Pricing Strategy of Dove

Case Analysis

By Nishat Tarannum Mridula

Group work of PR3SHOLD

I. COMPANY OVERVIEW

Background

The multinational company Unilever has Dove as one of its largest brands. Unilever is a
USA-based but a British-Dutch company, William Hesketh Lever being, the founder of
Lever Brothers, made his imagination and ideas work about Sunlight Soap which paved
the way for making a new product that influenced hygiene and cleanliness in parts of
Victorian England. Eventually, Alan Jope became the CEO of the company in 2019.
Having two parent companies Unilever PLC in U.K. and Unilever N.V. in the Netherlands,
allows the company to operate and produce products globally in 190 countries. As
Unilever became a food and consumer products giant, various products have been
produced, such as Refreshments & Food, Home Care, and Personal Care & Beauty. On
the other hand, Dove's logo shows a bird silhouette representing the brand's namesake.
The rise of Dove happened in the 1950s as the manufacturing patent was given to
Vincent Lamberti (an American French chemical engineer and innovator with 118
granted patent rights and is famed as the creator of Dove soap) as the Lever brothers
employed him.
In 1957, Dove launched its product to the soap market. They did attempt to stand out in
personal care instead of joining the group or blending in with competitors.
Advertisements of Dove stand out to the market as they use the taglines 'Suddenly soap
is old-fashioned!' and 'Dove creams your skin while you wash,' emphasizing the mildness
and cleansing cream factor of the soap that Dove has, which a regular has not. With the
¼ composition of cleansing cream to the soap, Dove claims that it is much better for the
skin of its consumers. In addition, featuring unique, simple, and elegant packaging
portraying the Dove bird logo, it quickly established itself as an innovator in the soap
market. Developing advertisements featuring women's empowerment became the
centerpiece of Dove as the period around the 1960s, the lack of women's support or
feminism ignited the collaboration and expansion of Dove in the international market.
This idea alone evolved Dove's motivation to expand further their product's involvement
in empowering women and the workforce. They also used their first tagline, "Real
Women," in several ads which portrayed testimonials and praises for Dove products.
Some of the taglines that Dove used in further empowering women are 'I Am Woman,
Hear Me Roar,' and 'A woman's place, we all know, is wherever she wants it to be.' With
the success of advertisements and unique selling points, in the 1990s, Dove started
producing products and distributing them in 80 countries, ranging from shampoos and
deodorants to cleansers.
Finally, the 2000s became remarkable for Dove as it has been widely known as the
modern Dove era, wherein they released new and exciting products for consumers. The
internal research result of Dove and associates indicated that only 2% of women consider
themselves beautiful. This study result led Dove to start the campaign, which will forever
evolve the company, the 'Real Beauty campaign. The campaign started by addressing
and promoting self-confidence and realistic beauty standards. Vice President of Dove
Skin Fernando Machado stated, "to create a world where beauty is a source of
confidence and not anxiety." this became the first stage of its campaign with billboards
displaying regular women instead of models.
Dove Products
Dove became a household brand originating from soap. They started late compared to
other companies that sell whitening and regular soap. Nevertheless, they used this to their
advantage as they pioneered the creation of the cleaning industry using high-quality
raw materials. In 1957, they launched their soap product in the market, competing with
Aveeno, Nivea, Neutrogena, and Johnson and Johnson. Dove's soap features hydrated
skin, and its products boast durability and premium quality. In later development. Dove
creates various types of products all about personal care and hygiene that can be
fractionated into five main classifications:

CATEGORY VISUALS PRODUCTS

Beauty Bar, Liquid

WASHING AND BATHING
Soaps, Body Wash

Antiperspirant, Roll-on
Moisturizing, Dry Skin
DEODORANTS
SKIN CARE Deodorants
Care, Body Lotion, Face
Wash

Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Oil,

Dry Hair Treatment, Hair Fall
HAIR CARE Treatment Anti-Dandruff
Treatment, Damaged Hair Care,
Shampoo for Dry/Damaged Hair

Dove Go Fresh, Purely

Pampering, Dove Elixir
DOVE COLLECTIONS
Oil, Dove Oxygen
Moisture
 Dove is mainly comprised of synthetic surfactants, vegetable oils (such as palm kernel),
and vegetable or animal salts (tallow). Dove is based on tallow in certain countries, so it
is not regarded as vegan, except for vegetable oil-based soaps. Unilever debuted a
men's toiletries label called "Dove Men + Care" in January 2010.

Dove’s Recognition

According to statistics, Dove's products sold per year in Moisturizers vary from 30% to 56%
of 100 consumers generally recommend soap bars to moisturizers, which probably
contributed to the long argument about what is the best brand.

