Dove has gained huge momentum in the beauty industry for constantly challenging current beauty standards with its advertisements that often deliver a strong message. Dove was established in 1957 in the US. It started with a new beauty cleansing bar. Today, the company is a personal care brand owned by Hindustan Unilever originating in the United States. Its products are sold in more than 150 countries and are offered to men, women, and babies. It is the most recommended brand by dermatologists in the US, Canada, and France and is strongly suggested by dermatologists across the world.
In this blog, we shall discuss the SWOT Analysis of Dove and the company, covering its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Let’s start by learning more about the company.
About Dove
The company belongs to the FMCG(Fast Moving Consumer Goods ) Sector. It commits to helping all women realize their full potential by creating products that deliver real care. Dove’s heritage is founded on moisturization – proof, not promises, propelled Dove from a Beauty Bar to become one of the world’s most popular beauty products. Dove now offers a variety of products, including body washes, hand and body lotions, facial cleansers, deodorants, shampoos, conditioners, and hair styling products, all of which are based on the universal premise of genuine care.
| Founder | William Lever |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1957 |
| Origin | United States of America |
| No. of Employees | 15000 |
| Company Type | Private |
| Market Cap | NA |
| Annual Revenue | $ 5.1 Billion (2021) |
| Net Income/ Profit | $ 0.291 Billion (2021) |
Products of Dove:
Dove is a lifestyle and body products brand and covers these categories broadly:
- Deodorants/perfumes
- body wash/Beauty bars
- Skincare
- hair care
- baby care
Close competitors of Dove:
The top 5 competitors of Dove :
- Olay
- Lux
- Nivea
- Pears
- Loreal
Now that we’ve learned more about Dove, let’s take a closer look at its SWOT analysis.
SWOT Analysis of Dove
SWOT Analysis is a well-known framework for analyzing the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A SWOT matrix is a 2×2 matrix including internal and external aspects such as Strengths and Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Let’s take a deeper look at the Dove SWOT analysis.
1. Strengths of Dove
Strengths are the company’s favourable characteristics that are responsible for its success. These are factors that the organization has control over.
- Product Development
Dove’s product design is one of its best features. Its cleansing and smoothing properties are due to the mix of soap and cream and the customers thus adore the brand. The company has employed this winning product combination throughout its whole product portfolio.
- Realistic Commercializing
The organization caters to a wide range of people, thus it has a method of promoting itself through ordinary people. Dove does not employ celebrity endorsements in its marketing campaigns. Consumers believe that the brand speaks for people, therefore the consumers prefer it over others right away.
- Cost-Effectiveness
The brand saves a lot of money on celebrity endorsements because it doesn’t utilize celebrities. However, it cannot be called a complete cost saving because the brand promotes itself heavily through numerous channels at the same time, and the marketing costs are quite significant.
- Channel of Distribution
The distribution route of any HUL brand is a major strength. However, because Dove is attempting to achieve a “Premium” appearance, the hand-selected distribution aids it even more. The brand can be purchased in a variety of high-end stores and boutiques. It’s also available at local supermarkets. However, when you leave the city, its presence will gradually fade.
2. Weaknesses of Dove
Weaknesses are the obstacles faced by the company that might hinder its progress if not attended to. There may be areas where the organization has to improve to remain competitive. Let’s take a look at Dove’s weaknesses.
(Source: Dove)
- Attention Towards Metros
Dove is primarily focused on metros because of its location and targeting, and the majority of its consumption comes from metros solely. Because the product is expensive, it is difficult to sell in non-metro areas.
- Reduced Margins Due to Rivalry
Because there is a lot of competition in the skincare category, the company is forced to offer discounts and offers, which reduces the product’s profit.
- Not Catering to the Price-Conscious Market
The price-conscious market prefers Cinthol, Lifebuoy, or other similar options to Dove. The organization is unable to cater to the price-conscious consumer. As a result, the brand is unable to enter price-sensitive markets.
3. Opportunities for Dove
External aspects in the corporate environment that are likely to contribute to its success are known as opportunities.
- Improve And Enhance The Brand Portfolio
The personal care industry is continuously looking for novel varieties or product lines to introduce. HUL’s research and development (R&D) department is well-known, and it has produced several award-winning goods. Dove is expected to do the same, and it can breathe new life into the brand cycle whenever the product selection grows stagnant.
- Expansion of Target Market
The potential target market is expanding as a result of rising income. Where initially people would not have thought of buying Dove which is a costly soap, slowly, the growing income and knowledge of how good skin drives overall well-being is pushing more and more people into buying Dove. As a result, the target market is expanding.
4. Threats to Dove
External forces over which the company has no control are referred to as threats. If risks do arise, the brand may want to consider putting in place contingency measures to deal with them.
- Market Share
With Neutrogena, Olay, and Nivea all marketing creams and soaps separately, the market is saturated, and the premium target market has multiple options. For example, instead of purchasing Dove soap, a client could purchase their preferred soap and then use Nivea cream.
- Competitors
Today, each Personal Care business faces a significant challenge from the competition, which requires each brand to protect its core strength while addressing the other vulnerabilities. Nivea and Olay and other national and international brands are putting Dove to the test.
- Plagiarism
Olay recently imitated Dove’s strategy by using real-life clients and projecting it onto a screen to demonstrate the impact of its goods. When the one thing that drives your brand in the market is taken away, your marketing approach becomes worthless.
Conclusion
The company has definitely positioned and marketed its products well, but the awareness and reach were limited when compared to competitors. Dove focuses on and targets only women, the major takeaway here would be for Dove to expand its product portfolio and target audience. All in all, the brand has definitely managed to create a distinct identity for itself over the years.
Thank you for reading our case study on the SWOT Analysis of Dove. We hope you found what you were looking for. If you did, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section below! Check out IIDE’s Free Masterclass on Digital Marketing to step foot into this sphere.
0 Comments