Doves Brand Strategy

Running head: Doves brand strategy 1
Doves brand strategy
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Doves brand strategy 2
Question one.
The brand extension strategy adopted by Unilever for the Dove brand was brilliant yet
challenging since the brand would compete with other established beauty and health brands.
Therefore, in case the brand failed, Unilever would incur lots of expenses. However, the
Masterbrand campaign for Dove as a real beauty brand was successful hence being a plus for
Unilever. The Dove brand began first as a beauty bar soap in 1957 through a claim that the soap
would not dry out skin as other soaps did (Deighton, 2008). Its formula was from military
research, and therefore, it contained high levels of natural skin moisturizers. This strategy
allowed the soap to be endorsed by physicians and dermatologists.
For a long period of time, the Dove brand was dependent on its functional superiority
until it was made a Masterbrand for Unilever beauty and health products (Deighton, 2008). It
therefore became an extended brand for other Unilever products. In 2007, through rigorous
marketing and public relations, Dove managed to be the best “cleansing brand” by making more
than $2.5 billion in more than eighty countries (Deighton, 2008). However, with the success of
Dove as a beauty and health brand, more companies may try to replicate the same brand strategy
so as to achieve sales in the coming years. This means Unilever must be ahead in terms of having
a better brand strategy that would catapult the brand to higher levels in the future.
The Dove brand should adopt a brand positioning strategy for the next five years. For a
brand to target customers minds, it must be positioned clearly. A perfect brand positioning can
help direct the marketing strategy by encompassing the uniqueness of a product, reason why
consumers should buy a product, and what a brand is all about (Singh, Kalafatis & Ledden,
2014). Besides, having an effective brand positioning strategy may increase competitive
distinctiveness and customer relevancy thereby maximizing brand value.

Doves brand strategy 3
For a beginning, since Dove is an extended brand that includes various product
categories, Unilever may first begin with positioning the brand by attributes and benefits.
Associating various category of products with an attribute or product feature may increase the
chances for the customer to make the purchase decision (Maarit Jalkala & Keränen, 2014).
Unilever should attempt to identify the salient attributes in each of the products and amplify
them. Secondly, Unilever may position the brand by price and quality. This type of positioning is
often used by marketers to position their brands. For instance, Unilever can reflect the quality or
value offered by the brand hence determining the price for the products. In addition, the product
should be continually be better than other competing brands so as the positioning strategy can be
effective (Maarit Jalkala & Keränen, 2014).
Thirdly, Unilever may position the brand by competitors. The Dove brand competes with
competitors such as Procter and Gamble, Beiersdorf’s Nivea, and Kao’s Jergens. Therefore,
Unilever might focus its positioning strategy of the brand on specific competitors so as to
demonstrate its superiority in offering the same product categories. This is by comparing their
products uniqueness, benefit or pricing with competitor products. In addition, the company can
develop taglines that make the brand seem the best among competitors.
Lastly, Unilever may position the brand by product user. Since the brand includes a wide
range of products, the company can associate the products with a different set of people. For
instance, various beauty products may be suited for a specific category of people such as young
and middle-aged individuals. Therefore, targeted individuals may become more accustomed to
the products being offered (Maarit Jalkala & Keränen, 2014). For most beauty products, the
company can associate the products with young women who love beauty hence being able to
create a target group.