Marketing Strategy and Communication Mix of Dove Soap - Report

This report provides an overview of Dove soap's marketing strategy and communication mix. It discusses Dove's approach to transforming the skincare routine of women, contributing to the product's popularity. The report examines the marketing communication mix employed by Dove, including sales promotion, advertisements, public relations, and direct marketing, and how these elements can help achieve the company's objectives. Strategic recommendations are offered to improve Dove's marketing efforts, emphasizing the use of integrated marketing communication and innovative on-pack campaigns that leverage mobile technology to target customers effectively. The analysis also considers consumer behavior factors and how they align with Dove's marketing strategies, highlighting findings from surveys and suggesting ways to enhance customer loyalty and brand awareness.

Running head: MARKETING STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION MIX OF DOVE
Marketing Strategy and Communication Mix of Dove
Name of the student
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1MARKETING STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION MIX OF DOVE
Executive summary
The primary purpose of this report is to discuss about the current marketing strategy in
relation to the product- Dove soap. The report discusses about overview of the Dove soap that
transforms the skin care routine of the women into pleasurable experience that has made the
product popular in the market. It throws light on the marketing communication mix that is
employed by the company. It discusses that sales promotion, advertisements, public relations
and direct marketing can be used by Dove that can help it in achieving objectives. It also
suggests strategic recommendations that can help the company in aspects related to
marketing. It can be recommended that integrated marketing communication can be used by
the company that can help the company in its growth. It recommends how on-pack campaign
can target customers by taking recourse to mobile.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Product Overview.......................................................................................................................3
Critical Analysis.........................................................................................................................4
Current Marketing Strategy....................................................................................................4
Marketing Communication Mix.............................................................................................5
Findings..................................................................................................................................6
Strategic Recommendations.......................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References:...............................................................................................................................10

3MARKETING STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION MIX OF DOVE
Introduction
Marketing Strategy refers to a forward looking approach that can help a company in
achieving sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing strategy emphasizes role pertaining
to marketing that acts as link between organisation and customers. Marketing
Communication Mix is indicative of specific methods that can promote the products of a
company to the targeted customers. Dove Australia has products related to bath care, skin
care, hair care and deodorants that caters to the needs of the people living in Australia. Dove
is instrumental in making the women realise about their beauty by providing them with
products that delivers superior care (Dove.com 2018).This report discusses about the
marketing strategy along with the marketing communication mix of the FMCG product Dove
soap. This report also highlights whether the consumer behaviour factors (as identified in
Assessment 1 and 2) are aligned to the marketing strategy of Dove. It suggests strategic
recommendations that can help the company in its marketing approach.
Product Overview
The personal care brand of Dove originates in the United Kingdom and its parent
company is Unilever. The products of Dove are made for both the men along with the women
and the products are manufactured in various countries. Dove soap helps in providing
confidence to women as they are endowed with beautiful skin after using the popular product.
Dove soap helps in transforming the daily skin care routine into a pleasure that accounts for
the popularity of this product in Australia. The popular FMCG product helps the consumers
to connect with their bodies that can help them in appreciating their beauty. The Dove soap
helps in quenching the dry skin of the women and it revitalises their mature skin. The Cell-
Moisturisers technology of Dove soap combines dermatological expertise with that of spa
like luxury that helps in providing advanced care to the consumers. The product Dove soap

