SWOT Analysis of Dove – Sample Solution
Introduction
With the increasing competition in every industry almost every business is using digital marketing strategies to stay ahead of their competitors and gain bigger market share. Different approaches and strategies are usually adapt by companies based on their size and nature of business they are in. Dove is one of the most influential brands when it comes to beauty products, their campaigns has always been in the limelight. For marketing managers it is important to analyze their company SWOT and PESTEL analysis so that based on it, proper marketing campaigns can be done.
SWOT Analysis
For any company or business regardless of their size and nature of industry they are operating in, it is always a good idea to do proper SWOT analysis to see where they stand and what they can do to gain competitive edge over others. SWOT analysis comprises of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A complete and detailed SWOT analysis is done on DOVE to see what threats they face and what they can do to avail the opportunities that are present in the market.
STRENGTHS
A brand like DOVE has too many strength’s as its part of Unilever. Some of the key strengths are:
Dove has ventured in to various businesses outside its normal Sales and Marketing sector that give the brand a diverse revenue model. With its marketing campaigns the brand is also able to create strong brand recognition in the industry. Another strength of the brand is the fact that DOVE is available in different countries around the world. With its strong dealer network, it helps the brand in managing its competitive challenge in sales and marketing (Deighton. J, 2018).
Because of its low cost structure, the company is able to sell its products comparatively at low price, making it affordable for general public at large. At the same time the financial position of the company is very strong, as it’s been making profits for last 5 consecutive years (Panagiotou. G, 2003). Lastly, with over millions of followers on its social media channels, making it one of the most highly visible brand in the world.
WEAKNESS
The company hasn’t been making a lot of investment in conducting market research, as such most of its decisions are made on the old data that it has. Another issue that the company face is the high turnover rate of its employees, resulting in high costs for training new employees and recruiting them. One major weakness with the company is its low level of current assets as compare to current liabilities that can create liability issue for the company.
OPPORTUNITIES
For a company like Dove there are many opportunities that are available, with new trends taking place in the consumer behavior, Dove can exploit new markets that can help the company build different revenue streams. Doing so, it will eventually help the business to gain competitive edge by not only having more diverse revenue streams but also to have presence in more markets.
Online presence and operations is another major area where the company can avail that as major opportunity, as a lot of its products can be sold online through different channels.
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THREATS
Technology is one of those sectors where any company regardless of its size can face major threat from its competitors. Other companies capitalizing on new technologies are likely to pose threat on Dove. Besides the technology, with growing number of new entrants in the market are is also a threat for Dove as those companies are coming up with new concepts in beauty creams and similar product range (Deighton. J, 2018). Such increase in new brands and companies, also help suppliers to have more bargaining power that can pose a major threat for the brand.
PESTLE Analysis
Another major analysis that brands and companies can do to analyse their position and where they can improve is with the help of PESTEL. Dove can use PESTEL to analyse both of its external and internal factors (Blueoceanuniversity.com).
Dove, being part of Unilever, it operates in a dynamic and large environment where it is directly and indirectly can be influenced by government decisions, the increase in the environmental activism, changes in technology, regulatory framework and consumer behaviour as well (Thomson. M, Goldberg. E, Gottlieb. B, Landy. S (2018). Analysis on these points are done below:
Political
Over the years, Dove has been under some global pressure to obey the international regulations. Different governments have different regulations and they play crucial role in setting up policies and business environment regulations.as for such reason, it is important for Dove to adhere to the local rules and regulations to avoid any penalties or issues.
Economic
Economic condition is another area that has a major influence on the performance of any firm. A country that has strong economic stability is likely to favour the companies and businesses to operate in successfully. In developing countries, the wage rates usually go up, that simply present the opportunity for Unilever to get more profit by higher potential sales. On the other hand, third world countries or those that are under development are not likely to be considered as a favourite destination for companies like Dove.
Social
Dove can actually grow with the help of products that are directly associated with the increasing interest of consumers healthful products. At the same time, the increasing interest of people in environment, is an opportunity that the company can avail (Smithson. N, 2017). According to Unilever annual report, the company is constantly trying to improve hygiene and promote better nutrition to all its consumer and general public at large, in different continents (unilever.com/ourvalues).
Technology
With the rapid advancement in technology, it is really very important for businesses to stay up to date and avail all the new technologies that are available. By doing so, it can lead to industry wide disruption through innovation of new products and services (Smithson. N, 2017). With the adaption of new technology, it can actually serve as a major opportunity for Unilever to increase effectiveness in its operations.
Environment
Dove marketing campaigns are usually very attractive, as the company usually use social aspects in their marketing campaigns. With the increasing interest of people in environment, Unilever has an opportunity to avail, with the help of which it can attract consumers who are more concerned about environment and its sustainability. It is the corporate social responsibility of Unilever to implement a strategy effectively on a macro and micro level both (Annual Report & Accounts, 2018).
