control issues with the global structure
o Lack of global identity: they wanted to create “Masterbrands”
with a global identity
o Several low volume brands
o “Path to Growth” initiative

With fewer brands, Unilever can leverage brands with existing strong
identities to allow them to market these brands as the company’s global
brand or “Masterbrands.” The company planned to execute this
“Masterbrands” strategy through global brand managers and leverage
Unilever’s ability to collaborate across different geographical markets.

What was Dove’s market positioning in the 1950s? What

is its positioning in 2007?
Dove’s Market Positioning in the 1950s:

Dove’s market was soap, but they differentiated themselves as something

different and better than soap. They called it the “beauty bar,” and
claimed that their product was a cleanser that would not dry out your
skin because it was partly a cleansing cream. It was changed
from cleansing to moisturizing but the company focused on its position
as a functional superiority with a moisturizing benefit. Considering that
there was dermatological evidence that it will not dry your skin out
compared to regular soap, so they took the chance to market it as
technically it wasn’t soap. They were reliant on its functional benefit for
more than 40 years.

They claimed the following:

 ¼ cup of cream added to every bar

 Moisturizer vs drying properties of soap: it doesn’t leave your skin
dry
 Research to back it up: military research driving the special
formulation
 Advertising was different and authentic: average-sized women
Dove’s Marketing positioning in 2007:

In 2007, its market positioning was the number one cleansing brand in
the health and beauty sector. In the early 2000s, Unilever wanted to
make Dove one of their Masterbrands. Unilever needed to create a
meaning for Dove that could apply to and extend over the entire product
offerings. Thus, they chose Dove to stand for a point of view.

Dove moved away from emphasizing its functionality to trying to portray

a point of view which resulted in the “Campaign for Real Beauty". They
wanted to provoke a discussion and debate about real beauty. This
campaign was done after many years of research where they found that
beauty advertising and packaging created an unattainable standard for
women. Dove set a change of the idea of beauty all together rather than
marketing a functional product. They also had already extended the
brand into more product offerings such as shampoo, deodorant, and
the list goes on.

How did Unilever organize to do product category

management and brand management in Unilever before
2000? What was the corresponding structure after
2000? How was brand meaning controlled before 2000
and how is it controlled at the time of the case?
Before 2,000, brand management was highly decentralized and Unilever
had spread itself across a different variety of product categories within
consumer packaged goods. Brand managers were in charge of designing
strategy, delivering profit targets, and daily marketing decisions. Each
brand was operating independently and competed within its categories.
Moreover, a staff of brand assistants worked under the policies of a
brand manager. Considering there were disadvantages to this structure,
but the issues of control of brand management outweighed it. Also, there
was no unified vision of what the portfolio should be looking like.
Keeping in mind that there were some brands that had different
identities in different parts of the world. That resulted in Unilever’s
brand confusion in 2000.
After 2,000, Unilever started splitting responsibility for a brand between
two groups; one was in charge of brand development where it was
centralized but targeted globally, and the other was in charge of the
brand building in specific markets where it was decentralized based on
the major geographic regions Unilever occupied (localized brand
building). They ended up reducing their portfolio to 400 core brands.
They created the path to growth initiative where they separated the
functions of the brand building and development. They also
concentrated on product innovation in order to fuel their internal
growth. Lastly, they created an initiative to create an overall umbrella
brand across all of Unilever’s brands.

Before 2,000, the brand meaning was controlled as Dove was a cleanser.
It aspired to be a healthier option for a moisturized skin that’s doesn’t
dry it. It was honest authentic advertising based on dermatological
research and emphasized the functional superior benefit of using Dove as
opposed to any normal soap. They had a simple meaning behind their
brand: Dove will not dry your skin. Their strategy was decentralized and
cannibalistically capitalist pushing each band manager to compete with
their in-house brands.

At the time of the case, Dove focused on consumers’ emotions,

specifically women’s insecurity and fears in the beauty industry. They
listened to the market and gathered result to make a talking campaign.
They stood for a point of view to popularize a movement that aims
to help women see their personal beauty that is already there. They used
emotional stimulus to implant the product deep in the consumers’
minds. Dove became a brand that held a statement of who you are.

Spend a little time searching blogs, using Google Blog

Search, Technorati, BlogRunner, or any other blog
search engines, to get a sense of what people are
saying about Dove today. What does this discussion
contribute to the meaning of the brand?
The discussions online contribute to the meaning of the brand where it
creates a conversation meaning. To further elaborate, it allows the
consumer to judge the brand (Dove) based on their perceptions not just
how well the brand is doing (Dove’s performance), but also on Dove’s
ability to draw their emotions regarding beauty. The consumer target
was not only about women, as it turns out it was also about men.

Footnote 1 of the case leads you to a blogger who asks,

with reference to the age of YouTube advertising, “Is
marketing now cheap, fast and out of control?”
Footnote 2 refers to Dove as having started a
conversation “that they don’t have control of.” In
“When Tush comes to Dove,” Seth Stevenson writes
about the “risky bet that Dove is making.” Do you see
risks for the Dove brand today?
After reading the articles, I agreed with the authors to a certain degree,
as I do not think it was a risk for Dove. It was mentioned that
technological advancements enable information exchange among
individual to become faster and more proactive, I agree with that. Social
media has connected us closer and broken down cultural and
geographical barriers in order to form a virtual society where people are
able to interact freely sharing their emotions and information across the
globe. Considering we are quite connected through the internet, if a
marketer reaches one person they will be able to share it through their
social media and it quickly can travel across the globe in a combination
of word of mouth and social media.

This happens because people have certain relationships with people

around them and doing so will generate more consumers, as people
sense that consumers talking about a brand is more trustworthy and
reliable. The marketing strategy is not cheap, it all depends on how they
market the brand. In this specific case, Dove wants to generate a buzz for
the campaign and wanted more people to participate. Their strategy was
to use the ordinary in order to highlight the extraordinary. Considering
that the models that were on ads were normal people Dove approached
Youtube instead of the TV to start a conversation. This allowed
consumers to share it with their peers, and it was a cost-effective
 approach that enabled them to refine their target audience more
appropriately. Dove took the opportunity of relationships amongst their
consumers in order to consolidate the credibility of their “Real Beauty.”
This resulted in consumers sharing the video and simultaneously
becoming the brand’s endorsers. Dove’s message brought value to a
certain group, and doing so did not risk the brand’s mission.

The more involvement from people, the more awareness the brand

received. Using models that are not fit conveys a message that
real beauty is within all of us, however, Dove did receive criticism.
Several people thought that using photoshop ended up devaluing the ads’
efficiency while Dove focused on “Real Beauty.” Keeping in mind that
when consumers looked at billboards with un-fit and normal women,
it ended up confusing them about the brand message. Consumers
weren’t sure whether the models' weight was the new standard of beauty,
or real beauty meant that they should be satisfied with who they are.

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