Dove Evolucion de Una Marca
9-508-047
REV: MARCH 25, 2008
JOHN DEIGHTON
Dove: Evolution of a Brand
In 2007, Unilever’s Dove was the world’s number-one “cleansing” brand in the health and beauty sector, with sales of over $2.5 billion a year in more than 80 countries. It competed in categories that included cleansing bars, body washes, hand washes, face care, hair care, deodorants, anti-perspirants, and body lotions. It competed with brands like Procter and Gamble’s Ivory, Kao’s Jergens, and Beiersdorf’s Nivea. Dove had recently launched what it termed a Masterbrand campaign under the title of The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. For some marketing observers the campaign was an unqualified success, giving a single identity to the wide range of health and beauty products. But the vivid identity owed much to the campaign’s use of the unruly, unmapped world of Internet media.1 Were there risks to putting the “Real Beauty” story out on media like YouTube, where consumers were free to weigh in with opinion and dissent? On blogs and in newsletters, marketing commentators argued that Dove’s management was abdicating its responsibility to manage what was said about the brand, and was putting its multibillion-dollar asset at risk.2
Unilever
A leading global manufacturer of packaged consumer goods, Unilever operated in the food, home, and personal care sectors of the economy. Eleven of its brands had annual revenues globally of over $1 billion: Knorr, Surf, Lipton, Omo, Sunsilk, Dove, Blue Band, Lux, Hellmann’s, Becel, and the Heartbrand logo, a visual identifier on ice cream products. Other brands included Pond’s, Suave, Vaseline, Axe, Snuggle, Bertolli, Ragu, Ben and Jerry’s, and Slim-Fast. With annual revenues of $50 billion, Unilever compared in size to Nestle ($69 billion), Procter and Gamble ($68 billion), and Kraft Foods ($34 billion.) Unilever was formed in 1930 when the U.K.-based Lever Brothers combined with the Dutch Margarine Unie, a logical merger given that both companies
REV: MARCH 25, 2008
JOHN DEIGHTON
Dove: Evolution of a Brand
In 2007, Unilever’s Dove was the world’s number-one “cleansing” brand in the health and beauty sector, with sales of over $2.5 billion a year in more than 80 countries. It competed in categories that included cleansing bars, body washes, hand washes, face care, hair care, deodorants, anti-perspirants, and body lotions. It competed with brands like Procter and Gamble’s Ivory, Kao’s Jergens, and Beiersdorf’s Nivea. Dove had recently launched what it termed a Masterbrand campaign under the title of The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. For some marketing observers the campaign was an unqualified success, giving a single identity to the wide range of health and beauty products. But the vivid identity owed much to the campaign’s use of the unruly, unmapped world of Internet media.1 Were there risks to putting the “Real Beauty” story out on media like YouTube, where consumers were free to weigh in with opinion and dissent? On blogs and in newsletters, marketing commentators argued that Dove’s management was abdicating its responsibility to manage what was said about the brand, and was putting its multibillion-dollar asset at risk.2
Unilever
A leading global manufacturer of packaged consumer goods, Unilever operated in the food, home, and personal care sectors of the economy. Eleven of its brands had annual revenues globally of over $1 billion: Knorr, Surf, Lipton, Omo, Sunsilk, Dove, Blue Band, Lux, Hellmann’s, Becel, and the Heartbrand logo, a visual identifier on ice cream products. Other brands included Pond’s, Suave, Vaseline, Axe, Snuggle, Bertolli, Ragu, Ben and Jerry’s, and Slim-Fast. With annual revenues of $50 billion, Unilever compared in size to Nestle ($69 billion), Procter and Gamble ($68 billion), and Kraft Foods ($34 billion.) Unilever was formed in 1930 when the U.K.-based Lever Brothers combined with the Dutch Margarine Unie, a logical merger given that both companies