Report on Unilever's Dove Soap: Marketing Strategies and Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Unilever's Dove soap, examining its marketing strategies to deliver customer value and build customer relationships. It begins with an introduction and background of Unilever, followed by an overview of the organizational mission, vision, values, goals, and objectives. A PESTLE analysis is conducted to assess the external environment, and the STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) strategy of Dove is discussed. The report then explores Dove's product and brand portfolios, pricing strategy, distribution strategies, and promotional mix. The analysis highlights the competitive pricing strategy, distribution through various channels, and promotional activities. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and suggests future marketing strategies for Dove to maintain its market position. The report utilizes relevant academic references to support its findings and analysis. The report follows the assignment brief and addresses all the required elements of the marketing report.

Report on Unilever
(Brand Selected: Dove Soap)
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Table of Contents
An introduction to the assignment.............................................................................................3
Background to the chosen organization.....................................................................................3
Organizational mission, vision, values, goals and objectives....................................................4
PESTLE Analysis.......................................................................................................................4
STP of the Chosen Brand...........................................................................................................5
Product and Brand Portfolios.....................................................................................................6
Pricing Strategy..........................................................................................................................6
Distribution Strategies................................................................................................................7
Promotional Mix........................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................10
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An introduction to the assignment
This report will provide different aspects or elements that is used to increase consumer value
among the consumers. The organization that has been chosen for the report is Unilever.
Unilever is considered as one of the largest FMCG organization in the world that produces
products that has a variety of utilization. The brand in Unilever that has been chosen is Dove.
Dove is one of the well-known brands from Unilever. A brief description will be provided
against the organization and in addition, a PESTLE analysis will be done in order to
understand the growth opportunities in the market. Further, the STP, product and brand
portfolios, the pricing strategy will be discussed regarding the brand that has ben chosen. The
later portions of the report will dwell with information regarding the promotional and
distribution strategies. A conclusion provided in the report will help in understanding the
future strategies of the company and brand that will help to curb competition in the market.
Background to the chosen organization
The organization Unilever started its operation in the year of 1929. The company was the
result of the merger between Margarine Unie and Lever Brothers. In the present scenario, the
organization operates in more than 100 countries all over the world and has an annual
turnover of more than 50 billion pounds annually (About Unilever, 2020). In addition to this,
the organization has more than 400 brands in its portfolio and is considered one of the largest
FMCG products manufacturer in the world. The organization is known for its effective
products that are of value and usefulness in everyday life. With technical innovation and
immense man-power the organization has been able to curb competition in the market.
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Organizational mission, vision, values, goals and objectives
The mission, vision and goals of the organization, plays a crucial role in designing the
portfolio of the company and the ways that will be taken into consideration for the
achievement of the goals. The vision Unilever is to empower the people in the society by
making sustainable living commonplace. The values of the organization are to “achieve the
highest standards of corporate behaviour towards everyone we work with, the communities
we touch, and the environment on which we have an impact.” On the other hand, the
principles of the organization include working with integrity, working with others, positive
impact and continuous improvement, setting out aspirations and many more (Our values &
principles, 2020). The vision of the organization is to “to make sustainable living
commonplace. We believe this is the best long-term way for our business to grow”. Further
the mission is to “to add vitality to life. We meet every day needs for nutrition, hygiene and
personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.”
PESTLE Analysis
An environmental analysis is important for organization like Unilever to draw out the
strategies that would be required to win competitive edge in the market. Analysing the
political condition of the world, it can be said that there is a lot of tension that is revolving
around the Corona Virus outbreak thus, the political relationships of UK and Australia and
further with the other countries would not be feasible. Further, a great recession is going to
hit the economy of every country, thus coming up with a new product is not feasible
(Chimhundu, 2018). When talking about the socio-cultural factors, the living standards have
increased among the people in UK and Australia. Thus, the acceptance of the products from
Unilever or Dove would not be hindered. Further, the legal compliances in the countries have
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been improve, thus labour can be found easy (Montandon et al., 2017). Dove and Unilever
both, takes into consideration that they abide by the environmental laws and have designed
their products accordingly.
