Comprehensive SWOT Analysis of Dove- Complete Overview

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.

Quick Stats about Dove

Founder	William Lever
Year Founded	1957
Origin	United States of America
No. of Employees	15000
Company Type	Private
Market Cap	$6.5 Billion (2023)
Annual Revenue	$762.1 million (estimated)
Net Income/ Profit	N/A

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

 

What’s New about Dove?

Here’s everything new about Dove that you will be interested in knowing:

• Dove won the award for “Brand Campaign of the Year” in May 2023. More detailed information about the winning campaign will be given below.
• A new regeneration project was announced by Dove in July 2023 where they vowed to recover 123k acres worth of rainforest.
• Kantar, a leading marketing analytics company has said that Dove and Nike are the most inclusive brands in the UK.
• Dove launched a new limited-edition smoothie collection in collaboration with Juice Press. 

Now, let’s look at the user persona of Dove. 

Buyer Persona of Dove

Who is an ideal customer of Dove? Let’s look at a buyer’s attributes to understand the target audience better.

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 favorable 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, 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.

Failed Campaigns of Dove

Let’s look at some of the failed campaigns of Dove:

1. Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign 

In 2017, Dove released a Real Beauty Campaign which faced mixed reactions. The messaging of the video ad was found to be racist by a lot of viewers and the same was also covered by the American news channels. 

Here’s what was debated about the campaign:

2. The Bottlegate Campaign 

One of the most talked about campaigns that received major backlash is the Bottlegate Campaign. They released a campaign in which their bottles were shaped differently representing different body shapes. 

What ended up happening is that the internet felt Dove was body shaming & categorized each woman to their body type only. 

Here’s how Dove replied:

 

Let’s now look at the direct competitors of Dove and their USPs.

Top Competitors of Dove

Let’s look at the top competitors of Dove around the world:

1. Pantene: Known for its Pro-V technology and a wide range of hair care products.
2. Nivea: A brand with a long history, specializing in skin and body care.
3. Olay: Focused on anti-aging skincare solutions backed by science.
4. L’Oréal: Offers a broad spectrum of beauty products, from hair care to cosmetics.
5. Neutrogena: Popular for dermatologist-recommended skincare products, including acne treatments.
6. Aveeno: Emphasizes natural ingredients like oats for sensitive skin care.
7. Garnier: Known for its natural ingredient-focused products in both skincare and hair care.
8. Head & Shoulders: Specializes in dandruff and scalp care shampoos.

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.

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