INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION (PROMOTIONS)

You are Beautiful

Dove believes that beauty - feeling and looking your personal best - is the result of proper care. Dove always aims to deliver products which tangibly improve the condition of skin or hair and give a pleasurable experience of care, because when you look and feel beautiful, it makes you feel happier. It’s a feeling every woman should experience every day.

From the beginning Dove has always celebrated real women at the heart of everything the brand does and believes. Real beauty embraces diversity - no woman is or should feel excluded from the world of beauty that the brand represents. Real women are the brand’s true inspiration.

Before 2003 – Dove brand was promoted as solution to soap problems. The two categories prevalent at that time were Hand wash and body cream soap.

After 2003 - Dove was promoted as beauty brand primarily for working class women.

Dove Real Beauty Campaign 2003:

·         “Beyond Compare: Women Photographers On Real Beauty," a show organized by Dove and Ogilvy & Mather, featured work from 67 female photographers.

·         And it marked the beginning of Dove's quest to understand how women thought about beauty -a conversation that would eventually become the Dove Campaign For Real Beauty.

Ten years after the exhibition opened, the Campaign For Real Beauty is one of modern marketing's most talked-about success stories. The campaign has expanded from billboards to television ads and online videos.

Question Arises :
How did a brand associated with a plain white bar of soap get men and women worldwide to think about the narrow definitions of female beauty? 

Answer: Promotion

Evolution Campaign 2006:

Beauty evolution through PhotoShop

• Dove created a fund in 2004 to partner with organizations like the Scouts, Boys and Girls Inc. to organize activities including discussions about online bullying and photography projects capturing the beauty girls see in the world around them.
• The team at Dove Canada created a series of short films to raise awareness about the fund and the larger campaign.   
• "Evolution" was the tipping point, turning the Campaign For Real Beauty into a household name. For many young women, "Evolution" struck a chord, opening their eyes to the narrow definitions of beauty they grew up with and the way images were manipulated to fit said ideals. Today, "Evolution" still has an impact, but seems almost passé
  

Recent Campaigns :

The way you see yourself and the way world perceives you is different.

• Dove's 2013 spot "Real Beauty Sketches," which shows women describing their appearances to a forensic sketch artist, became the most-watched video ad of all time.
• Dove plans to continue making videos like 2013's "Real Beauty Sketches." 
• Currently, Dove Canada is working on a social media campaign, #DovePositiveChange, which posts encouraging responses to women tweeting self-deprecating remarks about themselves. And Dove's latest short film, "Selfie," was released on Jan. 20.

Conclusion:

Both critics and champions of many Dove campaigns have pointed out that just because women are redefining beauty, doesn't mean they are actually feeling differently about themselves. An estimated 80 percent of American women feel dissatisfied with their bodies, and 81 percent of 10-year-old girls are afraid of becoming "fat." Can a series of ad campaigns really change institutionalized body hatred?

The Dove team feels strongly that the campaign will be around for a long time to come.

DISTRIBUTION

HUL Distribution of FMCG Products (Dove Distribution)

Dove as a brand comes under the umbrella of Hindustan Unilever Limited. The distribution of various products is done by the parent company. HUL covers the consumers mainly with the combination of carriers and forwarding agents and stockiest who indirectly deal with the retail outlets. The company which is headquartered in Mumbai has appointed Hindustan Cargo ltd. as the C&F agent.

C&F agents can be classified as:

1.      One’s with investment

2.      One’s  without investment.

The without investment C&F agent then supplies the goods to the authorized stockiest.

These stockiest are also classified into 2 categories called U1 and U2. 

The stockiest are classified as U1 and U2 stockiest on the basis of the product that they stock.
E.g. U1 stockiest generally stocks products like surf and ponds whereas the U2 stockiest deals with high profile products of HUL like Lakme and Dove(premium products).

The stockiest in HUL system are commonly referred to as Re Stockiest. 
E.g.  In Delhi region there are approximately 8 U1 stockiest and 6 U2 stockiest. These are appointed for a particular region of the city. Each stockiest is then responsible for distributing the goods to the retail counters in his locality.

The stockiest then deliver the value product for general trade to comprises grocery stores, chemists, wholesale, kiosks and general stores.

HUL provide tailor made services to each of its channel partners. 2,800 suppliers and nearly 2000 distributors serve HUL’s 37 factories reaching 6.3 million outlets.

