Free Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty Case Study Sample

Dove is a recognized brand of soap manufactured by Unilever (Unilever.com, 2015). The brand’s primary mission is to help women realize their beauty potential by getting them involved with products that offer real care (Unilever.com, 2015). Dove believes that proper care is the secret behind beauty. Thus, Dove aims to bring products that enhance the hair and skin condition and offer a pleasurable care experience (Unilever.com, 2015). Since the inception of the product brand, Dove has placed high regards to women, regardless of the ethnicity and race. Dove believes that no woman must feel left out from the beauty realm that the product embodies (Unilever.com, 2015).
The Dove product started in 1957 with a cleansing bar containing ¼ moisturizing cream and mild cleansers (Unilever.com, 2015). The product became highly recommended in France, Canada, and the United States and endorsed by various dermatologists all over the globe (Unilever.com, 2015). Dove’s heritage is centered on moisturizing the skin. At present, Dove brand provides a wide array of products including hand and body lotions, body wash, facial cleanser, shampoos, deodorants, hair styling products, and conditioners. The ultimate goal of Dove is to boost girls’ confidence and assist them in reaching their maximum potential (Unilever.com, 2015).

Dove’s Marketing Strategies

In a period when cleansers were straightforward and known to dry out the skin, Dove was promoted as a gentler alternative that was really not a cleanser at everything except a result of cautious military exploration. The organization was moderate to bring off with an absence of worldwide identity and a distributed product. An absence of corporate technique likewise had impact, and the little measure of products the organization discharged did not rank high among rival companies. In any case, by the 1970s, Dove's fame as a delicate bar had risen (Flagg, 2013). It was showcased as a skincare bar containing 25 percent purifying cream. By 1980, it was the main brand suggested by doctors (Flagg, 2013). In the long run, the organization distributed shampoos, body washes, and other quality products.
Dove's novel technique was centered on uncovering the natural beauty in every woman rather than giving the spotlight to renowned VIPs or models. By utilizing advertisements and campaigns to concentrate on regular women and how everyone has a varied appearance or physical shape, the organization had the capacity to effectively expand buyer mindfulness and agreements (Flagg, 2013). Dove propelled promotions praising stunning women and older women. While most brands concentrate on the significance of the product itself, Dove's key message was the significance of every woman giving more appreciation to herself (Flagg, 2013).
A strong touch of emotion was one of Dove's primary objectives (Flagg, 2013). The product brand presents pictures of the female group who did not suit the category of the blonde, the tall, and the slender society generalization indicating the same amount of respect toward oneself (Flagg, 2013). This is the real trick that makes the product greatly appealing to many women. The company has additionally used social networking for criticism and imparting creative thoughts. One of the organization's best advertisements was a feature that turned into a web sensation called, Dove Real Beauty Sketches on YouTube. This advertisement has already gained more than 55 million views (Flagg, 2013).
Dove continues to advance in order to stay aware of the changing world. By utilizing ads with women from different age groups, the brand has a sufficiently wide reach that women from all ages have created trust and commitment to the products (Flagg, 2013). Two of the key ideas that keep Dove going solid are creating versatile approaches to market the brand while likewise maintaining a smaller base for its products.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Direct Marketing Strategies Used by Dove

When Dove launched its advertising campaign titled Campaign for Real Beauty in 2004, its main objective was to change women’s concept about being beautiful. There were four separate stages of marketing involved. Two of the four marketing strategies used print media while the other two used television commercials.

First Stage: Print Advertising

Since the appearance of digital advertising, a lot of conventional print productions, some revered organizations that have been around for many years, have continued to use the traditional way of promotion (Smith, 2015). Notwithstanding the development of tablets and e-readers, consumers keep on feeling more optimistic toward print ads compared to advanced media (Smith, 2015).
Print advertising was the first phase used by Dove to advertise the product. During this phase, Dove concentrated on highlighting women of all forms as well as ethnic groups. Print advertising has its own strengths and weaknesses (Smith, 2015).

Strengths:

Nearly two-thirds of readers claim they love reading magazine advertisements, while over 50% read their print magazines to gain information concerning new brands (Smith, 2015). Newspaper advertising is less costly comapred to advertising using other forms of media. With varied rates and ad sizes, even small companies can have an advertisement without breaking the budget (Smith, 2015). If the advertisement needs certain changes in production, they can usually be produced easily and quickly. Services related to ad designs are free. Moreover, print media and magazines have loyal audiences (Smith, 2015). Furthermore, magazines can be kept for months or even longer. Thus, this gives greater exposure to products. Print media also offers opportunities to various advertisers to increase their consumer base in the local market (Smith, 2015). Additionally, advertising in print media can focus the ad to the intended demographic. For instance, if one wants to advertise in the European market, then the products advertisement can be printed in European magazines or newspapers.

Weaknesses:

Second Stage: Commercial Advertisement
The second stage of advertising used by Dove is television or commercial advertisement. This commercial is known to be a Web-only advertisement that was launched in the middle of April 2013 (Spitznagel, 2013). The commercial presented a forensic sketch expert. He drew different portraits of women based on the descriptions they gave (Spitznagel, 2013). Then, the artist created another drawing based on the description given by strangers. The sketchers were presented alongside each other. At the end of the commercial, the tagline You are more beautiful than you think was written.
With various media outlets accessible at present for advertising, such as internet, radio, and print, television remains a dependable venue (Forneris, 2015). With proper examination, businesses can tailor the promotion to achieve a focused on group of audiences. In spite of the fact that promotion on television can demonstrate effectiveness, much relies upon the quality, airing time, and recurrence (Forneris, 2015).

