Dove Soap: The New Old Spice?

Posted by Russ Josephs on February 9, 2010 05:16 PM

Before the big game on Sunday, most people associated the Dove brand with the words “soap,” “beauty” and “deodorant.” However, a day after the Saints win, these associations changed to “Super Bowl,” “ad” and “men," at least according to Zeta Interactive, who studied consumer response to Sunday’s ads.

According to Unilever research, Dove’s parent company, three quarters of men over 30 believe that advertising does not reflect their real lives. The Dove ad is a conscious effort to address these concerns, the goal being to celebrate “real men, their lives and their journey to become comfortable in their own skin.”

Paul Connell, brand manager of Dove Men+Care, noted: "Dove is proud of its pioneering approach to women, and with this new campaign for Dove Men+Care we now have a fresh approach to men as well."

The Dove Men+Care line is Unilever's biggest brand launch this year, and is Dove's first product range designed for men. The company hopes to take advantage of the growing men's personal-care market, which is currently dominated by Axe and Old Spice. The problem for Dove, which has also hindered Nivea and L’Oreal, is that brands with a more feminine association have failed to make significant inroads against more “manly” brands.

Will the Super Bowl ad turn things around? Dove sure hopes so. And just in case it doesn’t, the company has already tapped Saints quarterback Drew Brees to star in an extension of the ad, entitled: "Victory Shower." For some reason, that doesn’t make me want to give up my soap on a rope.

More about: Dove, Old Spice, Axe, Nivea, L’Oreal, New Orlean's Saints, Drew Brees, Unilever, Retail

Rudy Vetter says:

Believe it or not - it will work. They use a powerhouse brand with a well defined equity to enter this arena. There are enough men out there who know girls do not jump really jump over fences and get undressed because of sniffing some Axe somewhere, same with the more mature seduction approach of Old Spice.
The guys they are looking for most probably use their wives/spouses Dove already and not to forget this spouse very often makes the buying for them. This is where the equity is established and the buying decision goes in favour of a brand she is experienced with.
Finally for Unilever it's a perfect completion of what they have in the market right and left from this preposition. I bed on a win for them...

February 10, 2010 08:13 AM #

karajan says:

Don’t sell the skin till you have caught the bear
So far there is no proof that brand which was based on femininity, the new values of female beauty etc etc can be extended into the male segment.
I am looking forward seeing AXE girls chased by men.

March 8, 2010 04:55 AM #

Bruce says:

I don't quite get the "be Comfortable in Your Own Skin" tag. Is this a problem that Dove has identified in men. Seems to me its the Dove brand that is no comfortable in its own skin.

February 10, 2010 08:14 AM #

Mark says:

As good as this ad is, this is just one element of the marketing mix. And I reckon, what it comes down to, is that the product is named Dove, and most men won't buy it. Perhaps though, men will become more accepting to the use of Dove products, as long as someone else - partner, mum, etc - buys it for them.

February 10, 2010 08:26 AM #

Innocent says:

Dove is feminine period. It will take more than the current campaign to change these perception. However there exixt a nich market of metrosexual men who take personal care to another level... an opportunity to reinforce that niche perhaps......

February 10, 2010 10:38 AM #

Ben Wise says:

I don't think this brand is going to take off. For a brand extension to work, its existing personality attributes need to resonate with the new category/segment. The reality with Dove is that the brand is rooted in women. Too big a jump for men to go looking for Dove products, even if Drew Brees used it in his victory shower! See more on this:
benwisebranding.wordpress.com/.../

February 10, 2010 03:43 PM #

I like the reason for DOVE men+care of the brand manager: "There is no advertising which addresses men in the right way!". So because DOVE is not a brand, it is an advertising approach, and therefore the brand name can be used.
In future we will have DOVE baby, addressing babies in the right way, DOVE CAR+care, addressing car buyers the right way and DOVE FUNERAL SERVICES+care, addressing the dead, which no longer bother about marketing people having lost their minds (and not their body)

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