For my analysis of Dove’s marketing strategy in the
US market I concentrate on Dove's White Beauty Bar. First I will analyze
product-related marketing features and precedingly I will work on their
Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy.
I intentionally chose this product, as, according to
Dove, this product is their "mildest classic moisturizing cleanser".
So it is one of their classic but still well demanded products which they
promote with TV commercials.
On their website, they point out that "Dove®
contains ¼ pure moisturizing cream and mild cleansers that leave skin clean,
soft and smooth. Soap, on the other hand, contains drying ingredients that
strip skin of its natural moisture, leaving it feeling dry and tight." In
this description they put an emphasis on the skin-friendliness and skin caring
quality of their soap as well as a direct comparison of Dove with other soaps.
For the packaging and images of the soap bar they use
soft and mild colors associated with cleanliness and young age. White and baby
blue are the dominant colors in very soft and warm color shades.
Not only do they promote their soap bar on their website but they also produced a spot:
The spot shows a young woman who is intended to
represent the typical Dove soap bar user, thus intended to represent the target
group. She demonstrates the skin-friendliness and non-harshness by a direct
comparison of a Dove with Dial soap bar. The comparison seems very professional
as she uses a paper strip which shows the reaction of the skin to these two
soap bars. The difference of the paper strip’s reaction in the spot between the
Dove product and the Dial product is striking. The Dial soap bar is much less
skin-friendlier than the Dove product.
The spot is typical for American advertising as it is comparative.
In the above Dove spot they compare the Dove soap bar to a Dial soap bar and
draw their conclusions from it. This conclusion is intended to form the basis
for the purchase decision of the audience. For the US market, Dove did not only
produce a comparative advertising spot for Dial but a campaign of comparative
advertising for the White Beauty Bar. They also use other soap brands like
Ivory or Johnson’s Baby Bar.
Another very typical feature of American advertising
is the hard-sell approach used in this spot. There is a clear proposal to
buying and trying the product. She ends her comparison with the utterance: “If
this does not convince you I don’t know what will. So, I bet you wanna try the
Dove bar now, right? Go!” So this is the explicit demand to buy the Dove soap.
This all correlates with the fact that American culture
is a low-context culture. Americans tend to show a preference for explicit information
and direct messages. In the Dove spot they are provided with factual and direct
information about the advantages of the Dove product.
The spot is not only typical of American but also of Dove
advertising. The spot features a “real woman”. Dove was among the first
companies to hire real-world women instead of models to represent their
products. This is closely tied to their social mission in the US which I am
going to describe now.
Corporate Social Responsibility:
Another crucial component of creating a positive and
strong brand image is proving Corporate Social Responsibility. Dove has a so-called social mission. It is their mission to fight for positive self-esteem in
women and reduce anxiety about their looks. Dove only shows "real"
women instead of models in their commercials and ads. This is one way women are
more likely to identify with Dove products.
“Our social mission: To encourage all women and girls
to develop a positive relationship with beauty, helping to raise their
self-esteem, and thereby enabling them to realise their full potential.” (Dove
US)
They also produced a spot to call on customers to get
involved in their fight for more self-esteem and self-love of women. They not
only address women but especially teenage girls:
In order to raise self-confidence in teenage girls,
they compiled a "Self-Esteem Toolkit" for diverse people in the
social environment of girls (parents, teachers, and other contact persons). It is
designed to help these contact persons to find an authentic way to tell the
girls that they are beautiful the way they are. Furthermore, mothers of girls aged 11 - 16 are invited
to download the "Self-Esteem Discussion Guide" which basically is a
guide to positive self-esteem by passing on positive body confidence from older
people, mostly role models, to young girls. Dove is aware of the fact that
young girls compare themselves to others; their mothers, sisters, people in the
streets and also on TV. Comparison to others can be a source of frustration about their own looks and
results in negative feelings or even diseases.
Information on self-esteem education is not only
available online, but Dove also engages in local "self-esteem
education" with their "girls unstoppable" campaign. They send
experts to schools who educate them.
In advertising, it is important to create a love
brand. This goal is reached when people feel emotionally touched by the
advertising messages and feel that the company understood their current issues. Dove just hit the spot by
telling women that they are more beautiful than they think and that women
should start loving themselves the way they are. In order to reach this, they
have made up a campaign which is called Real Beauty Sketches.
Real Beauty Sketches:
Dove's current series of commercials are called Dove Real Beauty Sketches and are concerned with the perception of beauty. This time, it is a comparison of self-perception and perception by other people. People are shown what happens when humans see themselves through the eyes of someone else, either a stranger or someone they love. The results are the same: humans tend to be over-critical with themselves and others perceive them as more beautiful than themselves. The following video is one of the "Real Beauty Sketches":
For the US market there are several Real Beauty
Sketches. Some also show mothers and daughters instead of strangers describing
themselves and others. In each of them there is a very homely, protected and
hope giving atmosphere. The music is very calming and the colors are soft. The
fact that a forensic artist draws these sketches, highlights the professional
message implying that he very well understands his job and is capable to draw
the real beauty as described by others.
The "Real Beauty Sketches" are followed by
"Dove Camera Shy" campaign which examines the question why grown-up
women lost their confidence along the way from being a child, stooped loving the
camera as a woman and worry about their looks. These anxieties result in being
camera shy. This campaign again is concerned with the low self-esteem of
beautiful women.
This spot again shows real American women in authentic
everyday situations. First we see grown-ups hiding from the camera and these
are followed by girls who pose in front of the camera and enjoy being at the
center of attention.
On the Dove Youtube channel I found a quote on the current
Camera Shy campaign why nicely sums up the status quo of Dove's Corporate Social Responsibility
mission in the US:
"At Dove, we are committed to creating a world
where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety. So, we created Camera Shy
to ask women why they hide from the camera as an adult but loved the camera as
a little girl. What happened along the way? We're inviting women to reflect on
the point in their lives when they became their own worst beauty critics and
encouraging them to be their own beautiful self."
This was the analysis of Dove's marketing strategy in
the US with regard to their White Beauty Bar and their Social Mission. In the
Comparison section of this blog I will evaluate these findings.
Sources:
http://www.dove.us
http://www.dove.us
http://www.youtube.com/user/doveunitedstates/videos
Mueller, Barbara. The dynamics of international advertising.
