Hamda Al Najjar 200902038Maryam Hind Maha Dove company Current situation analysis Dove is one of the world’s most recognizable and successful brands in the sector of personal hygiene. It was founded in 1957 and is currently under Unilever’s control since they acquired it. Perhaps their best known product is the wide varieties of soap that they sell. Dove recently has seen attention for its new marketing campaign which tries to use realistic images of women in their ads. This has many potential advantages, as Dove tries to strive for a larger market share, ads that portray images of women that more can recognize themselves in mean that the ads can appeal to a broader range of customers. The challenge presented to any Dove marketing strategy is one of making sure they differentiate their product somehow. The soap market is one that is highly competitive, with tons of other brands that Dove needs to compete against. On top of that, the low fixed costs present in the industry means that there is easy entry for new potential competitors. This means that Dove must do something to stand out from these numerous competitors that they face. One way to do that is through the product itself, but differentiation can also occur through advertising. A memorable campaign that makes potential customers associate the Dove name with positive feelings can be very effective. Dove’s effort at differentiation has come through its Real Beauty campaign in recent years. Real Beauty is a response to the trend in hygiene, beauty, and fashion advertisements in which fashion models are used to market their products. These types of advertisements are highly pervasive, but are not without their critics. The most common complaint is that advertisements featuring these types of women have created an unrealistic standard for beauty, especially amongst younger and more impressionable girls. Dove has attempted to counter this by using more typical looking women than other companies. This ad campaign is focused on what they have termed real beauty, meaning a standard that more women can see as attainable for themselves. In conjunction with the advertising campaign, Dove committed itself to various efforts to support women and their self esteem (Dove Support). but a trend that has many worried about what the previous ads are saying about women. even though it hardly mentions anything about any Dove products.Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha This advertising campaign has been very successful. By doing this. Due to the nature of its statement. Publicity for a media campaign means that they get essentially free advertising for their message. This is because they know there is a great deal of goodwill bound to come to them due to their unique campaign. Dove realizes that the kind of women they are putting in the advertisements and the women who could buy their soap are similar and they themselves recognize the very similarities. Dove has launched one of the world’s most creative and successful ad campaigns. This makes this new campaign both universally appealing and goes through media that Dove does not have to pay to transmit through. statement embedded in the ad campaign. Real Beauty is not just an alternative to any trend in advertising. they have avoided any sort of controversy while also drawing attention to themselves. They have come to be selling women self esteem as opposed to the product itself (Lee). However. The proportion of women who find themselves comparable to the models in the Real Beauty campaign is certainly higher than those who see themselves in the models of traditional campaigns. By celebrating the women in their ads. making it extremely effective at getting their message out. they have come to market their own marketing campaign as much as any of their products. Dove can present themselves as an alternative to a type of advertising that some see as immoral. On top of that. The ads use real women and attempt to celebrate the beauty of these women. it receives free publicity as the ad campaign itself becomes a news story deemed worth covering. . This is because there is a somewhat political. Dove itself calls attention to their own ad campaign as often as possible. passions run high against their alternatives so passions can run high for Dove and their Real Beauty campaign. The unique nature of the ad campaign has meant that Dove gets increased media exposure. Dove makes the women seeing the ad feel better about themselves and by extension. the real brilliance of the campaign is in the way it can be seen as a celebration of its own target market. albeit neutral. the ad campaign is designed to appeal to as many women as possible. the Dove brand itself. Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha In conclusion. This beauty concept is the main aim of Dove’s marketing strategy. the company that has come up with such a unique and well thought out campaign should be trusted to do so again in their new target market. Another campiagn which relate to the social side is the Dove’s “self estem fund” was launched in January (Williams. Dove has been focuses largely on the female demographic. 