Based on the factors like the investment capacity, number of retail stores covered, appropriate Sales force, infrastructure etc., the stockists are evaluated and are selected by the company. Company’s policy is to work in advance payment mode. This is to ensure that the there is no delay in fulfilling the demand of the consumers and sufficient stocks are available to cover the entire range and categories of Dove face wash.

According to HUL Annual Report 2013, the Company has a robust Supply Chain savings programme with continuous focus on end-to-end Supply Chain cost reduction through new technologies, alternative sources of energy, efficient processes and methods. During the year, the Company has delivered 5% saving in Supply Chain cost with sourcing network optimisation, logistic efficiency through improved utilisations, and factory production cost reduction through improvement in energy efficiency, technical efficiencies, wastage reduction and yield improvement.

There has been a 15% improvement in innovation OTIF (On Time in Full) with more than 150 innovation networks being executed during the year touching more than 50% of the product portfolio. The focus on better and faster innovation and capability development has significantly helped the Company launch innovations first time right. The Company has identified beauty, foods, modern trade and rural as key capabilities to win in the future and the supply chain function has significantly improved capability and skill building in these areas during the year.

The Partner to Win programme with supplier and business partners in procurement function focuses on reducing lead time, decreasing procurement cost, improving reliability and work on new innovation.

PRICING

Dove Deep Pure face wash

Pricing a product in market affects the demand to a great extent. Often marketers follow a price setting policy to price a particular product in the market.

1957 – Dove cream bar or soap was launched in markets. It was promoted as quick solution to dry caused by ordinary soap. The brand claimed that it has 1/4^th cleansing moisturizer.

At that time the product was priced at Rs. 50/-. Customers found it overpriced as far as the value for money was concerned.  Many would recall buying a Dove cream bar and using it only for washing their face and using a normal soap bar for bathing. The reason behind it was pricing.

Even people with higher income did not consider it worth buying. So, Dove decreased the price to Rs. 28 to target upper middle class customers.

2003- Dove has changed the way it promoted its products. It became a beauty brand and price was as per the new strategy.

Dove has always priced its products as premium products compared to other brands in the market. Similar, is the case with Dove Deep Pure face wash which is available in market at a price of Rs.90/- for 50g.

The pricing policy followed can be explained as follows:

• Selecting the Price Objective

The objective here is to promote Dove Deep Pure face wash as a beauty product. Thus, price would be as per the guidelines that Dove followed: premium product, higher price, and high income customer segmentation.

• Determining Demand

The demand for the product arose from the growing awareness among working women about beauty and skin care. They always want to look great be it at office or at home. Thus, the need for a beauty product like Dove deep pure face wash could easily be gauged.

•  Estimating costs

This includes the costs incurred by the company in manufacturing, packaging and promoting the product. A portion of the costs goes into the MRP.

•   Analysing competitors costs, prices and offers

Here, other beauty face wash brands like Olay, Ponds white beauty come into picture. A clear comparison among prices can be made as follows:

Face wash brand                                 Price   (Quantity : 50g)
Dove Deep pure                                  Rs. 90/-
Olay                                                     Rs. 70/-
Ponds white beauty                             Rs. 75/-
Lakme                                                 Rs.99/-

Evident from the above chart Dove has been towards the higher end of the price scale.

•     Selecting a pricing method
  
  

  

  Market Skimming through Price
  

For Dove deep pure the pricing method can be maximum market skimming. The product is placed at a higher price. Currently, it has hit its maturity stage. There might be introduction of certain variants or the price may drop keeping in mind the laggards that will contribute to profits in such a stage.

•    Selection of final price

Keeping in mind the above mentioned factors, the final MRP is decided. In this case R. 90/- per 50g.

PRODUCT HIERARCHY

For any product in the market, product hierarchy follows a top down approach. It is developed from the basic need that prompts the customer to look out for a particular product to the final product.

During the course of satisfying this need the customer goes through the following:

• Need or the requirement of a particular product to satisfy its need
• The need is filtered towards a product family such as skin care, hair care, dental etc.
•   Product class is next which can be called as the subset of the product family umbrella. E.g.  face wash under skin care.
•  Product Line refers to the brand customer is looking for. Generally the customer looks out for a trusted brand
•  Brand variant comes under product type which tells what kind of the product customer wants to  fulfil its requirement
• .Finally we have the item which is the SKU or the final product variant of the brand.

