Dove : Evolution of a brand

GAURAV KOTHARI 15P081

JYOTISH JOSE 15P085
NEENU SURESH 15P096
ROHIT JAIN 15P103
SHASHANK KOTHARI 15P108
UTKARSH CHOUDHARY 15P115

Introduction - Unilever
A leading global manufacturer of packaged consumer goods
Eleven of its brands had annual revenues globally of over $1 billion
Global decentralization brought strengths through diversity, but also problems of control
In February 2000 Unilever embarked on a five-year strategic initiative called Path to Growth
Part of this initiative was a plan to winnow its more than 1,600 brands down to 400
Among the surviving brands, a small number would be selected as Master brands
Dove was to become a Master Brand

Dove
The first Dove product, called a beauty bar, was launched in 1957
It was not positioned as a soap
The value proposition of Dove was that it would not dry out your skin the way soap did
POD 1/4th cleaning/moisturizer cream
This value proposition was communicated through prints, billboards, television ( Exhibit 1,2,3)
The communication still focused on functional benefits
Advertisements focused on testimonies from real women
By end of 2000, dermatologists and physicians were used to endorse the brand

Dove as a Master Brand

As per the path to growth initiative, Dove was to become a master brand
Every master brand needed to develop a brand image, something that a brand stands for
Therefore, Dove has to move away from its traditional communication of functional benefits
Dove needed to have a point of view
The campaign for real beauty was launched

Dove with a point of view

A survey was conducted with 3000 women across ten countries ( Exhibit 4)

Womens responses to the iconography of the beauty

industry, and unearthed deep discontent

Young, white, blonde and thin were the almost universal

characteristics of women portrayed in advertising and
packaging

for many women these were unattainable standards, and far

from feeling inspired they felt taunted

Only 2% women called themselves beautiful

Key Insight

Women were critical of themselves

Felt standards set by advertisement highly unattainable

Therefore, there is a clear need to make women more confident about their
looks

Contd..

Majority of the women felt media sets unrealistic standards of beauty

Overwhelming majority wished of media doing a better job portraying women physical attractiveness

On the Positive side, again huge majority believed that attitude, spirit and other attributes can help
achieve beauty

Key Insight

Perception of physical attractiveness needed to be changed and focus on real beauty

Women were needed to feel more confident about themselve

Tick-Box campaign
Billboards were erected and viewers were asked to phone

1-888-342-DOVE
To vote on whether a woman on the billboard was

outsized or outstanding
A counter on the billboard showed the votes in real time
The campaign attracted keen public interest, as outsized

first raced ahead and then fell back

It showed major success towards brand communication

towards showing a woman's real beauty and just physical

appearance

Firming Girls
They featured six real women cheerfully posing in

plain white underwear

Change the way society views beauty, and provoke

discussion and debate about real beauty

The aim was to show that every women is a real model

with real curves

The definition of beautiful needed to be broadened and

needed to include all the women

Hate Her Freckles

The idea behind The Campaign for Real Beauty by

filming their own daughters discussing their self-esteem

challenges
Advertising agency quickly turned the idea behind the film
into an ad
The ad focused on young girls discussing their self esteem
insecurities

Ad focused on a young girl with freckles with the caption, Hates her freckles. At

another, a shot of an Asian pre-teen was superimposed by the caption, Wishes she were
blonde.
The ad itself was widely admired, but controversy erupted over the fact that it
mentioned no product. How would it earn a return on the investment in media?

Evolution ad campaign
Stage four of the Real Beauty campaign involved

not an advertisement, but a film

It showed the face of a young woman as cosmetics,

hair styling, and Photoshop editing transformed it

from plainness to billboard glamour
Within three months, it had been viewed three

million times

Impact
Firming Girls campaign

On July 14, 2005, Katie Couric spent 16 minutes on the Today Show with the firming girls, Exposure which
nobody can buy

Hate her freckles campaign was shown at Superbowl

The impact was extraordinary.

News programs echoed the message of the ad

Oprah Winfrey devoted a full show to self-esteem, with the advertisement as a centerpiece.

Jay Leno ran a parody of the ad on his late-night talk show

Wal-Mart developed a version of the ad featuring its employees.

Evolution Campaign

Among the most downloaded commercials ever to appear on YouTube

Popularity of the ad was the subject of considerable newspaper, radio and television coverage.

Generated volumes of discussion on chat rooms, with contributions on topics like anorexia and heartfelt
interchanges between fathers and daughters

Walk the talk. Unilever established the global Dove Self Esteem Fund to raise the self-esteem of girls and young

women. In the U.S.,

Issues
Campaign for Real Beauty banner risked moving the brand to a positioning that was at odds with its heritage
When you talk of real beauty, do you lose the aspirational element? Are consumers going to be inspired to buy

a brand that doesnt promise to take you to a new level of attractiveness?

Hate her freckles was widely admired, but controversy erupted over the fact that it mentioned no product. How

would it earn a return on the investment in media?

Here was a brand in the health-and-beauty category, blatantly out to debunk the dream that supermodel beauty

was within your grasp. We were saying that the beauty industry was portraying an unattainable and stereotypical
image of beauty, and yet there we were in the beauty industry
A Chicago Sun Times editorialist, Richard Roeper, wrote: Chunky women in their underwear have surrounded

my house. . . . I find these ads a little unsettling. If I want to see plump gals baring too much skin, Ill go to
Taste of Chicago, OK

Dove real beauty sketches campaign 2013

The purpose of the short film was to document a compelling social experiment that proves women are

more beautiful than they think

Portraits of women based on their own self- perception and then based on that of a stranger whom the

subject met the previous day

Each of he subjects described themselves in a predominately negative way
In contrast, the strangers used complimentary language
The strangers picture was much more stereotypically attractive and accurate
The video captures strong emotional reactions as the women discover they are overly critical of their

own appearances.

Impact
Upon its release, the video generated a strong reaction and went viral within days. It has since garnered more

than 114 million views, making it the most viral ad video of all time
In May 2013, the film won the titanium Grand Prix, Creativitys highest honour
Most thought-provoking film yet; Moving, eye opening and in some ways saddening
The underlying goal was to attract long-term customers and generate stronger brand awareness by changing the
definition of what the mass market thought of beauty.
Negative backlash
Dove was criticized for having a campaign about accepting real beauty while also selling products intended to
improve peoples appearances.
Also, Dove was critiqued for the lack of diversity in its Real Beauty Sketches video.
Third, Unilever is also the parent company of the Axe brand which is well known for its sexual advertisements
with photo-shopped models

Thank You