Advertising words portray a focus. Smart companies like Unilever, which is the parent company of Dove, thoroughly research the market before launching advertising campaigns. What is the outcome of that research? The answer lies in the social perceptions of women: In the 21st Century, only 2-4% of women view themselves as beautiful; and it follows that there exists a low self-esteem within this half of the world’s population. The Response of Dove in 2004, was to shift its ad focus from “beauty” to “real beauty.” However, Dove products prioritize and aim to provide the same benefits in 2017 as it did in its 1957 inception: Moisture, cleanliness, purity, natural beauty, and touchable skin. Let’s take a look at the history and exhibition of that focal point shift.
History of a Wise Company: Dove
Rewinding 60 years, opens a window onto Lever Brothers enterprise that clearly understood the art of competition. At the time, Ivory Soap with its “99% pure” ad, owned the mild-soap market. Lever Brothers hit the ground running by characterizing its product not as a soap, but as a moisturizing provider of clean beauty: Dove Beauty Bar. The company had simply added a moisture-nourishing lotion to soap in the configuration of 25% cream and 75% cleanser. Their advertising encompassed a comparison between plain soap and the Dove Beauty Bar via moms and other women performing a skin test of the two products, and lauding the soft-skin results of Dove. We can surely call that company immediately successful!
Headquartered in the UK, the main target market was the US. Unilever soon forged ahead with its new-found fame and fortune by expanding its product lines and its global reach. Since the days of the hot Beauty Bar as the sole brand representative, Dove has added deodorants, hand and body lotions, facial care lines, hair care solutions, and even a line of men’s care products called “Journey to Comfort.” You can find Dove in as many as 80 countries. Most interesting, however, is the fact that moisturization remains as the cornerstone of each of Dove’s products.
So where is the shift? Words. Advertising words, slogans, campaigns. In 1957, the emphasis was on pampered beauty and the ideal of classic beauty. It seemed as though in the mid-20th Century every woman wanted to achieve a visage of stereotypical attractiveness. Lever Brothers sang the tune that women sought to morph into: Soft and alluring skin forever. Today, its products are marketed as creating shiny and luxurious hair. However, the advertising focus sidesteps the issue of beauty, and pampered is absolutely out of the question.
According to all of the studies that Dove executives were looking at when the clock hit 2000, the vast majority of girls and women were carrying a bundle of low self-esteem. Plug into that negative mis-perception with a you-are-as-is-beautiful and you-can-do-it refrain that lifts the hopes of women around the world, and a beauty bar company could capture that whole amazing market. And that right there is the source of the turnaround in Unilever’s advertising focus. At that moment in time, Dove turned its lens away from classic beauty, and instead, focused its gaze in the direction of confidence as the carrier of real beauty.
Self-confidence is attainable by every woman under the sun. So Dove launched its 2004 Campaign for Real Beauty and Dove Self-Esteem Project (DSEP), seeking to convince seniors that soft skin forever is unnecessary as wrinkles are wonderful. Huh? Well, anyway, millions upon millions of women of all ages, ethnicity, and sizes have bought into Dove’s newly-minted focus, and are actually to this very day buying the Dove moisturizing products that continue to bring along a softer, shinier, less wrinkled, more youthful appearance, while hypocritically espousing a “real beauty” agenda.
Dove Real Beauty Campaign Explained
We’ve covered most of the underlying philosophy behind the Campaign for Real Beauty. What we have not yet looked at is the Campaign’s educational side that infuses girls of all ages with a momentum to reach their fullest potential in life. Even though it appears that Dove is far from altruistic, using an advertising agenda that offers wider appeal and sells to a much larger customer base, we must acknowledge that the Real Beauty statement is fundamentally a healthy angle for all girls and women.
