1. CURRENT MARKETING SITUATION SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
Dove is an internationally popular brand specializing in personal care products and is owned by Unilever. The brand was created in the year 1957 to launch a new line of personal cleansing bars. The brand was later used to sell a new line of cleansers, adapted from the formula of the previous cleansing bar. The new cleansers were intended to be used on burned or damaged skins, of which there were numerous cases during that time, following the Second World War (Deighton, 2008). The cleansers marketed under the brand Dove were very innovative products at this time as the products were non-soap cleansers that could be used to eliminate skin dirt more easily than using soap. The Dove brand has grown from this over the years to be considered the world’s top brand in cleansing products today. The brand evolved from its creation to the present day, improving its image and products through intensive research and numerous marketing strategies.

STRENGTHS

· Product design

· Real marketing

· Cost-effectiveness

· Distribution channel

· A valuable addition to the HUL (Hindustan Unilever Limited) portfolio

WEAKNESSES

· Targeted solely at large urban areas

· The prices are not very competitive

OPPORTUNITIES

· Focusing more on men as a part of the target audience

· Possibilities for brand’s diversification

· An evolving market

THREATS

· Saturation of the market

· Lower popularity in less urban areas

· Potential brand imitators

Strengths

1. Product design:

The Dove brand possesses a very unique product design. The product functions both as soap and as cream, performing a dual function of cleansing and smoothing skin. This unique product design has attracted a very devoted customer base to the brand.

2. Real marketing:

Dove attempts to make the product it sells more relatable to the masses by using regular people instead of celebrities for marketing campaigns (Duffy, 2010). This has helped to create a stronger connection with the brand’s customers.

3. Cost-effectiveness:

The brand conserves a lot of money during its marketing campaigns by not engaging celebrity figures’ endorsement. This strategy saves a lot of money and does not compromise the effectiveness of the brand’s advertisements.

4. Distribution channel:

Dove also employs one of an HUL brand’s key features, mostly only in the most prominent retail chains and outlet stores. This bolsters Dove’s image as a premium product only available in select handpicked stores.

5. A valuable addition to the HUL (Hindustan Unilever Limited) portfolio:

Dove is one of the most valued brands of the HUL company. The brand ranks third on the most valued HUL brands, right behind Knorr and Lipton.

Weaknesses

1. Targeted solely at large urban areas:

As a consequence of Dove’s distribution channel, its products are mostly targeted at large urban areas such as metros. The majority of its consumption is identified in such areas.

2. The prices are not very competitive:

Dove products are considerably more expensive than that of the brand alternatives such as Cinthol and Lifebuoy.

Opportunities

1. Focusing more on men as a part of the target audience:

Dove has an opportunity to expand its customer base, and consequently its sales, by appealing to the male portion of the population. Men have become much more conscious about physical appearance in recent times, and products such as Dove offer are suited to meet this need.

2. Possibilities for brand’s diversification:

There are various opportunities for diversification in personal care, creating the possibility for new product lines and variants of a product.

3. An evolving market:

The dynamic market is changing to favour the brand. Dove has become a more accessible brand to the public in terms of prices. The more recent public investment in achieving better overall wellbeing, which includes good skin, has made Dove much more attractive as a consumer product.

Threats

1. Saturation of the market:

Numerous brands are competing with Dove, some of which are Neutrogena, Olay, and Nivea. These brands specialize in either soaps or creams and are options for customers to choose from when purchasing a skincare product.

2. Lower popularity in less urban areas:

The high selling price of Dove products limits the percentage of the population which can afford them. This restricts the sale of such products to more affluent and highly urban areas. This restriction can be more evident in large countries such as India, which has a greater proportion of impoverished and poorly developed areas than highly urban ones, thus limiting the brand’s ability to capitalize on such a large consumer market.

3. Potential brand imitators:

The strategy which allowed Dove to relate so well to its customer base was recently copied by one of Dove’s competitors, Olay. The brand also adopted real-life people in its marketing campaigns to demonstrate the effectiveness of the products it sells and connect better with its audience.

2. TARGET MARKETING AND MARKETING MIX

Pricing strategy

Dove is sensitive to its market and the financial situation of its target population. This sensitivity is best evident in the company’s price reduction to respond to the low demand for its products due to their expensiveness. Even with the reduced prices, Dove products are still more costly than those offered by its competitors. However, Dove still maintains its strong market presence by justifying the cost of its products with the uniqueness and high quality of its products. Thus, Dove’s price strategy is regulated by its competitive prices and the demand for its products.

Place & Distribution Strategy

Dove has established a steady commercial...…disseminated to each department to allow each strategy’s success or failure to be easily identified all over the company.

ii. Timeline

A timeline will be kept for each marketing campaign strategy so that each one can be adequately followed and compared at varying time intervals. This will allow for easier identification of the change in a company’s success over time concerning the marketing strategies.

iii. Outcome Measurements

A standardized measure for determining a marketing strategy’s success will be recognized and used to compare each strategy. This will be selected to be one or more of the following: increased sales, gross revenue, profits, customer base, client’s feedback, goodwill, or brand awareness.

4. BUDGET

The proposed marketing campaign budget limits the promotional effort’s expenses and forecasts the effort’s potential benefits. The budget covers all the financial requirements to affect the marketing plan for promoting the new product. The budget will be allocated to the marketing team by the company’s bank to give the team the financial ability to execute the proposed plans.

CAMPAIGN

MODE

COST (USD)

NO. OF CONTACTS

TOTAL (USD)

TV Ads

Target local TV stations

50,000

20 TV stations

1,000,000

Billboards

Contract third-party advertisement agencies

100,000

2 advertising agencies

200,000

Newspapers and magazines

Local newspapers and beauty magazines

100,000

10

1,000,000

Direct marketing

In-house sales personnel

Normal salaries and bonuses

300,000

E-mails

In-house digital team

100,000

Social media platforms

· Youtube

· Facebook

· Twitter

Total

2,600,000

5. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Dove brand has earned a deep connection to its customer base by understanding them and relating them. This connection has extended far and wide to transcend age, race, nationality, belief, and size. The current proposed marketing plan is intended to expand Dove’s customer base, both among men and women, and increase sales. The projected growth to be registered using this marketing plan is a 0.7 percent increase in sales and an attraction of 10 percent of the users of high-end, upscale body washes from the competition to the Dove Body Wash in the year 2021. The advertisement campaigns will emphasize the superiority of the Dove product over its competitors and justify its higher selling price. The campaign is to be hosted on different forms of information media to maximize the product’s exposure to the public. This will include TV Ads, billboards, ads in newspapers & magazines, e-mails to subscribed and potential customers, direct marketing using salespersons, and social media platforms. Several monitoring techniques will be used to track the marketing campaign’s success through its lifetime to recognize its effect on the company’s success. Such monitoring techniques include progress reports, timelines, and outcome measurements (increase in sales, brand awareness). This marketing campaign’s budget is around 10 to 15 percent of the company’s overall budget, a total sum of $2,600,000.