Product Diversification and Brand Extension: The Case of Dove Brand

This report provides an analysis of Dove's brand extension strategy, focusing on product diversification. It begins by introducing the Dove brand and its evolution, highlighting its brand identity through Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism. The report discusses the concept of brand extension and product diversification, suggesting potential new products for Dove such as hand wash, foot care, toothpaste, and floor cleaners. It also examines the current market demand for toiletries, emphasizing the growing preference for herbal-based products. The report concludes that Dove should introduce products that preserve beauty and address dermatological and hair-related problems, recommending a new product line named “Dove Herbal” with the tagline “Dove: the Doctor’s choice” to capture market attention and gain a competitive advantage.

BRAND EXTENSION OF

INTRODUCTION
• Dove is a brand owned by Unilever limited which primarily deals in toiletries
. The brand was introduced in the United Kingdom in the year 1955 .
• The products of Dove are manufactured in many countries such as
Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Australia , Argentina ,Poland , Turkey and many
others. The products of the company are sold in almost 80 different
countries around the world.
• The products of the company include beauty bars, facial care, lotions,
antiperspirants and many others (Dove UK 2019). The products of Dove are
made of vegetable oils, animal fats , surfactants. Since the year 2010, the
company has also launched men’s care products

BRAND EXTENSION
• The brand extension can be defined as using the
existing brand name to introduce new products in the
product category .
• It is a popular brand strategy which helps to enter the
new category of products.
• The strategy of brand extension is advantageous as it
reduced the expenses of new product introduction
and enhances the profitability of the new product.
• It is one of the most influential areas in the marketing
and is directly related with the parent brand .
• Ex- There are various brands which extends itself by
the product diversification . The existing brand works
as a marketing tool for the new brands .

EVOLUTION OF BRAND DOVE
1. 1957- The brand launched in the market for the first time by
Unilever
2. 1970s- The popularity increased as a milder soap
3. 1980s- It started its global rollout
4. 1990s- The famous litmus test started
5. 1994- Expansion in 80 countries
6. 1995-2001- The extension in the product range
7. 2002- The real beauty campaign
8. 2005- The self esteem campaign (Dove UK 2019).

KAPFERER’S BRAND IDENTITY PRISM
• In the year 1986 , the brand term brand
identity was mentioned for the first
time in Europe by Kapferer.
• It can be defined as an outward
expression of the brand which includes
its name , communications , trademark
and visual appearance too (Essamri ,
McKechnie and Winklhofer 2018).
• The identity of a brand is the
fundamental means of the consumer
recognition and at the same time
symbolizes the differentiation strategy
of the brand from various competitors.

THE CURRENT BRAND IDENTITY
• The main feature of the brand is that it is
not a soap but a moisturizing bar .
• The Dove soaps are in various colors such as
while , light green and pink .
• The benefits of the soap bar is that it leaves
milder effect on skin and reliable for daily
usage .
• The users f the products are highly satisfied
• The brand personality is that it represents
femininity , self-acceptance and confidence
(Dove UK 2019).
• The brand elaborates the commitment to
breaking down the stereotypes and
encourages women to celebrate inner
beauty (Urde and Greyser 2016 )

TAGLINE OF DOVE
• The early tagline of the brand was “ One –quarter
cleansing cream” . After few years it changed and
became “ one –quarter moisturizing cream “ . The
advertising campaigns of the company shows
moisturizing milk being poured into the bar which
supports the tagline so far .
• The connecting strategy of the brand with the
customers is amazing. The products f the company
are differentiated with the normal products by
making the users feel pampered.
• The target market of the company consists of
basically women of all ages. The teenagers are much
attracted by the products as well as women above the
age group of 55 (Lee, Monroe and Rosa 2015).
• The product ranges of the company are designed

WHAT IS PRODUCT DIVERSIFICATION
• In any business diversification connotes the branching out of the brand
into innovative an new product categories , marketplaces or industries.
• It is often viewed as a safety method against the industry downturns . It
works as a protect9ve shield for the bra when the industry suffers from
immense downturn (Ambrose and Harris 2017).
• The company becomes saved through having diversified products. For
example, any fashion retailers are seen to expand to new type of store
formats in order to diversify.
• Product diversification when based on the demands of the market provides
competitive advantage to the company and establishes itself as a top
provider (Wheeler 2017 ).

POSSIBLE PRODUCTS
Dove can extend to products like –
• Hand-wash- The current market of hand wash products is dominated by
brands like Dettol and Lifebuoy. Dove can have a try.
• Foot care – The foot care product market is run by the brands like Amway,
Oriflame and many others. Dove can beat them with its cost –effective
strategy(Ambrose and Harris 2017). .
• Tooth paste – The conversion into the tooth paste would be a little difficult
but Dove can try to reach the heights pepsodent and colgate has reached.
• Floor Cleaners – Floor cleaning market is a vast area to extend to as the
target market is basically women/ housewives.

MARKET DEMAND
• The market demand can be easily defined as the number
of units which is demanded by the total number of
customers in the market.
• The more popular a company is , the more demands for its
products increases. For example - In winters, the market
demands for umbrellas decreases but in the summer or
rainy season , increases( Black and Veloutsou
2017).
Current market demand
in toiletries
• Studies and surveys have found that the
current market demand for the toiletries are
product variations. According to Burmann et
al. (2017), customers want herbal based
products which contains, basil, neem,
turmeric , chamomile , lavender and many
other beneficial components.
• People are becoming more health conscious
and can be driven by such product
variations. Various people own various skin
types and every product does not suit that
skin type.
• Hence , most of them are turning to the
herbal base products made up of natural
components. Researches have even found
that the age group of the people of this kind
of market demand is 25-40 (de Ruyter and
Wetzels 2015).

BRAND EXTENSION BY PRODUCT
DIVERSIFICATION
• Hence, after going through much research, it
can be concluded that Dove should bring in
such products which serves both the function
of preserving the beauty of people as well as
solving their dermatological other hair related
problems.
• The target market of the brand will accept it
to the most and the brand will gain the
competitive advantage too (Urde and
Greyser 2016). The name of the new
product can be “ Dove Herbal “ and
the tagline can be like “ Dove : the
Doctor’s choice “.
• It is likely to catch the attention of the market
and serve as the best option for the market
demand.

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