Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

Team: Coordinating teacher:

Grigorica Andrei Prof.univ.dr. Nora CHIRIȚĂ
Cozma Elena Bianca
Iacob Laurentiu

Economic Systems Cybernetics Project

Specialization: Economic Informatics in English
Subject company: Dove
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

Table of contents:

Introduction 3
1. About Dove 4
2. Economic Analysis 6
3. Complex Adaptive System 7
4. Dove during the Covid-19 Pandemic 10
Conclusions 12
Bibliography 13
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

Introduction:

We chose to explore the Dove firm and examine its development throughout the 2020
Covid-19 epidemic for this research. We believe their cosmetic products are well-known on a
global scale. As a result of the pandemic we recently experienced, everyone is now more
conscious of their skin and personal hygiene.
Our research's primary goals are to highlight the economic factors that affect our subject
and to monitor, analyze, and evaluate its SWOT analysis.
When talking about how we organized as a team in order to document and write the
project, we employed a methodology that is comparable to the Waterfall Methodology used in
project management all around the world. It follows a linear, sequential process for completing
tasks and phases, and one part of the project must be finished before moving on to the next.
According to the waterfall project management technique, we divided the project into 4
phases, which in our case approximate 4 chapters. In the first section, we introduced our subject,
the "Dove" company, and contrasted it with its primary rivals in the market. In the two chapters
that followed, we used the SWOT and PESTLE analysis frameworks to analyze the company's
internal and external environments. In the last chapter, we conducted and presented a study on
how "Dove" engaged in various activities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in order to retain a
positive reputation and income.
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

1. About Dove

Dove is a personal care brand from the United States of America and belongs to Unilever.
The company was invented by an American chemist named Vincent Lamberti. The soaps of the
brand have been the trademark product of Dove which was originally from the United Kingdom.
Dove manufactures its products in Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada,
China, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands,
Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, South Arica, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Russia and the
United States.
It also sells its products to more than 150 countries. It has a range of products for men,
women and babies. Dove's logo is a silhouette profile of the Dove. The company was initially
launched in the 1960s and started with products like Dove Bar and Dove Beauty Bar at first. The
company gained a lot of attention because its products were extremely different and had a unique
claim made by them which was a soap that not only cleanses but also focuses on moisturizing the
skin.
In the 1970s however, Dove started extending its product line after it gained a lot of
popularity for being the mildest soap that is gentle for the skin. Soon enough, the brand products
were highly recommended by physicians.
The “the real beauty” campaign was born in 2003. This campaign was unconventional in
the sense that it stood to redefine unrealistic beauty standards by showcasing women of all sizes,
and across age, with all of their flaws and imperfections, which were portrayed as beautiful, self-
assured and confident women. Due to the unconventional boldness of the campaigns
commercials and advertisements, significant conversation was generated both on and offline of
the brand, including media coverage. This new positioning strategy was great for the brand in the
sense that it generated free publicity and increased brand awareness. Dove sales increased by
700% during the first half of the year after the launch.
The brand has managed to resonate with its target market who believe and buy into the
brand for what it represents and stands for, in support of the movement towards celebrating
realistic beauty standards. No other brand in its category has authentically achieved this and
Dove has gained a competitive advantage in its category due to this positioning strategy.
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

Unilever’s Organizational Structure

Source:
https://www.organimi.com/organizational-structures/unilever/
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

2. Economic Analysis
PESTLE Analysis addresses the numerous external factors political, economic, social,
and technological as well as the commercial, legal, and environmental factors that have an
impact (LE). The PESTLE Analysis emphasizes the various extrinsic circumstances that have an
impact on the brand's business. PESTLE analysis is a framework that is essential for businesses
like Dove since it aids in understanding market dynamics and ongoing business improvement.
Political factors:
Unilever is the parent brand of Dove and has its headquarter setup in London. There was
lot of speculation that after Brexit it would move its headquarter away from London, but later on,
it was announced that headquarter would stay there. Political rift between the British and
European Union was the major news recently. Dove being a prominent household product from
Unilever, its fate depends on the fate of Unilever as a brand. For any product to maintain its
successful run in the market, it should have stable political environment, so government policies
should also be supportive to the firm.
Economic factors:
The exchange rates of various currency affects the product and the profit-making capacity
of the same. The GDP growth rate of the countries where Dove is sold is shows the potential
growth dove can have in that market. The import rates in European countries may hike up thus
hampering the overall supply and demand of dove in that region.
Social factors:
Dove appeals to people through the idea of looking beautiful from both within and
outside. It encourages women to come out of their routine and take a step forward in caring about
their own skin. Makeup and beauty is preferred more by women than men, thus the
advertisement is focused mainly on women, while the race and color are not concerned at all.
The segregation of population based on financial earning is also preferred while targeting the
market. Dove being slightly on the premium side of personal well-being products, the upper
middle class younger teens and women between 20 and 35 years old are the main target audience
since they have more desire to stay pretty.
Technological factors:
Technology is ever growing. There is new innovation in the field of IT, chemical
composition and design of the product with each passing day. If Unilever as a brand is not able
to keep in pace with these technological changes then the product may lose its customers. The
technological advancements made even to the advertisements, reduce the overall cost of the
product, attracts more crowd and increases the profit directly.
Legal factors:
Dove as a product has its own intellectual property rights to protect. The technological
and product level development should be protected well within the law. Other way round dove
cannot just use other brands chemical composition to make a hybrid product. Various countries
that operate have their own tax policies. Wrongful promotion of the product can lead to penalty.
Any harmful warnings should be displayed on the product itself.
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