Dove’s Tagline

Creating a tagline has become an essential part of Dove in establishing clear

communication, empowering women, and promoting natural beauty for everyone. The
company has various products, so they create a different tagline for them.

TAGLINES

Give The Dove

difference, Real Everyday
your hair The beauty Nourishe
Beauty is Real Moisture Let’s
just the for
secret of beauty, a from real d hair.
is the key change
right beautiful compelling care. Beautiful
everyone. to beauty.
level of hair. social hair.
beautiful.
care. mission.
The company's mission is to instill positive self-esteem in women and young girls while
empowering them to exceed expectations. Dove aims to ensure that another
generation grows up with a solid relationship with their image and helps them raise their
self-esteem in a community where girls are all too often held in check by low self-esteem
and anxiousness about their looks. That is why so many people love and enjoy Dove
products.
While there are many taglines in every product they publish, they have only one
statement — particularly for women- to preach the concept that all women are
beautiful, and their distinctive differences contribute to making them much more so.
Moreover, in the 150 countries where Dove products are manufactured, their products
and services are not just for women but also men and infants. Eventually, Dove
implemented a "Real Beauty" Campaign Marketing strategy throughout 2004, becoming
prevalent among the most successful programs ever executed. The advert challenged
every stereotypical consumer product view while also integrating with their intended
audience. It was raw and honest, eliciting consideration and inspiration from individuals
worldwide. Dove also debuted the first process of its campaign to battle the challenges
disclosed in its worldwide survey at this time. Those who aired a series of ads featuring
women whose appearances deviated from the stereotypical beauty standards.

Instead of professional models, the Dove campaign used street women. The women in
the print ads range in age from 22 to 96 and are of various sizes. This campaign profoundly
affected many women, who were reassured to see a prevalent beauty business
celebrate the everyday diversity of feminine beauty. Dove's movement for natural
beauty was a groundbreaking attempt to change the perceptions of beauty that are so
restricting and detrimental to women. The campaign's effectiveness was enhanced by
free advertising space on national television programs that attained 30 million viewers.
Women were also clearly reacting to their advertisement campaign. Women flocked to
the company that showcased real women in their advertisements. This campaign
profoundly affected many women, who have been relieved to see an influential beauty
company celebrate the everyday diversity of feminine beauty. The main message, as
with the initiatives they managed to run, has been that women's characteristics with
respect should be commemorated rather than strongly discouraged or even ignored.
Dove produces a chance to broaden the line of products and reflect the true beauty of
women, which significantly expands

to happiness, self-confidence, self-esteem, love, and being uninterested in the size and
appearance of unique features.

All their taglines from various products serve a similar purpose and connect the same
statement to their intended audience. However, "Real Beauty" was the first to gain
popularity and recognition in the United States. In our case study, we were impressed
with Dove's marketing strategy's productivity and quality, as demonstrated by its
execution of taglines, product ingredients, advertisement concepts, and other
components. Their intended audience is growing even more significantly. In a world filled
with judgments and negative energy, Dove's initiatives, advertisements, and
advertisements are so compassionate and helpful to their customers or potential
customers that regardless of personality type, irrespective of race, and color, it boosts
self-esteem, self-confidence, strength, and encouragement with every beauty.

II. CURRENT SITUATION ANALYSIS

Summary of the Case

Dove is one of the largest brands of Unilever, a British-Dutch multinational company,

wherein they have a wide variety of products ranging from Refreshments & Food and
Home Care to Personal Care and Beauty. Even though the brand is USA-based, the
products are produced and available in 150 countries worldwide.

Into the Pricing Strategies by Dove

In 1957, Dove launched their products in the United States as a functional soap brand.
They participated in the market as a premium brand. In addition, Dove position its
products' price higher than other competitors. At that time, the demand for premium
toiletries is insignificant. This factor makes

Dove uses an alternative pricing strategy, the demand pricing strategy. In this pricing
strategy, Dove analyzes the demand and supply curves which can lead them to results
that detect consumer behavior. Furthermore, a product's price can change depending
on the consumer's demand. Dove can increase its price slightly if the demand also
increases. With the implementation of this pricing strategy, Dove reduced its products'
prices by a considerable amount. For example, on the initial launch, Dove priced their
one bar of soap at $29.99. As they used the demand pricing strategy, Dove diminished
the soap's price from $29.99 to $19.99. After the price changes to its products, it is still
slightly pricier than its competitors. Aveeno, Nivea, Neutrogena, and Johnson and
Johnson have different product pricing. For example, Neutrogena and Aveeno's
cleansers cost $4.97 and $6.68, respectively.

