CORPORATE VISIONARY:Case Study Competition (18 March 2024)

What We Can Learn from Dove’s Brand Portfolio Growth: David Aaker

There are two common mistakes in strategically managing a brand portfolio. The first is to
define a brand too narrowly around a product attribute and to believe that breaking out of this
conceptual box will damage the “brand equity” represented by the attribute. The brand then
stays in the box and never realizes its potential. The second is to have too many brands each
covering the various attributes believed to be valued by the market. The result is underfunded
brands, confusion in the marketplace, and a lack of brand-building focus.
Instead, the primary strategic goal of a brand portfolio should be to focus on a limited number
of strong brands and find ways to leverage those brands by enhancing their market penetration,
by extending into new offerings, and by expanding into new markets.

Unilever is a case in point. They focus on their 18 or so biggest brands, 13 of which are billion
dollar brands, and they don’t put the brands into confined functional boxes. Dove, launched as
a bar soap brand in 1955 known for its moisturizing quality, was in a box doing a respectable
$200 million dollars in sales in the early 1990s. The brand then broke out of the box and
aggressively grew its sales with brand extensions, product innovation, and geographic
expansion.

This growth was earned in an intensively competitive arena with large, smart, established
competitors.
The extension strategy was to leverage the moisturizer attribute heritage of the brand into new
categories supported by meaningful innovation. The first extension success was the Dove
Moisturizing Body Wash with the innovative Dove Nutrium technology that deposited lipids,
Vitamin E and other ingredients onto the skin. This was followed with entries into deodorants,
disposable face cloths, shampoos with Weightless Moisturizer, Nutrium soap, and lotions with
Shea Butter. Dove also entered the male market with Dove Men+Care and recently entered the
baby market with baby Dove.

Each extension success was based in part on compelling value propositions. Additionally, an
aggressive global expansion resulted in the brand, once a factor in only a few countries, now
having a presence in over 80 countries.
An important ingredient to Dove’s successful growth was its “Campaign for Real Beauty”,
originated in Brazil by Ogilvy & Mather in 2004. The campaign set out to make women aware
that they have real beauty, not based on a standard of a young, model-thin body with excessive
make-up. The goal was to change the way that women are perceived and to improve their self-
esteem.

The campaign started with advertisements showing real women that may have been older or
heavier than the “ideal” but exhibited beauty. Billboard ads invited passers-by to vote on
whether a model was, for example, “Fat or Fab” or “Wrinkled or Wonderful”, with the results
of the votes dynamically updated.

One of the campaign videos shows a forensic sketch artist drawing several women first based
only on their descriptions of themselves (he does not actually see them) and then based on the
descriptions of a stranger. The subject, seeing the resulting sketches side-by-side, realizes that
the sketches inspired by strangers are much more flattering than the versions from their own
self-descriptions show the tagline “You are more beautiful than you think.” The first two 3-
minute Dove Real Beauty Sketch ads each got over 35 million viewers within two weeks of
being posted on YouTube. Thirty-five million!!!

The Real Beauty Campaign expanded the brand and its relationship to customers by connecting
with an issue of deep concern: the appearance and self-confidence of themselves and their
daughters. It also provided energy and visibility that enhanced all the Dove products.

The Dove brand success did not just happen. You don’t just put a brand name on a product
extension. Each Dove extension was successful because the product delivered a “must have”
benefit often with a branded innovation. The country expansion was based on the presence of
Unilever, the Unilever brands, and a brand positioning strategy that worked. The Real Beauty
campaign was informed by research into the attitudes and concerns of women and
communicated with stories with amazing content artfully presented.

Select Brand Extensions and Why They Were Successful

When brand extensions win over loyal brand consumers with a new product, it is a win with
lasting benefits for the brand, including increased revenue and greater name recognition. But
creating and executing a successful brand extension isn’t as simple as placing an established
brand logo on a new product and stocking it on the shelves. Even brand loyalists aren’t likely to
make the leap to an entirely new product without first being properly convinced of its value.
Brilliant brand extensions must demonstrate logic and leverage. Here are four successful brand
extensions to serve as examples:

1. Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner

The Clorox brand is associated with cleanliness and is known for its bleach product. Years ago,
the company was failing at the task of extending its brand beyond bleach. The company found
that since “Clorox” was synonymous with chemical bleach, the public wasn’t interested in
Clorox dishwasher detergent, or Clorox laundry detergent. It became clear that the company
would have trouble marketing new products in areas where the strength and success of its
bleach could present a problem. Consumers did not want to accidentally remove all the color
from their clothes, for instance. Regardless of the actual composition or gentleness of the new
products the company was creating, the Clorox brand connoted strong chemical cleanliness to
consumers.
So, when the company introduced toilet bowl cleaner, Clorox was able to create a product that
perfectly lined up with public expectations and met a new need. After all, if consumers thought
that the product was too strong for laundry and dishes, they would certainly believe it was
strong enough for the areas in the home that are typically viewed as dirtiest. Thus, a toilet bowl
is a place where consumers would want the brand’s trademark chemical cleanliness.