4MARKETING STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION MIX OF DOVE
invigorates the skin of women by providing it with elasticity along with firmness. Dove soap
contains moisturizing skin that is blended with mild cleanser that helps in providing the much
needed moisture to the skin of women (Blakeman 2018). The everyday moisture acts as the
key in relation to beautiful skin of women. The classic moisturizing formula helps in
retaining the glow of the skin of the individuals using the soap. The Dove soap is suitable for
daily use on the face, hands and the body. The Dove soap leaves the skin of the women
softer, smoother and more radiant. The mild cleansers present in Dove soap retains the
natural moisture of skin instead of taking it away. The Dove Soap helps in replenishing
nutrients which is lost the time of cleansing process and it leaves the skin in a radiant state.
Critical Analysis
Current Marketing Strategy
Dove aims at targeting women of all ages and shapes and the marketing strategy aims
at making women believe that the real beauty is present within them. Dove launches
campaigns in which representative move to market segment and carries out free sampling.
This can help in making the customers realize that the company cares for the customers and it
helps them in the aspect of market penetration. This helps the company in penetrating in the
new market segment. Dove makes use of promotional tools like posters campaign, banner,
advertisement, flyer and magazines for the purpose of promotion of the brand. The primary
customers who are targeted with the help of marketing approach of Dove soap are the women
and marketing helps them in capturing their attention. The marketing strategy of Dove makes
the women aware regarding the skin care along with beauty products (Menon et al. 2015).
The poster campaign of Dove helps in conveying message to the target market and makes
them aware regarding the product. The marketing of Dove is carried out with the help of
banners that are pasted on various flash areas that can help in expanding number of the
customers. The flyers containing information about Dove soap are distributed in various

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companies in Australia, universities along with stores. They can then consider whether they
would need these kind of products and provide feedback at a later stage. The magazines also
help in promoting Dove as the people reading the magazine gets to know about unique details
in relation to the product. The regular advertisement regarding Dove soap is given on the
newspapers that helps in making the customers aware regarding the product. The
advertisements given in the magazines can help the common people in Australia in becoming
familiar with the brand (Solomon et al. 2014). The people reading the newspaper gets to
know about features of Dove soap that helps in the marketing of the product.
Marketing Communication Mix
Advertising: The campaign of advertising was launched by Dove that has helped them in
getting a better position within the market. The campaign revealed women of all ages and
sizes and the advertisements were given on billboards and hoarding (Baker 2014). This
helped the brand in creating difference in minds of the women who had a feeling that they
were not beautiful.
Sales Promotion: Dove indulges in sales promotion that helps in marketing of their product
Dove soap. They gives out free samples before the products are launched in market. The
customers were provided with the opportunity of joining “your love” that helped them in
viewing special offers along with innovations (Armstrong et al. 2015). The customers were
also able to receive expert advise along with beauty tips that helped in promoting Dove soap
in front of consumers.
Events: The events related to Dove soap are highly relevant and hence they can engage the
customers. The company was instrumental in launching ‘Real Beauty Campaign’ that helped
in gaining the attention of the customers in Australia. The ‘Ad makeover’ campaign that was

6MARKETING STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION MIX OF DOVE
launched left a positive impact on the mind of the people (Lusch and Vargo 2014). The new
advertisements made the women feel good regarding themselves.
Public Relations: The Public Relations (PR) are greatly used by Dove soap that contributes
to the success of the brand. The PR elating to Dove soap affects the cognitive thinking of the
customers towards concept pertaining to beauty. News section of Dove contains press
releases that familiarizes the Australian population about special features of Dove soap
(Wensley 2016). The press releases were published in many newspapers along with
magazines that can make people conscious about positive aspects of the brand.
Direct Marketing: Dove provided toll free number that enabled facility of customer services.
The campaign ‘Your Dove’ made the customer feel special by providing them with
information in regard to the offers, beauty care tips and the product innovations. The expert
advice provided to the customers can make them aware regarding the practices that can help
them in taking care of skin (Todorova 2015).
Interactive marketing: The campaigns of ‘Real Beauty’ along with ‘Ad makeover’
campaign helped in providing a platform to customers that can help them in responding to
their perception.
Word-of-mouth marketing: The Dove soap was launched at a premium price at the initial
stage that most consumers in Australia refused to accept. Only customers at the initial stage
were those people who had gone through a great amount of travelling that helped them in
knowing regarding product benefits of Dove soap. The people acted as a source that helped in
the marketing of Dove soap. The people talking about the Dove soap led more people to
know about the product.