2010). Another remarkable strengh that Dove company posses is its effective advertising strategy. This fund provides support for organizations that aim to broaden the definition of beauty. The advertisement is brilliant in its effectiveness.ca in partnership with . SWOT analysis The Strengths of Dove company Dove company had many strengths when it first started in 1957. 2005). 2005). That said. The main and the most obvious strength of Dove company is its unconventional marketing strategy. This second feature makes the campaign especially successful. They should be careful to separate the two brands to not risk the success they have already have. Along the years Dove has launched many campaigns to relate directly with their customers. Dove has launched one of the best current ad campaigns and should continue using a similar approach for the foreseeable future. These campaigns included the “love your beauty” campaign. 2011). Which makes the existing clients reliaze that real beauty lies within them. these strengths then developed throughout the years to allow Dove to establish itself as the world’s top brand in cleansing products today (Kasi. that is enhanced by Dove products (Hussain. for example: they recently launched a body image website called relame. as the campaign both sends a message that works to bring in consumers and a message that results in the campaign being talked about. but it is now in the infancy of a new male centric campaign. which worked well with Dove’s new brand extention of new: body care and facial moisturizers products (Williams. The campaigns also strenghed the brand’s recognition.Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha the National Eating Disorder information centre (Williams. Dove soap products have many strenghs that allows it to differentiate itself from competitores. The marketing managers of Dove have conducted a study to see if people would recognize the Dove’s blue bird logo. therefore they minimized the PH level to zero in their soap products as I mentioned earlier. 2010).45). The human blood usually stays in a very narrow range of PH around (7. Dove company is aware of these facts. 2005). as they doubled the sales of almost every product in Dove. Dove’s soap products has zero PH levels in them. below or above this range causes diseases to humans (Monitoring your Body's PH levels. the more oxygen deprived the human blood is (Monitoring your Body's PH levels. that is made of natural ingredients. 2010). 2010).35 – 7. the products of Dove are the only cleansing products that contains ¼ moisturizing cream in their soap products. Dove company is also proud of having gentle soap products. and which the company promises not to leave any residue on the skin on its marketing campaigns. The lower the PH level. Finally. In specific. Secondly. PH is the abbrevuation for potential hydrogen (Monitoring your Body's PH levels. and the results were remarkable as 90% of people recognized it (Williams. These campiagns were a success to the company. regardless of how successful Dove’s marketing strategy is. the more rich in oxygen the human blood is (Monitoring your Body's PH levels. 2010). 2005). These strenghs that Dove company posses along with its charactristics of countinually eveolving their campaigns and their strong emotional touch are the reasons behind Dove’s major success worldwide. The reason of this success is as experts claim Dove marketing managers have done which is “they opened their eyes to what customers is. Firstly. The Weaknesses of Dove company . rather than what the customer wishes”. The higher the PH level. which “made girls sexier” as the company claims. as many indian customers claims. 2010). Which coasts 32 rubees for 75 grams of soap. The company have defended itself by claiming that the advertisment is “meant to show women the need of always feeling beautiful which has been expressed by a wide way in the today’s stereotyped advertisement. Another weakness of Dove is its targeting segment. This targeting segmentation might affect the company negatively in the future.Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha The main weakness of Dove company is its contradictory advertising. which include women only. These prices are relatively high for an under developed country as India. and 48 for the medium special size. by wasteing its oppurtunity to target the men segment to increase their profit. rather than encourage girls to use products.The company added to their defense that “the advertisement was meant to show the need to have real beauty. Dove’s other weaknesses relating to their soap products include the high price of soap products in the Indian market. Dove has the golden oppurtunity to target many new segments other than women. Dove company made an adverstment to promote its Axe deodorant product to young girls. 2010). It has generated many oppurtunities for itself to increase its profit. by expanding its production line . The Oppurtunities of Dove company As the development of Dove company increases each year. This advertisment is clearly contradictory to Dove’s “real beauty”campaign.” (Hussain. as it is already experienced in cleansing products. However. and that it is meant to inspire women to take care of themselves. Dove’s marketing campaigns are used to promote real beauty.For that reason Dove have developed a “self esteem” campaign to educate and inspire women of real beauty. Firstly. which promotes a healthy self image for all women.” (Hussain. The most dangerous threat that Dove faces is the attitude of the public. They can even enter the makeup market. Besides those objective. or body lotions for the babies industry. Dove can also unifie its advertising campaigns throughout the globe. we have set some extra achievable objectives that are: First year objectives: . Dove once posted a photo of an “average” women on their website. Thereofre.Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha in new segments such as: the male market by producing shaving creams. to target younger women. Additionlly. The threats that Dove company face As the growth of Dove company increase each year. as they have already provin success by doubling the sales of almost each product in some regions as I mentioned earlier. Dove must develop a strategy to lower the prices of its products to allow more sales in both modern and less developed countries. After considering the responses of customers. for both middle and upper class group of people. Objectives Dove’s overall objectives have always portrayed in satisfying its customers’ needs and increasing the brand awareness and level. the term “Fat” won the majority of responses. so does the threats that the company faces. with a poll that asked “Fat of Fabuluos?”. Secondly. Which resulted in the removale of the photo from the website. some customers have complained that the prices of soap products are high in under developed countries like India. A less dangerous threat to Dove is the fact that the brand is only popular in modern countries which has higher income. Women have been trusting their skins to dove since forever.000. Therefore. Product strategy The Dove shaving gel selling process will be start. and we will continue with same features mentioned early for its first year. Positioning The marketing strategy for Dove is based on product differentiation. our consumer target is men. but our effort is to add a new product into that segment.Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha Develop a new product: Add a new product (Dove shaving gel) in the existing segment (Dove men care). Our positioning statement will be “ Beauty is not always related to femininity.000. Therefore. Increase the sales volume: During the initial year. which will be Dove shaving gel. Increase the sales volume to AED 500. It’s time for men now”. Marketing strategy Dove is known for its taking care of women beauty. we are aiming that our sales volume will reach to AED200. Our focus is on the same segment. but recently. There will be other shaving . it has established a new segment for men called “ Dove men segment”. Second year objectives: Develop the existing product (Dove shaving gel). the new product will be positioned as the most convenient and value added product. Expanding the existing product into several categories by introducing various fragrances. It is a right of muscularity too. This new segment is offering various men products such as face and body wash and deodorants. We’ll also use online retailers for marketing the product.g. different fragrances) that will be launched in the later time. Pricing strategy Our pricing strategy will focus on attracting distributor channels and of course gaining competitive advantage in the market. especially. Where do our consumers prefer to shop? What is the cost-effective way to our product into consumption level... Marketing communicating strategy The main goal behind endorsing this product is increasing the brand awareness. Selecting appropriate multimedia media tools is very essential in marketing the product. In order to do that. Therefore. One of the most important product strategy that Dove uses is building the level of its brand. these kind of products are consumed highly through supermarket stores. we decided to start with the price of AED 110 for wholesalers and AED 150 for retailers. by focusing on selective strategy. Distribution strategy Before setting a distribution strategy. .Etc). Hence. we’ll start with local stores. we will make sure to display its brand and logo on the product itself and the packaging. the price will be increased for the distributor channels. we focused on couple of questions (e. Marketing research .Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha gels with different features (e.g. Once a product will be launched and of course accepted by the consumers. Therefore. public relations department will play a major role in reaching out our product differentiating massages to our customers. we will be depending on the advertising agencies. with new production of Dove shaving gel.Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha In order to develop our product. July: by the beginning of July. at 22nd of June. but affordably. there will be a higher number of people gathering in JBR because of a water game event. However. Second event is going to be in Joelle’s show that is accessible on MBC channel. By this way. First event. Our plan is to reach a total value up to AED200. The action plan must match with Dove objectives. in Jumairah Beach Residents. the jell will be offered on slow basis to study customers feedback . For further details of the action plan. So. men’s jell will be in all Dove stores. Dubai. There are two events that the new collection will be present in. our plan to launch the men’s jell to people in Amro Saloon that Joelle always go there to make makeovers. we’ll focus on brand awareness research by surveying our target customers about their satisfaction level and asking for their feedback the product itself and their opinions about other competent products they prefer. many procures will be given to people who we wish to be our loyal customers. In this day.000 for the first year of production. therefore. Joelle is an makeup artist and makeovers for her contesters. Action plan: The action plan for the coming summer is mainly focused on men’s segment. the product will be presented indirectly. which is to satisfy all the needs for our product users. to educate customers. 2012. June: establish campaigns to promote the new launch of Dove collections. each action will be described with fair information according to its month. this research will help us to demonstrate our customer’s attitude toward the brand and the product. The action of this plan is expected to increase the overall profits of Dove company. because the number of segments and customers is also growing. It will also help to determine how effective our communicating strategy is. First case is a number of percentage loss. complains. After it is improved. the break-even calculation is 500.Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha through surveys. with reducing the price up to AED100. more than it is planned. If this what the case is going to be.000 in the first year. If this is going to be the case then the price will go up to AED150. On the other hand. and complains to develop several features to improve the presence of our product.000. to make this jell quite different to attract people.000. first year fixed cost is AED500. which leads to receive higher value and profit for our company. Our break-even analysis of Dove men’s jell is as the following: wholesale revenue AED110 per unit. Second option is profit gaining. variable cost AED90 per unit. Dove workers will give the most of service and welcoming strategies for our existing customers to become loyal and tell to other people about Dove men’s segment specifically to achieve our goal of AED200. it requires a budget for offering high standards. then there will be more promotion on media of our product and we will be more present in coming events. and asking their opinion directly when they are shopping in Dove’s store.000 110-90 Controls: . From September till the end of the year. with an average whole price of AED110 and variable cost of AED80. Budget: The goal of Dove men’s jell is to reach AED200. Two options are always expected whenever new product is joined to Dove segments. Based on these assumptions. near 11%. the price will be higher and it is expected that people in this month will more noticeable about the product. opinions. August: collect all the feedbacks. videos. stability and respond to changes. explains the whole process of marketing plan with number of tips to avoid the weakness points in any plan strategy. quality and service. Nevertheless. and charts to explain their points in easy and visionary way. Also. It has brief explanation with diagrams. are requiring hard work and strong basis of control in Dove group teams. keep the standards of our quality and service high. there is a library that is considered as the largest library in the city. including to what relates to marketing plan tools. Balancing price and cost. the price must be suitable to customers and to our company’s overall cost. we have chosen to select this library in Dubai Mall to rely on it for strategies and tools: - Marketing plan and action handbook is written by John Ryan. Marketing project is a soft ware. Since Dove company and our team exists in Dubai .Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha Our main focus and control is to adapt and respond to the rapid changing environment in marketing area. wizards. Marketing Plan Tools: In Dubai. . done by American University of Sharjah senior students and won an award of creative students. it provides loads of examples - from real life to expand our knowledge. with huge variety and types of books. 12 May 2012. (2010. SWOT analysis between two great competitors . <http://www. Kasi. Unilever.com/marketing-plan-2/181-marketing-plan-of-dove.asp§ion=campaign&i =1560>. Web.com. Lee. July 28). from http://marketingmixx. Bibliography Hussain. May 10).Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha Works Cited "Why The Campaign For Real Beauty?" Dove Support. Retrieved May 1. Marketing Plan of Dove.com/doc/31498694/SWOT-ANALYSISBetween-Two-Great-competitors-LUX-vs-Dove.ca/supports.scribd. Retrieved May 1.html. . 2012. Web. (2011. <http://issuu. "McClung's Magazine.com/mcclungs/docs/winter2008/18>. Joss Bernadette.campaignforrealbeauty. 2012.asp?url=supports. from http://www. S. 12 May 2012. Winter 2008." Issuu. htm. . 2012.ca/2005/11/01/dove-20051101/. from http://strategyonline. 2012. Augest 11).net/barry/update178/index.Hamda Al Najjar 200902038 Maryam Hind Maha Monitoring your Body's PH levels. Williams. from http://altered-states. (2005. N. (2010. November 1). Retrieved May 21. Retrieved May 15. Dove: Brand beautiful.