Evaluation Essay on Unilever Company: Dove Brand

Introduction

Unilever Company is one of the leading producers of consumer-packaged products. The firm manufactures a wide range of consumer goods such as perfumes, soaps, fragrances, margarine, tea, and iced-up foods. Unilever mission is to achieve customer satisfaction. Unilever's products and services are available in more than 100 countries. Unilever Company is the best firm in producing foods and it stands the second position from the top in terms of producing consumer -packaged products (Unilever, 2013). One of the firm's leading brands is Dove bar soap. Dove understands that proper skin care leads to beauty. The goal of Dove brand is to embrace variety through promotions that involve women who have used Dove before. Dove stands to be the best bar soap because of its components such as a good blend of mild cleansers and the skin drying agent (Fast, 2013).

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Dove Soap Description

The new brand that Dove is planning to introduce is the Dove bar soap. What differentiates the product from other bar soaps is that Dove bar soap does not leave micro-organisms that cause body odor besides giving the consumers a fresh feeling once (Unilever, 2013). However, the product does not intend to adjust the standard bathing. I still recommend the consumers to bath in a timely manner subsequent to the product use. The market researchers will market the bar soap under the Dove brand name, inclusive of the original dove for women and men. The product will utilize the prevailing scents and casing linked with the product's brand.

Research Objectives

The market research project aims at achieving brand's recognition in the market. Without recognition, the firm cannot obtain any profit since consumers do not recognize the product's existence. The company will receive product's recognition through word-of-mouth campaigns and media advertisements.

The second objective of the company is to create the brand image. The research project aims at making our potential customers get accustomed to our product so that the company can realize substantial sales.

The third objective is to win consumers' trust. The aim of building loyalty is to enhance profit-flow.

The fourth marketing objective is to achieve competitive advantage in the market. Market competition bears positive fruits to the company as the company strives to make any possible improvements so as to retain the competitive advantage nature.

The last objective is to meet customers' satisfaction in every market segment. The company marketing department will design websites and carry out online promotions to inform all potential customers of the product's availability in the market.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Dove bar soap is a product that leaves consumers clean with a fresh smell. The strength that our product possesses is a diverse and brand-targeted market. All consumers who use Dove bar soap will enjoy fresh smells alongside clean bodies. Dove bar soap caters to all the needs of consumers who need to have their skin dry (Unilever, 2013). The ground-breaking know-how that Dove bar soap possesses is an advancement of the previous products that did not bring out effective cleaning and a fresh smell. The Dove bar soap possesses a highly recommendable product distinction because the know-how in our inventive product increases the soap performance (Penning, 2010). The soap uniqueness will be body-friendly to both super-active people such as athletes and the professional workers.

Opportunities

Our product creates various opportunities because we target a market that is divided into groups. Our product gives us the opportunity to create a culture out of Dove bar soap as the product servers various customers. The Dove bar soap is able to create organization's invention that can pave way for other products that stem off of our Dove bar soap. The Dove bar soap is in a position to establish diversity in other segments through the aspect of leaving the body dry -clean and fresh (Unilever, 2013). The density and quality of our product will enhance horizontal integration into the competitive market (Walker et al. 2006). Also, the technology of increasing the cleansing power of the soap enhances the performance dynamism of our product.

Weaknesses and Threats

We cannot deny that our product possesses a weakness due to the competitive nature of the market. The ability to carry out product imitation makes our competitors innovate our existing product (Walker et al. 2006). Therefore, our company ought to improve the product so that we can stand out in the competitive market. Our company will employ strategic focus to improve the existing product while establishing a new innovation that enhances market integration in cleansing and fresh-scented goods (Walker et al. 2006). Entry to the market gives our product a treat. To avoid our competitors easily substituting our product, we will strictly rely on the prevailing market demand. However, reliance on market demand poses a growing risk to our product (Frue, 2018).

Competitive Analysis

Unilever Company is one of the leading producers of consumer-packaged products. The firm manufactures a wide range of consumer goods such as perfumes, soaps, fragrances, margarine, tea, and iced-up foods. Unilever mission is to achieve customer satisfaction. Unilever's products and services are available in more than 100 countries. Unilever Company is the best firm in producing foods and it stands the second position from the top in terms of producing consumer -packaged products. One of the firm's leading brands is Dove bar soap. Dove understands that proper skin care leads to beauty. The AXE and the Old Spice are the primary competitors of Unilever Company. The ability to carry out product imitation makes our competitors innovate our existing product (Berry, 2018).