The brand hit a homerun with this brand extension, and the revelations that came from it – that
extensions could work if they were confined to the strong cleaning product category – informed
a number of successful sanitizing products to follow. In this success story, adjusting their brand
extensions to fit the perceptions of their brand, logic and leverage converged.
A line of Clorox cleaners that reflect the brand’s success with extensions.

2. O, The Oprah Magazine

One of the most successful magazine launches of all time, O, The Oprah Magazine made the
crossover from T.V. to print look effortless. An extension of the television show, the magazine
was also its own unique product, focusing on empowering readers to live their best lives.
Oprah’s distinctive focus on self-improvement was easily translatable to print. The magazine
leveraged the loyalty of Oprah’s following, tapped into an audience ready and willing to
change their lives, and logically persuaded them to improve their own stories. This is best
exemplified by the magazine’s first cover ever in 2000, which featured an image of Oprah and
the headline, “Live your best life! Start right here, right now!”

The magazine leveraged a uniquely passionate audience, the powerful Oprah brand, and took
the logical leap of showcasing self-help and empowerment from the screen to the magazine
rack. With more than 12 million readers every month, O, The Oprah Magazine is considered a
brand extension success story.

3. Dove Men + Care

Dove, which began as a brand solely known for its bars of soap, grew to become a superpower
in the shampoo, deodorant and body wash markets. In the process of becoming a superpower, it
went from a 200 million dollar company to a multi-billion dollar company with its aggressive
expansion strategy.

Paramount to Dove’s success was ensuring that each new product had its own expectations, so
that one product’s performance did not impact the others. By following this strategy, Dove’s
brand extension of new products have actually increased sales of Dove’s original soap bars.
Dove has many successful extensions that could be highlighted. Perhaps its most impressive
feat to date, Dove was able to carve out a niche for men (despite having built a brand targeting
women). From its soft color palette to its logo, Dove was created with women in mind.
However, in 2010, Dove launched a line of products targeting men, and was successful in
building out the extension.

Dove Men + Care capitalized on a need in the market – at the time, very few products
specifically for men were available. By leveraging research at the time which showed that men
did not identify with the versions of the “real man” portrayed on television, Dove advertised its
new product as one that could help men become more comfortable in their own skin. In
combination with Dove’s existing brand perception as being for real women, this extension was
a logical one that offered a distinct value to its target audience.

4. Disney English
Another great example of brand positioning is Disney. With movies, T.V. shows, theme parks,
coloring books, and baby clothing (to name only five of its many products), Disney has learned
to wield logic and leverage in a masterful way.
One successful brand extension is the Disney English-language training center. Though less
ingrained in popular culture than other Disney products, this particular extension has been
incredibly successful in China. It is especially important to highlight because as an international
brand, it faced even more obstacles than other extensions by navigating a vastly different
culture and an audience with an entirely different set of values.

After identifying an international opportunity, Disney leveraged its unique strengths, like its
unparalleled customer experience and focus on entertaining children, to break into an
incredibly lucrative niche in China. Disney English, centers for teaching young children the
English language, opened in Shanghai in 2008, according to McKinsey & Company,
simultaneous with the development of the city’s Disneyland park. Disney English is now in
more than nine cities in China, with more than 30 locations. Further, the extension is helping
the main Disney brand to flourish in a country that is not as familiar with its trademark
“magic.” As McKinsey & Company’s article notes, “In a country where Disney’s films and
merchandising have yet to establish a broad market presence, using language learning to attract
small children and their families looks like a great entry point to the world’s biggest market and
a sound investment in nurturing a future consumer base for Disney products.” In this way, the
extension capitalizes on both leverage and logic, bringing value to both consumers and the
main brand in a number of ways.

The Future for Brand Extensions

In a vastly competitive brand space where businesses are often vying for the same consumers
and customer loyalty, it is critical that companies cut through the noise with creative products.
What is the recipe for a successful brand extension? Simply put, companies must expand their
reach, demonstrate their value, and grow their business with products that capitalize on logic
and leverage.

QUESTIONS:

1. Does your existing perception of the parent brand fit the new category or market
that the brand plans to enter?
2. Outline the parameters to be considered while adopting brand extension strategy.
3. Referring to the successful brand extension stories, discuss the journey of any
competitive brand w.r.t. the various factors mentioned in the case.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/