STP of the Chosen Brand
Segmentation refers to the segregating the potential consumers for the brand or consumer so
that, the organization is able to understand the needs of the potential consumers. This helps in
apprehending the qualities that are required in the product (Camilleri, 2018). Dove uses the
demographic segmentation strategy in order to place its product in the market. Previously, the
product was directed to women in the society who are in the age group 15-50 years. Further,
people in the middle-class income group were also the target of the brand. In the present
scenario, the brand has come up with range of products in the baby range. This range caters
to the toilet needs of the babies in the age group of 6 months to 4 years.
The consumers of Dove are targeted using different strategies and techniques. There are
relevant television and newspapers advertisements that are produced by Dove in each
interval. In addition to this, there are different promotional and seasonal discounts that are
provided by Dove in order to attract the consumers in the market and decrease the
competition to improve the shares in market (Nadube and Didia, 2018). Further, sponsoring
of events, providing free samples at the launch of new products are the other strategies that
are used to target the consumers.
With the help of the positioning or perpetual map, the products that are available in the
market, can be positioned into four quadrants and they are high quality and high price, high
quality and low price, low quality and high price, lastly low quality with low prices
(Andaleeb, 2016). The different products that are available in the Dove brand are positioned
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in the high quality and moderate prices quadrant. The quadrant in which Dove has been
placed is justified. Dove has really high level of qualities in the brand against the moderate
prices in which it is sold.
Product and Brand Portfolios
Unilever as a brand has more than 400 brands in the organization. One of the well-known
brands in the organization, is Dove. Dove in the old days used to manufacture only bathing
bars in one variant. However, in the recent years, the brand has come up with different
variants. In the soap range, there is the normal variant and now there is a variant in aloe vera,
rose variant and many more (Care, 2020). In addition to this, there is a range of products in
the brand that can be used for the babies. In addition to this, the brand has come up with
handwashes, bodywashes and many more. Shampoos and facewashes from Dove are also an
addition product in the brand portfolio (Edirisuriya et al., 2017). Therefore, it can be said that,
a complete bathing range is produced by Dove in the recent days.
Pricing Strategy
Pricing strategy is one of the elements that is used by the marketers and the organization, set
the price of the products or services to order to make its features appealing to the consumers.
Unilever which is one of the largest fast-moving consumer goods company in the United
Kingdom has different product under its brand that are of everyday uses. The increase the
competitive advantage of the brand and satisfy consumers values, the organization uses the
competitive pricing strategy. In this strategy, the price of the products is structured in
accordance to the other substitutes in the market (Ze et al., 2018). This helps the organization
to gain more share in the market and maintain the satisfaction among the consumers as well.
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The brand Dove which is one of the most famous products or offering from Unilever uses the
competitive pricing strategy. However, the product is still considered as a quality drug-store
product that has better qualities that the other soaps or bathing bars that are available for the
same price. Dove has been able to create a niche for itself in the market as a soap that has
beauty properties at affordable prices (Wu et al., 2018). Thus, it can be clearly anticipated
that, with the competitive pricing strategy, Dove has been able to create a place for itself in
the market.
Distribution Strategies
Unilever uses different distribution strategies to make it sure the products and services from
the organization reaches the consumers in the right time so that the chances of substitution
are the lowest. In the same way, Unilever has some specific distribution strategies that helps
in the effective distribution of the products. The products from Dove are distributed through
the wholesalers and retailers (Raj and Aithal, 2018). However, it needs to be noted that there
are no standalone stores of Unilever that stores only the products from the organization. The
products from Dove are hugely available in the grocery stores and even in the well-known
supermarkets all over the world. With so many distribution strategies and channels, the brand
as well as the organization has achieved the highest level of physical evidence and shelf value
among the other competitive products in the market (Melton et al., 2017). In the present
scenario, the products from Dove are also available in the different e-commerce sites and this
helped in increasing the distribution of the product among the potential consumers.
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Promotional Mix
One of the most required and essential part of marketing in the present scenario is promotion.