Market Segmentation

Demographic Segmentation

The current research study will use the social media platform to carry out Dove bar soap advertisement with the aim of primarily reaching to the athletic- oriented individuals. Nevertheless, the product promotion will not be limited to the super-active teenagers and adults of medium age whose age range below 40 years.

Geographic Segmentation

The research will carry out its first test on the effectiveness of Dove bar soap in Canada. However, with time the Dove brand marketing will reach out to the hotter climates such as Africa where the weather conditions warrants individuals to stay clean.

Psychographic Segmentation

The research study will aim at reaching to the athlete-oriented individuals as they make the population that mostly require the Dove dry bar soap. Dove brand will market to the sports population using personalized tweets and Facebook notifications. Dove brand marketing will challenge the individuals to give a trial to the product and see how perfect it works for them. Generally, psychographic segmentation aims at ensuring that marketing addresses the intended population (Walker et al. 2006).

Behavioral Segmentation

The Dove brand will begin by ensuring that the product meets the customers' expectations and perceptions. Dove brand marketing will ensure that the product is environment- friendly as consumers first consider the effect of a product on the environment. Also, Dove brand marketing will ensure that the price of the product is customer-friendly to attract the purchasing behavior of the consumers. Product pricing forms the basis of product marketing as consumers would always go for a product that meets their purchasing power (Walker et al. 2006).

Marketing Research Method

Before the instigation of the Dove bar soap Unilever product, Dove will conduct both primary and secondary studies. The marketing department will randomly select the research participants to enhance representatives and reliability of the study.

The Primary Research Method

The primary research method shall use dual blind research where we shall randomly select two groups comprised of different age and gender. The selected groups will test the advantage of Dove bar soap from other significant competitors such as Old Spice, Secret, Suave, and Axe. Researchers will test one of each product in a period of one week. Participants will obtain feedback on how clean they were after participating in all-day activities. Researchers shall collect the responses and relate the participants' feedback for the Dove soap against the company's competitors. The researchers shall inform the participants on the kind of brand they used in every research day (Walker et al. 2006). The information obtained from the research participants will be significant in establishing the suitable marketing mix to execute.

Secondary Research Methods

The secondary research will entail previous research studies and analyses concerning our target market and the hygiene industry. The secondary research knowledge will aid in decision-making on the basis of product marketing, and the effective time and place to launch the product. The decisions play a significant role in determining the success of the Dove bar soap.

Research Purpose

The primary research will enhance our research and product development team with primary and impartial participant feedback. The primary research is significant in creating buzz and building credibility of the product. Dove brand will employ the information to investigate whether the company should or should not instigate the product on either large scale or small scale basis. Moreover, the primary research will determine the effectiveness of the Dove bar soap. The study will also help in determining consumer perception of the product. On the other hand, the secondary research will aid in providing the essential information that marketing team requires to establish a marketing tactic of the product promotion before the product's launch.

Sampling Plan

Hypotheses

The most physically active consumers will purchase more products than the less physically active.

Customers who take part in the gymnasium will purchase the product at least once a month.

The most potential consumers are likely to be less than 40 years of age.

Research Plan and Survey

The study will entail taking surveys and interviews on different variables. The variables will; be men and women, how long the participants stay active during the day, whether the participants own a gym membership, and the participants' age. Once the selected participants fit the interview type, the researcher will source more information from them during the research process.

How

For the research to conduct the most effective survey that connects directly to the Dove brand consumers, the researcher will establish an online survey using marketing platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Moreover, the researcher will establish media blast to the known customers. However, the researcher will aim at obtaining more responses from the social media platform segment.

Who

The product is designed primarily for young men between the ages of 15 to 30 years. The study will target the consumers within that age group who like or follow the Dove brand on Facebook and Twitter. The principle mail or the respondents of the survey will be basically athletes. Moreover, the target market will involve previous college athletes who have joined the employment sector but still maintain an active lifestyle.

Budget

The study aims at representing various respondents from different athletic fields and professional settings. Therefore, the research will involve 250 respondents in the five categories identified below.

Participants' categories:

• Secondary school Athletes
• Current college Athletes
• Previous college Athletes
• Active Working Professionals
• Active Non-College Athletes

Research Questions

Do you have knowledge of the Dove brand? YES NO

Are you a presen...