Dove Beauty Body Wash Review
The name Dove generates a great deal of confidence in the mind of the purchaser. As is the case with most personal-product brands, Dove Beauty Body Wash is met with a wide range of approval, from consumers who love the products contained in this Dove line, to those who feel it’s a good line but not great, to a few who were completely turned off by the scent or the reaction of their skin to the Body Wash. For the most part though, this is a beloved addition to the skin care arsenal of whole families.
The line of body washes includes sublines such as Crème, Fresh Moisture, and Gentle Exfoliating. Each of the sublines contain distinctive ingredients that address specific skin issues. Let’s take a peek at three Crème washes: Dove Crème Beauty Bar, Dove Beauty Moisture Facial Foam, and Dove Beauty Nourishing Body Wash. The Crème Beauty Bar is a white bar, 25% of which is composed of cream moisturizers, the remaining ingredients consist of an extremely mild cleanser, fragrance, and chemicals that serve various purposes such as enhanced absorption.
This as well as most Dove products, does the job of moisturizing dry skin, cleansing, and leaving skin in a noticeably improved condition often after just a single use. It is affordable, and as to smells, it emits a pleasant scent that lingers for a while after use. The Crème Beauty Bar has more than passed the test of time, with 60 years of success as a consumer favorite.
Dove Moisture Foaming Facial Cleanser Review
Constructed of Moisturizing cream to the extent of ¼ of the Cleanser, along with Vitamins A & E, pure spring water, minerals, and anti-oxidants. It was specifically developed so as not to clog pores, and is both hypoallergenic and dermatologically tested. It is generally used for normal to dry skin, and has proven to work wonders on ultra-dry hands, though its intended use is to soften and rejuvenate the face.
The Beauty Moisture Foaming Facial Cleanser has surprisingly few ingredients, including: Water, glycerin, disodium laurel sulfosuccinate, Petrolatum, Lauric acid, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Sodium Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate, Stearic Acid, Polyquaternium-7, Polyquaternium-39, Polyquaternium-55, Fragrance, Disodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin, and Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate. 88% of those who have tried this facial cleanser have found it to be excellent: From its scent, to its cleansing action, to its moisturizing effect.
Dove Nourishing Body Wash Review
This product has recently undergone an upgrade. As with everything else in the public domain, some think the new solution works even better than the original, while others think not and mourn what they perceive to be the loss of their reliable beauty aid. I recently saw both the original in the navy blue and white bottle and the newest version, side by side at my local pharmacy. If I can find the first formula without even looking for it, then so can you.
The additional ingredient in the new Nourishing Body Wash is called NutrimMoisture. I’m not exactly sure what that entails, however I have tried it out and other than the scent, I find it to be right for my sensitive skin, nicely affordable, actually moisturizing, and overall, a body wash that works for my entire family. It is so creamy and thick, and lathers so wonderfully well that one pump is sufficient for my whole body. My only problem with Dove Beauty Nourishing Body Wash, and it is an insurmountable problem for me, concerns the strong and powdery scent. I am extremely smell sensitive, and have heard from many women who LoveLoveLove the very scent that I cannot stand. If everyone on earth had the same reaction, we would be in major trouble.
Dove Fresh Moisture Body Wash Review
The main ingredients in this Beauty Wash are: Hydrating milk to the extent of 25% of the total mixture, green tea extract, and cucumber. Can’t get any healthier than that. Working together, the elements of this Wash provide a pleasant aroma, along with well-moistened and soft skin. My dry sensitive skin was rejuvenated. Dove Beauty Fresh Moisture Body Wash is the product for me. I use it daily, and will do so until the bottle runs out; at which point in time, I will go on to a different brand since I am a risk-taker by nature and derive a sense of joy out of trying new things.
Feel the beautiful benefits of Dove Advanced Care Deodorant with every swipe!
