Dove Case Analysis

Dove: Evolution of a Brand

Brand and Unilever brand management

There are many definitions of brand and the American Marketing Association describes a brand as a “name, term, sign, symbol or design ,or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.” More importantly, a brand is the source of a promise to the consumers. It promises differentiated value and benefit it can provide to consumers.

Brand architecture is how an organization manages its various named entities within its portfolio. Before 2000, Unilever’s brand portfolio had grown in a relatively laissez-faire manner. Same products were sold under various brand names in different geographic regions. This decentralized fashion left adequate freedom for regional management, however, it didn’t create a consolidate brand image for Unilever internationally. From 2000, Unilever planed to winnow its 1600 brands down to 400 and build its Master Brand structure. Master brand is the dominant, highest level brand in a brand hierarchy. Typically, it is also the only brand in the system. Historically, many corporate brands were also mater brands. Dove became a Masterbrand in 2000 and it was called on to lend its name to Unilever entries in personal care categories beyond the beauty bar category.

Real Beauty Campaign

Dove was a brand featured of superb functionality backed by the product’s moisturizing benefit. From 2000, as a master brand, Dove should communicate more than just its functionality but a point of view, or in other word a brand message and attitude. In 2004, Dove launched the very Campaign for Real Beauty which featured real women, not models, advertising Dove's firming cream. The advertisements focused on promoting real, natural beauty, in an effort to offset the unrealistically thin and unhealthy archetypal images associated with modeling. The sentiment is articulated quite strongly through...