Legal
For a corporation like Unilever, it is really very important and crucial to follow the local rules and regulations of countries in which it operates. Though the corporation has been in various issues and criticisms over the last few years, making it really very important for the company to have strict adherence to local laws (Thomson. M, 2018).
Sentiment Analysis
Brands that offer their products related to health and beauty, usually come up with campaigns that can connect them with customers through building strong emotional bonding. Same approach has been taken by Dove, as over the years, DOVE has come up with campaigns that has targeted females of all ages and backgrounds. For decades many brands have taken models for their marketing campaigns, through which consumers were enticed to change their buying behaviour (Dillavou. L, 2009). However in the case of Dove, the brand has taken a different approach, where it has used females from general public and create their campaigns on the basis of their life and scenarios.
In 2004, Dove came up with a campaign, in which they brand used non-traditional models as the new face of Dove, which was promoted through all marketing channels, digital and traditional both (Thomson. M, 2018). With such campaign, the aim was to create an emotional contact with females and promote their beauty. However, there have been some campaigns that the brand initiated and because of those campaigns, the brand received a lot of criticism. One of the most successful campaign was the one in which Dove asked few females to answer some questions related to their face and based on their answers a sketch was made, which was later compared to another sketch that was made on the answers received from a stranger on how they saw the same person. The aim of the campaign was to change the way a person see herself. This campaign was a huge success, with the help of which Dove was able to create strong emotional bond with its target audience. It had a positive impact on females, that actually shaped female opinions about the brand (Murphy. S, 2013).
We know from research carried out over a period of 12 years that, when young girls hit adolescence, body image issues begin. For our latest Dove Global Beauty and Confidence Report, we interviewed 10,500 females across 13 countries.
Researchers found that 8 in 10 girls with low body confidence were less likely to participate in important daily life activities. This included not engaging with friends and loved ones if they weren’t happy with the way they looked (Unilever.com, 2016). It also revealed that 7 out of 10 put their health at risk by, for example, stopping themselves from eating or not going to visit the doctor if they needed to.
On the other hand, there have been campaigns that were widely being criticised by general public (Charles. C & Gwynn. S, 2017).). One of the most highly criticised campaign was the one in which the brand pulled an ad for Baby Dove, showing breast-feeding in public. Later on, another campaign was criticised on social media in which the brand introduced different shaped bottles, resembling the women’s body shape (Charles. C & Gwynn. S, 2017).
According to Bahadur. N, (2014). Dove is in danger because of its recent campaigns, as the brand simply wants to be heard. Their recent campaigns had a negative impact on the attitude and behaviours of their consumers.
Channel Selection and Rating
When it comes to selecting which social media channel would be better as compare to others, a lot of factors needs to be taken into consideration. A lot is dependent on the nature and size of the business, when it comes to selecting which channel to use for its marketing and promotional campaigns (Bahadur. N, 2014). New brands are more likely to be more active on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and so on. Where as big brands have a selective approach, as they don’t want to jeopardise their image by having their promotions on all channels. In the case of Dove, the brand has used all marketing channels to communicate with its audience and to promote its products.
Social Media Presence
Talking about the social media presence, the brand has a large number of fan followers on different social media platforms as compared to other brands like Olay, Sauve and Ivory (Bahadur. N, 2014).
On Facebook alone, Dove has over 25.6 million followers, that is far more as compare to its competitors. Dove presence on Facebook is more for communicating with its audience and fans, instead of direct selling. Majority of the posts are about self confidence and celebrating who you are (Charles. C & Gwynn. S, 2017). Fans who may have any query about a particular product, is replied within a certain time period that help the brand maintaining its good relationship with customers and fans.
Twitter is used more for making announcements, or sharing news. Its more of a one way communication instead a two way communication. Dove twitter page is full of empowering posts that have helped the brand in creating a fan following of over 180,000 people on Twitter (Charles. C & Gwynn. S, 2017).
The Dove Website
These days, having a website for any brand, product and business is very important as it is considered to be the first and foremost important step when it comes to having an online presence. For a brand like Dove, its website presence is important and the website has to stand out. Lot of information is available on the website, not only for its consumers but also for other stake holders as well. Information such as social mission, to product details are all-available on the website to education its consumers.
The Dove App
Not many brands would have an app that one can download and go through the different products and their videos, when same can be done through other social media platforms (Charles. C & Gwynn. S, 2017). However, the brand didn’t ignore of making itself available in the form of App that its consumers can download and go through the required content they are interested in.
One of the most popular social media platforms these days is Instagram; brands of all nature and size have their presence on Instagram. Brands usually use instagram to promote their products or to make announcements of any of their new product range. Same is the case of Dove, all the posts on instagram are about empowering women. The brand is able to maintain a strong presence on such channel and at present has over 400,000 followers on it.