Due to the intense competition in the market, increasing the physical evidence of the products
have become mandatory and this can be only achieved by increasing the effectiveness of the
promotional handles used by the organization. Unilever uses different promotional strategies
to target the consumers. Some of the promotional handles include, newspaper and television
advertisement, sponsorship of events, introductory discounts for the new products launched
and so on (Wachira and Kariuki, 2018). In the same way. The well-known brand Dove from
Unilever also takes into many of the promotional handles in order to curb competition in the
market. Television and newspaper commercials are usual in Dove for advertising their new
launches in the market. In addition to this, there are other introductory discounts and sale
options in different months. The brand also indulges itself in sponsoring of many beauty
shows and pageants in order to increase the physical evidence of the brand (Huagie, 2018).
One of the effective promotional techniques that is used by Dove and it unique to it, is the
inclusion of the users in the advertisements. The feedback that is provided in the
advertisements regarding the product Dove is an effective promotional method that is used by
the brand.
Conclusion
A proper analysis has been done on the brand known as Dove that is under the Unilever
group. From the analysis made in the report it is can be understood that Dove has different
marketing strategies that has helped to increase the satisfaction among the consumers. With
the effective distribution strategies and the promotional handles, the brand has been able to
curb competition in the market. The marketing department is one of the most effective
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operations in the organization that can increase the growth of the company in the market.
Thus, the marketing team of Unilever along with Dove should come up with different
marketing strategies like more product variety and more promotional handles to increase the
satisfaction among the consumers.
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References
About Unilever, 2020. [online] Unilever global company website. Available at:
<https://www.unilever.com/about/who-we-are/about-Unilever/> [Accessed 20 April 2020].
Andaleeb, S.S., 2016. Market segmentation, targeting, and positioning. Strategic Marketing
Management in Asia, pp.179-207.
Camilleri, M.A., 2018. Market segmentation, targeting and positioning. In Travel marketing,
tourism economics and the airline product (pp. 69-83). Springer, Cham.
Care, B., 2020. Dove. [online] Unilever global company website. Available at:
<https://www.unilever.com/brands/personal-care/dove.html> [Accessed 20 April 2020].
Chimhundu, R., 2018. The Management of FMCG Product Categories. In Marketing Food
Brands (pp. 15-48). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Edirisuriya, W., Sandamali, G.A.S. and Rupasinghe, T.D., 2017. A Meta-Analysis of Green
Procurement Practices in the FMCG Industry. Front cover page, p.296.
Huagie, S.D., 2018. Impact of Good Leadership and Technical Attachment in the
Outstanding Performances of University of Cape Coast Cross Country Team in the Unilever
Inter-University Cross Country Competitions. JEP, 9(33).
Melton, A., Damron, T. and Vernon, J., 2017. A Marketing Strategy from Corporate Social
Responsibility: Lessons from Unilever and Coca-Cola Enterprises.
Montandon, A.C., Ogonowski, A. and Botha, E., 2017. Product involvement and the relative
importance of health endorsements. Journal of Products Marketing, 23(6), pp.649-667.
Nadube, P.M. and Didia, J.U.D., 2018. Market targeting and strategic
positioning. International Journal of Marketing Research and Management, 8(1), pp.32-45.
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Our values & principles, 2020. Our Values & Principles. [online] Unilever global company
website. Available at: <https://www.unilever.com/about/who-we-are/our-values-and-
principles/> [Accessed 20 April 2020].
Raj, K. and Aithal, P.S., 2018. A ‘Desi’Multinational–A Case Study of Hindustan Unilever
Limited. International Journal of Case Studies in Business, IT and Education (IJCSBE), 2(1),
pp.1-12.
Wachira, N.M. and Kariuki, P.K., 2018. Integrated marketing communication and
performance of Unilever Limited (Doctoral dissertation, KENYATTA UNIVERSITY).
Wu, L., Deng, S. and Jiang, X., 2018. Sampling and pricing strategy under
competition. Omega, 80, pp.192-208.
Ze, Y., Abbas, H., Hussain, T. and Jiao, H., 2018. Analysing the differentiation strategies of
big companies competing with each other. Strategic Management, 23(3), pp.25-37
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