That's an #EssentialUpgrade. pic.twitter.com/bU19vHZXEI
— Dove (@Dove) September 15, 2016
Dove Gentle Exfoliating Body Wash Review
Almost everyone who uses this Body Wash appears to adore its exfoliation action, but the surf scent is a love/hate factor. We all like to feel that we smell good after a wash, but how can we feel that way if we dislike the odor that we are applying to our bodies? For those whose smell-sense enjoys a whiff of this body wash, the tiny blue granules in the white lotion will delete your dead skin and leave you with a soft, supple, glowing, and well-cleansed happy epidermis.
Dove Go Fresh Antiperspirant Deodorant Review
There is a new formula being used in go Fresh Antiperspirant Deodorant. Not everyone is happy with this new formula, however it well suits the needs of a huge majority of purchasers. Only about 15% of Go Fresh users are less than pleased with the change. The revision centers around NutrimMoisture, a Dove formula that contains a combo of oils and other ingredients with the goal of contributing to the restoration of the skin’s top layer. The oils are intended to absorb directly into the skin.
A listing of Go Fresh Antiperspirant Deodorant products provides a peek at some of the specific uses and oils that are incorporated into Go Fresh: Go Fresh Revive Antiperspirant/Deodorant, Advanced Care Antiperspirant Deodorant Cool Essentials, Invisible Solid Antiperspirant Deodorant Sensitive Skin, Go Sleeveless Antiperspirant Deodorant, Soothing Chamomile, and Advanced Care Deodorants.
The scent is fresh and mild, and appeals to most purchasers. The real advantage of Go Fresh is in a perceived improvement of the armpit: Lighter and more even tone, smoother, and softer.
Dove Haircare Products Review
Of the many haircare lines, I have chosen to review Hair Therapy Nourishing Oil Care and Style & Care Hairspray, Strong & Shine, Flexible Hold, as they clearly represent the overall Dove haircare aim to improve the health, shine, and softness of your hair. Let’s start with Hair Therapy. If you have frizzy hair, this product is for you. With just nine ingredients, none of which have been found to be detrimental to good health and some natural oils that provide proven health benefits, Hair Therapy Nourishing Oil Care has the potential to live up to its name. The formula includes: Sweet almond oil, coconut oil, argan kernel oil, fragrance, armodimethicone, phenyl trimethicone, dimethiconol, isohexadecane, and cyclopentasiloxane.
I liked this product since it performed above my expectations. I fully expected an oil-heavy head of hair, and was pleasantly surprised by the soft, bouncy, light texture that resulted when I used both the shampoo and conditioner. The scent of the shampoo is sharp; that of the conditioner is much more subtle. To me, both aromas are nice.
The name of Dove’s hairspray – Style & Care Hairspray, Strong & Shine, Flexible Hold – says it all. Almost everyone who uses this hairspray happily experience touchable and soft hair, without frizz. The fast-drying formula allows for spray-and-go timing.
Dove – Trustworthy Personal Care Products
When I began researching Dove, I completed expected to find a brand that was over-hyped. However, the more I searched, the more clearly it appeared that Dove makes a valid and successful effort to provide the public with healthier hair and skin.
Over 19 million people plug into Dove products online. In the face of that number, who could honestly say that Dove is not trustworthy? In fact, Dove delivers improved skin and hair texture: Softer and more moisturized. It does the job of refreshing and rejuvenating hair and skin, and is an affordable and accessible alternative to high-priced brands. The scent of Dove products may be a turn-off to some consumers, while the vast majority of this brand’s purchasers really, really love the scent of its products.
Keep in mind that Dove Beauty Bar is the Number 1 Dermatologist-Recommended brand in the US, France, and Canada. The Unilever motto encompasses the notion of “real care.” Ask millions upon millions of users, and you will emphatically be told that real care is exactly what Dove delivers. The fact that they were successful from the git-go, and have remained so for 60 long years, speaks volumes about the competitive nature of Unilever and more importantly, about the effectiveness of their products.
Women around the globe will forever be seeking to maximize their personal potential to appear beautiful. Dove is very often the end product of that search.
Read about Nivea, Redken and Tigi while you’re here at Innovative Private Label!