Strengths:

When airing a television advertisement, a number of audiences get hooked to the commercial (Forneris, 2015). According to the Nielsen company, the normal American spends four or more hours a day sitting in front of the television (Forneris, 2015). Businesses have an extensive variety of time to reach viewers with product promotion. In addition, companies can make a situation with the commercial that can genuinely pass on the message and attract the viewers. Pictures and sounds are used to impact the way individuals perceive the business (Forneris, 2015).

Weaknesses:

According to McKinsey Co., from 2010, the viability of TV promotion is expected to be 33% compared to how it was in 1990 (Forneris, 2015). Shoppers, particularly younger ones such as teenagers, appear have more choices of exciting perks such as MP3 players or viewing shows on the web. With people viewing traditional television less frequently, less individuals will be able to witness the company’s television promotion (Forneris, 2015).

Recommendations

For Dove to be more successful in its promotions or marketing campaigns, it must make use of other platforms such as social media sites, email marketing, flyers, posters or billboards, and a lot more.
This section of the paper presents the campaign creation for Dove. These campaigns make use of direct marketing approaches.
1. Print Media
This campaign is to promote the Dove shampoo product. The main target consumers are men and women, of any age, status, and race. For many years, Dove has been focused on manufacturing its products for women. Just recently, Dove released its new collection of Dove shampoo for men, too. To promote the shampoo products, I would target families belonging to different races. This implies that Dove shampoo products are for every individual across the globe. Families would be the main target because products bought at home are usually the same products used by every member of the household.
2. Social Media Marketing
In 2014, 92% of the entrepreneurs state the importance of social media in helping their businesses expand (DeMers, 2014). There are various ways in which social media can help in the growth of businesses. First, social media aids in increasing brand recognition (DeMers, 2014). Social media also improve brand loyalty. In a study conducted by Convince & Convert, it was found that 53% of the Americans that make use of social media tend to follow the brands they like and eventually develop loyalty to those brands (DeMers, 2014). Social media marketing also increases inbound marketing traffic and greater brand authority. Constant interaction with customers is a demonstration of good faith (DeMers, 2014).
Social media marketing may not be appropriate to every business. If the company is not ready and a product is launched in social media without right planning, it can be a waste of money and time. A number of the potential disadvantages that one must be aware of include not having a clear social media and marketing strategy may lead to reduced benefits for the business. Extra resources may be required to handle online presence. Social media is direct and requires every day monitoring. If companies do not actively handle social media presence, real benefits may not be perceived. In addition, increased exposure online has the possibility to attract risks. Such risks may inclde information leaks, negative feedback, or hacking.
Possible benefits of social media may encompass decreased marketing expenditures, increased sales, improved ranking on various search engines, increased traffic to the site, greater customer involvement, increased access to global markets, opportunity to perform market research concerning the customers, opportunity for feedback from customers, enhanced networking opportunities with businesses and customers.
3. Digital Media
Digital marketing is a form of product promotion or brand promotion that uses electronic media. Digital marketing varies from conventional marketing in a way that it encompasses the use of diverse approaches and channels that allow the company to analyze marketing campaigns and be aware of what is operational and what is not in terms of real time.Digital marketers monitor things including what is viewed, how often, and how long, what type of content works, sales conversions, and a lot more. While the internet is he channel that is most closely related with digital marketing, other forms of digital media include wireless text messaging, podcasts, mobile apps, radio channels, and digital television.
Digital media is so prevalent that customers have access to data any time. Gone are the days when the messages individuals receive about the services and the products came from the marketer and made up of only what one required them to know. Digital media is an ever-growing form of entertainment, shopping, news, as well as social interaction, and customers are now uncovered not just to what the company delivers about the brand, but also what the media, relatives, peers, friends, etc., are expressing as well.
In this campaign creation, I intend to use a digital television. The campaign will still showcase the families coming from different races and ethnic groups. This will show that Dove products are not just for women alone but for everyone. This will present the different products that are best use by women and by men. This form of campaign creation will prove the popularity of Dove all over the world. The main target of this type of marketing will be men and women from all walks of life.

References

DeMers, J. (2014). The Top 10 Benefits Of Social Media Marketing. Forbes. Retrieved 5 April 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/11/the-top-10-benefits-of-social-media-marketing/
Flagg, J. (2013). What We Can Learn From Dove's Marketing Strategies | Mechtronics. Mechtronics. Retrieved 5 April 2015, from http://www.mechtron.com/blog/what-we-can-learn-from-doves-marketing-strategies/
Forneris, J. (2015). The Pros & Cons of TV Advertising. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved 5 April 2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/pros-cons-tv-advertising-3384.html
Smith, E. (2015). What Are the Advertising Pros & Cons of Using Print Media?. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved 5 April 2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advertising-pros-cons-using-print-media-41670.html
Spitznagel, E. (2013). How Those Dove 'Real Beauty Sketch' Ads Went Viral. Businessweek.com. Retrieved 5 April 2015, from http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-04-26/how-those-dove-real-beauty-sketch-ads-went-viral
Unilever.com,. (2015). Dove | Brands in action | Unilever Global. Retrieved 5 April 2015, from http://www.unilever.com/brands-in-action/detail/Dove/292077/