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Findings
The survey conducted in Assessment 2 revealed that the people can evolve to become
loyal customers if they are targeted in the proper manner. It stressed on the fact that there are
a large number of people who prefer the brand over other brands and hence the marketing of
Dove would be able to increase the consumer base. The marketing communication mix of
Dove would help more people in getting knowledge about the unique product. Advertising,
sales promotion, public relation, events, direct marketing and interactive marketing would
help more people in becoming loyal customers of the product of Dove soap. The Dove soap
would be bought by the families who would get to know about the product with the help of
advertisements on the newspapers and the television (Fill and Turnbull 2016). Dove soap
does not have any side effects and so it can be used by the young girls who want to show off
their glowing skin to other people. The survey (Assessment 1) showed that most of
respondents were satisfied with the brand and the marketing strategy of Dove can help in
popularizing the product. The primary research (Assessment 2) brought out the fact that a
large number of customers are confused regarding the brand and the marketing strategy of
Dove soap with the help of posters, flyers and the advertisements can draw more people
towards the product. It revealed the fact that a large number of customers compared the
various brands of the soap before buying it and hence the marketing communication mix in
relation to Dove soap can help people in knowing about the special features of the product.
The female customers can be said to be brand conscious and the marketing strategy employed
by Dove soap can make people aware regarding the distinct market positioning of the brand
(Kitchen and Burgmann 2015). It can however be added that in the modern age integrated
marketing communications campaign can be employed that can help more people in knowing
about the product Dove soap. They would thus be able to effectively carry out comparison of
the various brands that can help them in becoming loyal customers of the company.

8MARKETING STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION MIX OF DOVE
Strategic Recommendations
1) The marketing landscape is changing at rapid pace and the marketing specialists of
Dove has to make use of innovative marketing strategy so that it can influence the
purchasing decisions of the customers. Dove can make use of integrated marketing
communications campaign that can effectively help in marketing of Dove soap. The
combination of traditional along with digital advertising can help in creation of a
cohesive marketing campaign that can greatly appeal to the customers (Valos et al.,
2016). Social media platforms should be used by the company that can help the
company in making more profits. Instagram, Twitter along with Face Book should be
used by the company that can help them in delivering brand message and expand the
consumer base. The integrated marketing campaign of Dove should be co-ordinated
that can help in supporting brand message. The communication campaign of Dove
can help them in connecting with the consumers that can help the company in getting
better results. The integrated communication campaign can help in the creation of
cohesive brand identity that can resonate with the consumers.
2) Dove can create on-pack campaign that can target the customers by making use of
mobile. This can help in sustaining the volume uplift by providing incentives to the
existing buyers so that they would repurchase. The consumers can be instructed in
following the promotional on-pack instruction by entering a code with the help of
SMS. This can help the consumers in getting offers that can encourage them in cross-
purchasing or switching from the competitor brands (Bruhn and Schnebelen 2017).
3) The marketing team of Dove can be diversified that can help in improving the
performance of the company. This can help the company in getting exposed to various
perspectives that can help it in reaching a broader audience. They would thus be able
to make the products that can satisfy the needs of people belonging to diverse groups.

9MARKETING STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION MIX OF DOVE
Conclusion
Marketing strategy is an approach which can enable company for getting competitive
advantage. Dove soap can provide the women with confidence as they can get beautiful skin
after using the product. The skin care routine can become pleasurable for the consumers
owing to the unique properties of Dove soap. The marketing campaign of Dove targets the
women of varying ages and sizes and they are made to believe that beauty is present within
them. The free sampling of Dove can help them in reaching a larger customer base that can
help the brand in earning more revenue. The promotional tools of poster, banner, public
relations and word-of-mouth marketing are utilised by the company for their promotion.
Integrated marketing campaign should be used by Dove that can help the company in relation
to its marketing. Traditional and digital channels of marketing can be used by Dove in
creating marketing campaign which can be appealing for the consumers. The diversification
of marketing team of Dove can improve performance of the company.

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Blakeman, R., 2018. Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to
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