On the other hand, Dove's cleansers cost %19.99. Furthermore, Johnson and Johnson and
Dove's baby lotions cost around $7.89 and $17.99, respectively. Dove has the most
expensive price products among these brands, but they can still keep their premium
prices as they focus on using high-quality materials and unique features. Even though
Dove's products have premium prices, consumers are still willing to spend an extra price
and continue to buy their products as they use high-quality materials, unique selling
points, and packaging, which justifies the price. Moreover, Dove uses a cost-plus
approach focused on cost, the ratio of cost, and revenue.

On top of that, a discount pricing strategy is also employed wherein they offer product
discounts during holiday seasons and extraordinary occurrences, bundle offers, and
package deals. More importantly, using their unique selling point, which is Dove's claim
to sell moisturizing products, allows their brand to affect consumers positively. The target
consumer's psychology has become the foundation of Dove in establishing premium
prices as they manipulate it. Using high-quality raw materials automatically increases
production costs, increasing the product's price. Despite this, Dove can sustain its quality
for years. Dove has also utilized shelf analysis as it is used to collect and analyze data from
competitor brands.

Other competitors have specific pricing strategies such as price bundling, discount
pricing, economy pricing, competitive pricing, penetration pricing, price skimming,
demand pricing, cost-plus pricing, geographic pricing, and psychological pricing. The
numerous pricing strategies available in the market allow Dove to analyze what strategy
will help them maximize their profit. On the other hand, Dove's competitors use different
pricing strategies, such as loss leader and penetration pricing. Loss leader pricing is when
the business decides to decrease the price of a particular product when its demand
decreases. Penetration pricing is used when a business wants the consumers to try their
product by offering it at a lower initial price than required to make a profit. Dove has
avoided these pricing strategies, resulting in eventually building a loyal customer base.
Overall, Dove can maintain their profitability rate, follow the trend, provide more
discounts and bundle offers, and understand the mindset of the consumers. Selling
quality products is the objective of Dove. On the other hand, they need to address the
entire market which prefers more affordable products, as this can help the business gain
more comprehensive knowledge and feedback regarding their products.

III. SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTH

1. Unique Selling point (selling moisturizing products)

2. Product Design
3. Updated on Trends
4. Manipulate Customer Psychology
5. Loyal Customers

WEAKNESSES

1. Untouched market of consumers that prefers less pricey products.

2. Men's range and promotion of products are not popular.

OPPORTUNITIES

1. Expansion of Target Market

2. Invest in studies related to men's beauty.
3. Engage and advertise products not only related to women.

THREATS
1. Market Share
2. Close Competitions
3. Product with Same Formulation as Dove
4. Saturation of Market
Dove's Strength

A unique selling point became an edge for Dove to excel in the market. Offering
products with moisturizers has become advantageous for Dove as they emphasize
this part in most of their marketing and advertisement, which at that time (the 1960s)
was not that prominent as people were looking for premium toiletries.

With their product design of having moisturizer in each of the goods, they feature
cleansing and soothing factors as a result of the combination of soap and cream. The
effectiveness of their product design shows with their loyal customer base even
though having a pricier remark of their products, and it still needs to improve their
overall performance regarding sales and promotions.

Dove will constantly be updated on trends as it pioneered movements related to

women's empowerment, the workforce, and the realization of true beauty for
everyone. As the 21st century arrived, Dove has made a more comprehensive
initiative and advertisement wherein they drive most of the trends of that time. This
led to Unilever becoming a consumer and food giant until the present time.

Dove's products are priced higher than its competitors, such as Aveeno, Nivea,
Neutrogena, and Johnson and Johnson. They started selling their soap from $29.99 to
$19.99. Even though they have pricy products, their loyal customer base increased
because of their plans and strategies for manipulating the consumer's psychology.
Their product is composed of high-quality raw materials and elegant packaging,
which justifies their product's price.

When there is no prominent need for premium toiletries, Dove takes this as an
advantage in filling the gap in consumer needs at that time. With unique selling points
and elegant packaging, they can build and expand their loyal customer base, which
results in their business going worldwide, producing and distributing products from 80
countries at the start to 190 at present.

Dove's Weaknesses

The company launched its product with a significant gap in pricing compared to its
competitors. Consumers who prefer lower prices of beauty and cleaning products
are the ground of sales for most of Dove's competitors. If Dove can adjust and make
its products' prices, consumers in this area can now use and avail of their products on
a large scale. Dove can profit more in this area and gain more feedback regarding
its products.

Dove started its campaign by making the majority realize what true beauty is.
Alongside this, women have become the centerpiece of target market organizing
and pioneering social movements which regard women empowerment, workforce,
uplifting self-esteem, and defining beauty differently. On the other hand, the 'men'
side of their campaign has been left out but not entirely, as they focus most of their
campaign on the side of women's interests and preferences.

