Leveraging a Brand Asset $-$ Dove

In $1955,$ Unilever $($then Lever Brothers$)$ introduced Dove, which contained a patented, mild cleansing ingredient, into the soap category. It was positioned$$then and now$$as a $$beauty bar$$ with one$-$fourth cleansing cream that moisturizes skin while washing $($as opposed to the drying effect of regular soap$).$ Advertisements reinforced the message by showing cream being poured into the beauty bar. In $1979,$ the phrase $$cleansing cream$$ was replaced with $$moisturizer cream$$ when a University of Pennsylvania dermatologist showed that Dove dried and irritated skin significantly less than ordinary soaps. Based on this study, Unilever began aggressively marketing Dove to doctors. Soon about $25$ percent of Dove users said they bought the brand because a doctor recommended it$,$ greatly enhancing the bar$$s credibility as a moisturizer. By the mid$-1980$s$,$ Dove had become the best$-$selling soap brand and commanded a price premium.

In $1990$ the Dove soap patent ran out, and arch$-$competitor P&G was soon testing an Olay beauty bar with moisturizing properties, a product that rolled out in $1993.$ One year later, Olay Body Wash appeared and soon garnered over $25$ percent of a high$-$margin sub category. Blindsided, the Dove brand team belatedly recognized that Dove was in the best position to compete as a moisturizer body wash and that they had missed the chance to be a leader in this new subcategory. In response, the firm rushed Dove Moisturizing Body Wash into stores. The product did not live up to the Dove promise, however, and a reformulation in $1996$ was only a partial improvement. In $1999,$ though, Dove finally got it right with the innovative Nutrium line, based on a technology that deposited lipids, vitamin E$,$ and other ingredients onto the skin. The advanced skin$-$nourishing properties provided enough of a lift to allow Dove to charge a $50$ percent premium over its regular body wash and ultimately pull even with Olay in the body wash category. By leveraging strong brand equity, pursuing innovative technology, and being persistent, Dove was able to overcome a late entry into the market.

In $2000$ Unilever made Dove a masterbrand, which meant that it would invest in extending Dove$$s authority to a broader set of categories, including hair care, lotion, and deodorant. For example, Dove introduced a deodorant line with uncharacteristically bold advertising $($one tag line was $$Next stop, armpit heaven$).$ As it turned out, the deodorants were named as one of the top $10$ nonfood new products in $2001,$ garnering over $$70$ million in sales with close to $5$ percent of the market and making Dove the number$-$two brand among female deodorants. The $$one$-$quarter moisturizing lotion$$ positioning, effectively communicated as protecting sensitive underarm skin, generated a Dove spin on dryness that differentiated the product line.

The next product extension was Dove Hair Care, with moisturizing qualities directly responsive to one of the top two unmet needs in the category. The product$$s branded differentiator, Weightless Moisturizers, is a set of $15$ ingredients designed to make hair softer, smoother, and more vibrant without adding any extra weight. After achieving top$-$selling status in Japan and Taiwan, Dove Hair Care entered the U$.$S$.$ market in early $2003$ with a massive introduction campaign, joining a product family used by nearly one$-$third of American families. Two years later it introduced Dove Body Nourishers Intensive Firming Lotion, formulated with collagen and seaweed, intended to give the user firmer skin after two weeks.

These extensions contributed to a dramatic sales success. The brand$$s business grew from around $$200$ million in $1990$ to over $$5$ billion today by some estimates $($exact figures have not been reported since $2011).$ Geographic expansion also contributed. Dove$$s presence increased to over $100$ countries, far more than in $1990,$ with particular strength in Europe $($where it gained $30$ percent of the cosmetics and toiletries market$),$ Asia$-$Pacific $(25$ percent$),$ and Latin America $(11$ percent$).$ Kantar$$s brand valuation has Dove at $$5\mathrm{.}5$ billion dollars and the eighth most valuable personal care brand in the world. How did Unilever pull off this feat?

By $2004,$ with no major geographic expansion or brand extension in sight, Dove looked to another route to add energy and purpose to its brand. Global company research involving $3,200$ interviews revealed several surprising facts about how women thought about themselves$$only $2$ percent of women described themselves as $$beautiful$,5$ percent $$pretty$,$ and $7$ percent $$good looking,$50$ percent of women thought their weight was too high $(60$ percent in the United States$),$ and two$-$thirds of women felt that the media and advertising set unrealistic standards of beauty. Dove saw an opportunity to take a leadership role in what was ultimately called the $$The Campaign for Real Beauty.$$

The result was set of advertising campaigns $($first created in the United