According to Kotler, “The product hierarchy stretches from basic needs to particular items that satisfy those needs”.

 We can identify six levels of product hierarchy and trace the hierarch of the marketing diary product as follows:

1.      Need family

The customer figures out a need or requirement which sets out the customer on a mission to satisfy his requirement through various options. The core need underlies the existence of a product family.

In the product I have taken Dove Deep Pure face wash we can say that the need of personal hygiene specially for cleanliness of face which is the most noticeable part of a person’s body helped the customer to think in the direction of skin care for the face.

Need: Personal hygiene

2.      Product family

All product classes that can satisfy a core need with reasonable effectiveness. This primarily includes all the product classes that fall under the requirement.

With reference to personal hygiene like in case of Dove, we can consider product classes such as :

·         Skin care

·         Hair care

Family : Skin care

3.      Product class

A group of products within the product family recognized as having a certain functional coherence, also known as product category.

In case of Dove, which a big b

Class: Face wash

4.      Product line

A group of products within a product class that are closely related because they perform similar function, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same outlets or channels, or fall within given price ranges. A product line may consist of different brands, or a single family brand, or individual brand that has been line extended.

Line: Dove

5.      Product type

A group of items within a product line that share one of several possible forms of the product. It represents the product line along with the product class.

Type: Dove face wash (beauty face wash)

6.      Item

A distinct unit within a brand or product line distinguishable by size, price, appearance, or some other attribute. It is also called as the stock keeping unit SKU or the product variant.

Item: Dove Deep Pure face wash
Size:  50g
Price: Rs.90/-

PRODUCT SYSTEMS AND MIXES

A product system is a group of diverse but related items that function in a compatible manner. A product mix (also called a product assortment) is the set of all products and items a particular seller offers.

A company’s product mix has certain width, length, depth and consistency.

1.      Width

Refers to how many product lines a company carries.

Dove : skin care, hair therapy

2.      Length

Refers to total number of items in the mix.

Body wash, Body lotion, Face wash, Hair care

3.      Depth

How many variants are offered of each product in the line.

Product variants include Dove Deep Pure, Dove Go fresh, Dove pore cleaning, Dove anti acne.

4.      Consistency

How closely related the various product lines are in end use, production requirements, distribution channels, or some other way.

                              

PRODUCT CONCEPT

The product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or a need, including physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information and ideas.

PRODUCT LEVELS: Customer Value Hierarchy

In planning its market offering, the marketer needs to address five product levels. Each level adds more customer value, and the five constitute a customer-value hierarchy. The customer value hierarchy is closely linked to Kenichi Ohmae model as mentioned below:

1. Customer [Core Benefit, Expected Value]
2. Company [Basic Product, Potential Competition]
3. Competition[Basic Product, Augmented Product, Potential Product] 

   

   Product Levels

   
   

The above mentioned diagram in terms of Dove Deep Pure face wash can be explained as follows;

CUSTOMER

Core benefit

For a customer, according to marketing definitions the core benefit is essential. The customer is the one who makes payment in exchange for value provided by the product. The customer has the concept of core benefit which will be delivered to the consumer at the time of product consumption.

Dove Deep Pure provides the benefit of cleansing, moisturizing, scrubbing and smooth skin for the price of Rs. 90 for 50g as cost to the customer.

Expected Product

It refers to the product expected by the customer through promotional campaigns for the same it comes across. For Dove Deep Pure face wash the expected product for the customer would be a beauty face wash with cleansing features which will leave a smooth and dirt free skin after wash.

COMPANY

Basic product

The basic product offering by the company to the customer. Customer value is provided by the company to a customer through product offered.

Dove Deep Pure face wash is the basic beauty product here.

Potential competition

For a company the potential competition is the competition it will face in enhancement of the product in the maturity stage.

Dove Deep Pure is currently in its maturity stage and requires enhancements to sustain market share.

COMPETITION

Basic Product

In competition terms, basic product refers to the products with similar offereing by different brands.

In case of Dove Deep Pure face wash, the basic product competitors would be other beauty brands such as Olay, Lakme, Ponds etc.

Augmented Product

It is the product offered with some enhancements which exceeds the customer requirement.

Dove Deep Pure face wash is a beauty face wash for clean, moisturized and smooth skin. However, it has the added advantage that it can prevent pimples and cleans pores as well. Thus, it is an augmented product.
Other potential augmented products are Anti-acne face wash by Olay, Anti- tan face wash by Lotus which are again beauty brand for women.

