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After building its equity as one of the mildest soaps available in India and having created a small space in
the premium segment of soap market, Dove has extended itself into hair care segment.Although

internationally Dove has a range of hair care products, officially the range is introduced into Indian market
this year.
Indian shampoo market is segmented on the basis of price. The top segment consists of premium brands
like Lo'real,Garnier and other imported brands, midsegment consists of popular brands like Clinic,
Sunsilk,Lakme,Head & Shoulders etc and the lower segment dominated by Sachets and local price
warriors.
It is evident that the premium segment was created and dominated by Loreal and Hll feels that it should
be having a brand in that segment too. Dove will be pitted against Loreal and is positioned as a premium
shampoo with moisturizing properties. The presence of milk lotion acts as the differentiator. The brand
takes the strength from the equity of its soap and will be trying to leverage on that strength. The brand
uses the tagline " More beautiful hair with every wash" to promote the range.
The extension of Dove to shampoo is an example of brand extension. There are industry experts who say
that this extension will fail because the customers can never relate Dove to haircare. I feel that for HLL
Dove brand is the best bet to counter Loreal.
Dove is a $2 bn brand waiting to spread its wings in the Indian Premium soap market. Dove was globally
launched in 1957. This brand came to India in 1995. Internationally this brand has a cult status and is a
major player in the global premium soap market.
The brand is positioned as the Mildest Soap. Dove is PH neutral and this makes the soap soft on all kind
of skin types. Internationally this brand is positioned as a brand that celebrates the " Real Beauty" . Dove
defines real beauty as " beauty is not about how you look but about how you feel". The Dove's official site
" campaignforrealbeauty.com" highlights this brand value. I think this is one of the best brand values a
beauty product can have.
In India, the brand did not had the success of its global counterpart. One reasons are the small " Premium
" market and another is the price barrier. Dove's initial price was around Rs50 that put off even the
premium customers.
The brand has undergone some repositioning in recent times. Earlier the brand was positioned on the
platform of " Trial for Results" idea. Later it was changed to the moisturizing platform.
The brand is claiming that it is milder than the 25 leading soaps thus proving its legitimacy to being the
mildest soap in the country. Globally also this brand is positioned not as a soap but a cream bar.
Although the "Campaign For Real Beauty" and the mildness are excellent selling points, the brand is still
not able to catch the fancy of Indian beauties. With lot of sales promotions happening with the brand like
1+1 free , there is a possibility of brand value erosion.With the brand now priced at Rs 28, the price has
somewhat become reasonable.
I feel that still the brand does not fit into the " value for money" proposition for the Indian consumer. It is a
truth that Indian consumer looks for " Value " even in premium products. Dove have a negative point in
that the soap usually does not last enough ( partly because of our bathroom habits). This have reduced
the value proposition for this brand.
With the emergence of an attractive market in the premium cosmetic market in India, Dove have lot of
potential to become a key player, it has got the positioning right, now it has to set the " Value" right for the
Indian consumer.
Brand Laddering involves progression from attributes to benefits to more abstract values or motivations.
Laddering involves repeatedly asking what the implication of an attribute or benefit is for the customer."
According to Keller, failure of laddering up sometimes reduce the strategic alternatives available to the
brand. Keller also suggests that there is a means-end chain which takes the following structure :
Attribute ( descriptive features) lead to benefits ( meaning attached to attributes) which leads to values
( enduring personal goals and motivations).
The concept of laddering has its application in positioning of the product. When the brand is launched, the
focus will be more on attributes and benefits. But once these basic functionality has been established in
the mind of the consumers, the brand has to deepen the meanings associated with the brand.

For example, Dove's campaign has transcended from the basic functionality of the product to "
Celebrating real beauty ". Nike is all about Athletic Performance . An Indian example would be Raymonds
which has transcended the basic functionality of apparels to a more deeper meaning of " A Complete Man
".
Laddering is not always easy. The task for the marketer is to first have a clear understanding of the
brand's core values. Also laddering will work only if the consumers are convinced and satisfied with the
basic functionality of the brand.
The advantage of laddering is that the brand will breakfree from the product restrictions. That gives lot of
flexibility to the brand manager. Flexibility in extending the brand aswellas in communicating.

From a Western worldview, Unilever developed a worldwide Campaign for Real

Beauty for its personal care brand Dove, showing ordinary women and saying that
real beauty can be found only on the inside; that every woman deserves to feel
beautiful. Unilever published a study of womens self-descriptions and statements
about physical attractiveness in different countries (Etcoff et al. 2006). Across 10
countries (U.S., Canada, UK, Italy, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina,
and Japan) the percentages of women who nd themselves attractive correlate with
individual- ism, low power distance, and low uncertainty avoidance. The latter
explains 78% of variance. This is the conguration of the Western world where
people are more preoccupied with the self. The opinion that the media better depict
women of different shapes correlates with in- dividualism, explaining 53% of
variance. This reects individualistic values of uniqueness and variety. In
collectivistic cultures people prefer to conform to others. This demonstrates that
opinions of female beauty and the importance
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186 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
offemaleattractivenessvaryacrossculturesand in particular between East and West.