Dove Case Study

In today’s daily life, showering is about more than just getting clean. People has more requirements when choosing shower gels. To meet the market’s needs, some brands are fortified more with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in order to offer heather-looking skin. Additionally, to extend their markets, some brands offer more detail multiple benefits, such as anti-cellulite,anti-aging, whitening and exfoliating. People nowadays pay more attention to the natural and organic formulations of the shower gel.

In the shower gel market, there are several factors affect the consumer. The market affected by demographics. People in different skin types, age and gender have different needs when they are choosing shower gel from different qualities, scents, benefits, and drawbacks. First of all, each customers have their own skin type. Customers having dry skin usually consider using moisturizing body wash. They look for something with added moisturizers, and try to avoid scented ones.. People with oily skin need ones with clarifying properties. Customers should consider allergies and skin sensitivities, as well.Secondly, most of the shower gel brands design new products for customers in different age. For example, sodium laurel sulfate is responsible for creating most of the lather in shower gels. People who are allergic to it should consider trying a shower gel that is SLS-free. Secondly, female and male have different consideration when choosing the shower gel. Generally, the brands focus on adding different types of fragrance in the shower gel for men and women. Base on the research which showed that female perception might change if a pleasant smell is introduced did by the scientist at Oxford University, some brand add attractive fragrance in male’s show gel, such as Dove Men, Axe Black and Old Spice. Additionally, our skin type is changing when our age. The brands design different shower gel to benefit people in different age, especially for the middle-aged. Customers in middle-aged are more preferring the anti-age or age defying shower gel in the market.

The show gel is affected by the social trends somehow. The soaps are being used since ages and they are a traditional means of taking a bath for most of the people whereas nowadays the shower gels are becoming the latest trend. These days most of the women are shifting towards Body Wash gels from the bar soaps. Whereas there are many women who are still in the favor of the soaps. Some customers prefer to bath rather than shower. Bathing can not only relax themselves but also soften their skin. The market of bath products, such as bath salts, bath additives and bath oil, affect the market of shower products. However, the market of shower gel is still leading among the bathroom products. “In 2010 the market for body wash and shower gel (its more viscose alternative) reached nearly $10bn, a year on year increase of 5.5%. The market for bath additives in contrast, presented sluggish growth, with some sub-sectors – bath oils/pearls and bath salts/powders, for instance – exhibiting negative growth.” (http://www.cosmeticsbusiness.com/technical/article_page/Bathroom_products__on_a_hot_wash/75094) According to the report, in 2008, the market of shower gel is $9,104.5 million. The number increased to $11,0 66.1 million in 2011. And the year on year growth is still increasing fastest among all bathroom products. The average growth of showing gel market during 2008 to 2012 was 5%. To compare with other products, such as liquid soap and bar soap, although the number of growth is large each year, the growth is decreasing year by year. Thus, shower gel is the most welcome product among the bathroom products recently. Furthermore, people are paying more attention to natural on everything, including shower gel. The brands are making shower gel with natural fragrance and ingredient to attract the customers.

Dove is a personal care brand owned by Unilever originating. “ It is #1 Dermatologist Recommended brand in the US, Canada and France and strongly endorsed by Dermatologists across the world.” (dove.com) The brand has a strong focus on purity, moisture, cleanliness, natural beauty, and touchable skin. The brand believes that “women’s unique differences should be celebrated, rather than ignored, and that physical appearance should be transformed from a source of anxiety to a source of confidence.” (Avinash Kapoor) Recently, Dove provides all products including “body wash, deodorants, body lotions, facial cleansers and shampoos and conditioners” (dover.com) for both men and women.

The Dove brand was founded by Lever Brothers in 1957. When the brand first began, they designed a revolutionary