Potential Product

In terms of competition the potential product will be the similar beauty face wash products offered by brands targeting working upper middle class women. The other competitors could be acne face wash, sun block face wash, anti-aging face wash which are gaining popularity.

In the case of Dove Deep Pure face wash the potential products include :
Himalaya Neem face wash, Olay anti aging face wash, Garnier neem and tea tree oil face wash etc. Also keeping in mind the popularity of soap due to previous habits and comparatively less cost compared to a face wash, it can be considered as a potential threat in competition.

MARKETING MIX ELEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

The first marketing mix concept was introduced by Neil H. Borden in 1965. Borden is a marketing and advertisement professor at the Harvard Business School and a former president of the American Marketing Association. He defined the marketing mix as a combination of all of the factors at a marketing manger command to satisfy the target market.

MARKETING MIX

Marketing mix is the set of the marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target market. (Kotler, Ang, Leong and Tan, 1999). The marketing mix is not a theory of management that has been derived from scientific analysis, but a conceptual framework which highlights the principal decisions that marketing managers make in configuring their offerings to suit customers’ needs. The tools can be used to develop both long term strategies and short term tactical programmes.

The concept of marketing mix has various elements which can be described as different at

• Manufacturer side
• Customer side

Marketing mix elements at manufacturer side:

1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion

ELEMENTS OF MARKETING MIX (Adapted from Kotler, Ang, Leong and Tan, 1999)

They are popularly known as the 4P’s of the marketing mix concept.

The mentioned elements are closely related to the decision making process of the customer. The final choice of the customer’s purchase has been described by marketing element called 4A’s. They are

1. Awareness
2. Affordability
3. Accessibility
4. Acceptability

The Marketing mix elements w.r.t Dove Deep Pure face wash are explained as follows:

Product

Dove Deep Pure face wash is the product here.
The product has value which it provides to the consumer in return for a certain cost.
Value= Benefit – Cost

 Value for Dove Deep Pure is the cleaning, smoothening, moisturizing and scrubbing properties it offers. This value is available to the customer in return for some cost which is the price of the product in the market.

Price vis a vis Affordability

For a manufacturer, the price of the product is basically the price the manufacturer quotes in return for the value provided by the product. Price of the product is an essential element as it is quoted keeping in mind the target group for the product.

Dove Deep Pure face wash is priced at Rs. 90/- for 50g in the market. The value provided by the face wash to the consumer is set in exchange for some price which is paid by the customer.

For a customer, price is related to the element of affordability. The price quoted by Dove clearly indicates that it is targeted for urban, upper middle class as a beauty brand. A direct comparison can be made with Pears priced at Rs.45/- for 50g. Pears is not promoted as a beauty brand and is lower priced due to a different target group it caters to.

Place vis a vis Accessibility

For manufacturer a, place is the market where he wants to put his product for purchase. It includes retails stores, general stores etc. Marketers make sure the product is easily available to increase and sustain its demand.

Dove Deep Pure face wash is available in the customer’s locality at general stores, retail stores like Big Bazaar, Reliance etc., at stores in malls. It is widely available as it is an all season product.

For a customer, the place relates to the accessibility. Easy access leads to repeat buyers, first timers would love to try out the product, the will increase the demand and help to sustain it.

Promotion vis a vis Awareness

Promotion plays a very important part for any product in the market. Promotion lies at the heart of marketing mix for the manufacturer. Promotional activities such as advertisements, campaign increase the visibility of the product in the market and makes customer aware about the product value offered.

Dove Deep Pure face wash has advertisements which are aired on different TV channels. They show case working women who want to look beautiful all the time be it office or at home. The campaigns were also aimed at beauty product promotion of Dove face wash. All the promotional activities address value provided by the face wash to the customer to initiate purchase or buying behaviour.

For a customer, promotional activities for the products make it aware about the product in the market. Dove  Deep pure face wash target group is  aware about the face wash as a beauty brand and primarily aimed at women. The features of cleansing, moisturizing, scrubbing and smooth skin differentiates it from other products in the market. The awareness helps a lot to the customer to make the decision among available alternate options.

Acceptability

For a customer acceptability of the product initiates repeat buying. The demand for the product depends on its acceptance in the market.

Dove deep pure wash has a strong brand reputation attached to it. The quick acceptability of the product in the market has pushed the product to maturity phase now.