Dove's Opportunities

Expansion of the Target Market will be an excellent move for Dove as they put great
effort into showing their consumers what their brand is all about. Offering their
products to women and most people using beauty and hygiene products will
significantly expand their market competitiveness and sales. The equality of
promotion between men and women will be massive for the business to enhance
awareness of societal issues that are being experienced globally.

Investing in studies relevant to men's beauty will significantly widen the perception of
the business regarding true beauty, not only for women. Men also have insecurities
and unsaid stories regarding self-esteem and anxiety about their position and
appearance in society. Collecting these data will remarkably help Dove gather
information and results that can contribute to future movements and informative
advertisements.

Dove uses regular women instead of the model. In this case, Dove can also use
regular men in their initiatives to portray the true beauty and rawness of man's physical
attributes together with their flaws which society can judge freely. Being more open
and holistic regarding this matter will help Dove deeply consider what consumers
need regarding products and mental support.
Dove's Threats

From the start, Dove has participated in a vast market, resulting in excellent market
share disadvantages. As their competitors use fewer product price strategies, Dove
continues to use its premium prices as they continue to deliver to its consumers the
same high-quality raw materials and elegant packaging. Aveeno, Neutrogena,
Nivea, and Johnson and Johnson have kept up with Dove's pace in the past as they
explored the market of consumers that preferred low-price products.

With a competitive market share, close competition has become possible for every
player in this market. Dove is being cornered to keep its pricing strategy to its product
and create new campaigns relevant to global societal issues.

Imitation and fake products that want to replicate Dove's success have become
more prominent. As goes with the saying, a tree with lots of fruits tends to gain
attention from other people, therefore copying and making fake products with the
same Dove formulation.

Conclusion

In general, Dove utilized its loyal customer base and their perception (psychology) to
further expand its influences through different target markets. Dove stays focused and
exerted its utmost effort in making a social impact alongside creating and innovating
products that have been utilized to realize true beauty in every individual as the
market share and competition are fierce. The entire market, which prefers low
product prices, can still be explored by Dove. With further assistance of studies, the
possible rate of this happening soon will increase. After all, Dove's objective is to sell
quality products to its consumers.

IV. GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. What pricing technique did Dove specifically use?

Since there was a limited amount of demand for upscale toiletries, Dove went with a
different pricing plan. They select the demand pricing strategy, which refers to a
strategy that considers changes in customer demand and adjusts prices to reflect
those changes in perceived value. Demand-based pricing takes many forms based
on appealing to consumer demand. They significantly lowered their price. For
instance, the soap is now available for $19.99 instead of the previous $29.99 price.
Their prices are still higher than those of the rivals. However, because their product is
in the highest demand, all customers adore their unique selling proposition. Even
though Dove is expensive, consumers are still willing to pay. Because the packaging
and quality more than cover the cost.

2. What psychological value did Dove impose on their products to raise its
profitability?

Dove has managed to keep their loyal consumer base. Dove has been successful as
a brand because it recognizes and responds to consumer psychology. They try to
influence the psychological makeup of their intended market. People frequently
believe that expensive products are premium because the brand uses high-quality
raw materials, which raises the cost and, consequently, the price. In some ways, this
is true. Dove offers a high-quality product, and they have maintained that quality for
many years. They assert that their unique selling proposition is the sale of moisturizing
products, and people have positively taken this.

3. Is the recommendation also applicable in the Philippine Market? Why or why not?

It is applicable in the Philippine Market. Great marketing requires a combination of

research, creativity, and a strong brand promise. Understanding the customer first
and providing an unforgettable brand experience makes people feel important.
Dove's brand strategy is to follow trends perfectly. Philippine Market also offers what
the trends and consumers want. Understanding consumer preferences was a great
help in knowing their advantage and acts by thoroughly analyzing every aspect.
Social media and other digital marketing channels will give the market better
leverage in increasing brand awareness. Just like Dove, the market here in the
Philippines has been booming in maintaining its profitability rate. The business offers
more options to consumers with a low budget, which makes the profit higher.
Moreover, it manages to continuously provide discounts and bundles for the
patronage of the products.
References

[1] Backe, C. (2016, November 16). Dove Company History and Review: Real Beauty,
Real Soap! Maple Holistics | Real Ingredients. Real Results.
https://blog.mapleholistics.com/blog/dove-company-history-and-review-real-
beauty-real-soap/

[2] Company name: Unilever. (n.d.). https://www.dlsu.edu.ph/wp-

content/uploads/2018/09/unilever.pdf

[3] Jan 20, R. A. -, & 2012. (n.d.). Dove Launches Hair Care Line. Preview.ph. Retrieved
November 30, 2022, from https://www.preview.ph/beauty/dove-launches-hair-care-
line

[4] The “Dove Real Beauty Pledge.” (n.d.). Dove UK.

https://www.dove.com/ph/stories/about-dove/dove-real-beauty-pledge.htm