Environmental factors:
The manufacturing of dove should not involve killing or endangering any animal or
species. The waste produced while manufacturing this soap dove should also not harm the
environment and comply with the norms set by environment department of the country. The
source of energy used while manufacturing can be switched to solar or alternate sources of
energy. Carbon footprint of the product should be minimized and thus wherever possible
paperless transaction should be adopted.

SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is a framework used

to evaluate a company's competitive position and to develop strategic planning. SWOT analysis
assesses internal and external factors, as well as current and future potential.
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

Source:
https://iide.co/case-studies/swot-analysis-of-dove/

Strengths of Dove
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.
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.

Weaknesses of Dove
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 organization is unable to cater to the
price-conscious consumer. As a result, the brand is unable to enter price-sensitive markets.

Opportunities for Dove

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, maybe even moving into the men’s skincare
market. As a result, the target market is expanding.

Threats to Dove:
Market share and competitors: With Neutrogena, Olay, and Nivea all marketing creams
and soaps separately, the market is saturated, and the premium target market has multiple
options.
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.
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

3. Complex Adaptive System

A complex adaptive system, as the name implies, is firstly a system that is so complex in
terms of interactions and relationships. The system itself is capable of adapting. Adaptiveness
refers to the ability of the system to evolve in response to changes in its environment.
Dove is organized along functional lines, with similar activities being grouped together
into departments. The resulting structure is that of a complex web of interaction within
departments and across departments. Complexity is built into businesses via the organisational
structures, communication systems, and technologies applied.
The business manager must embrace complexity, take it as a given, and understand the
complex adaptive systems. This approach will minimize unintended consequences. The business
manager needs to know the following:
• Feedback loops
• Emergence
• Self-organisation
As complex adaptive systems, all organizations are learning organizations: they test
mental models (or schema) of how things work against feedback from the real world. Dove
rewards employees for getting along with others and avoiding conflict may never challenge the
status quo, thus decreasing creativity and innovation. A company built on the successes of a few
renegade employees may have difficulty achieving scale.
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

4. Dove during the Covid-19 Pandemic

With its most recent advertising campaign at that time, Dove made a significant
statement, and everything came together very quickly. Many businesses were doing everything
they can to assist, from shifting output in their facilities to create much-needed hand sanitizer to
giving sizable gifts. With its Courage Is Beautiful ad, Dove was going straight for the heart with
a message of appreciation for the medical professionals that relentlessly labor on the front lines
to help treat COVID-19 patients. The first advertisement, which flashes images of nurses and
doctors with their faces marked by the protective equipment they were required to wear on a
daily basis, was elegant in its simplicity.

Source:
https://www.glamour.com/story/dove-courage-is-beautiful-campaign-healthcare-workers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQOq0-ODBbc
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

The advertisements, which debuted in Canada, are currently airing in the United States.
As part of the initiative, the company is giving to Direct Relief as well. "As a token of
appreciation, Dove is giving to @DirectRelief to support US front-line healthcare professionals.
Visit Dove.com/BeSafe to learn more about our initiatives and to join us," it tweeted. Unilever,
the corporation that owns Dove as well as Tresemmé, Simple, Suave, and other brands, has given
more than $108 million in goods and cash to relief efforts through Feeding America and other

charities.

Source:
https://www.glamour.com/story/dove-courage-is-beautiful-campaign-healthcare-workers
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

https://twitter.com/Dove/status/1247898774095060997?s=20&t=ETc3xXTs1hoiQ7yEeG5lYQ

Conclusions:

Although the company has done a good job positioning and marketing its goods, the
awareness and reach were modest compared to rivals. The main lesson here would be for Dove
to broaden its product line and target market since it solely focuses on and targets women.
Overall, the company has undoubtedly been able to forge a unique identity for itself over time.
Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics

Bibliography:

 https://www.mbaskool.com/pestle-analysis/companies/17950-dove.html
 https://iide.co/case-studies/swot-analysis-of-dove/
 https://brandingtheblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/29/dove-competitive-advantage-through-
positioning-and-differentiating/
 https://www.organimi.com/organizational-structures/unilever/
 https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/your-business-is-a-complex-adaptive-system-
c9e483f2f633
 https://blog.cabreraresearch.org/all-organizations-are-complex-adaptive-systems
 https://www.glamour.com/story/dove-courage-is-beautiful-campaign-healthcare-workers