Dove Analysis
DOVE: EVOLUTION OF A BRAND
Ques What is a brand? Why does Unilever want fewer of them? * Definition: A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name.
Why fewer brands? * Global decentralization brought problems of control. * Company’s brand portfolio had grown is a relatively laissez-faire manner. * Unilever lacked a global identity. * Product categories had checkered identities. * Embarked on a 5 year strategic initiative “Path to Growth”: * Winnowing 1600 brands down to 400. * Selected “Masterbrands” * Mandate to serve as umbrella identities over a range of product forms. * Global brand unit for each “Masterbrand”.
Ques How did unilever organize to do product category management & brand management in Unilever before 2000?
What was the corresponding structure after 2000? How was brand meaning controlled before 2000 and how is it controlled at the time of the case?
Unilever: Product Category Management
Before 2000: * World’s largest producer but lacked a unified global identity. * Brands managed in a decentralized fashion * Years of slow performance * Lack of sound corporate strategy * Numerous low-volume brands * Small global presence compared to competition * Mediocre performance in emerging markets
After 2000: * Reduce portfolio to 400 “core” brands * Path to growth Initiative (Brand building and brand development – separate functions) * Concentrate on product innovation to fuel internal growth * An initiative to create an overall umbrella brand across all Unilever’s brands
Unilever: Brand Management
Before 2000: * Let the consumer know more about the product’s uses like
Dove: The
Ques What is a brand? Why does Unilever want fewer of them? * Definition: A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name.
Why fewer brands? * Global decentralization brought problems of control. * Company’s brand portfolio had grown is a relatively laissez-faire manner. * Unilever lacked a global identity. * Product categories had checkered identities. * Embarked on a 5 year strategic initiative “Path to Growth”: * Winnowing 1600 brands down to 400. * Selected “Masterbrands” * Mandate to serve as umbrella identities over a range of product forms. * Global brand unit for each “Masterbrand”.
Ques How did unilever organize to do product category management & brand management in Unilever before 2000?
What was the corresponding structure after 2000? How was brand meaning controlled before 2000 and how is it controlled at the time of the case?
Unilever: Product Category Management
Before 2000: * World’s largest producer but lacked a unified global identity. * Brands managed in a decentralized fashion * Years of slow performance * Lack of sound corporate strategy * Numerous low-volume brands * Small global presence compared to competition * Mediocre performance in emerging markets
After 2000: * Reduce portfolio to 400 “core” brands * Path to growth Initiative (Brand building and brand development – separate functions) * Concentrate on product innovation to fuel internal growth * An initiative to create an overall umbrella brand across all Unilever’s brands
Unilever: Brand Management
Before 2000: * Let the consumer know more about the product’s uses like
Dove: The