Dove's biggest stretch yet: Men+Care?

Dove's £12million launch of its Men+Care range of body washes, cleansing bars and deos will be Unilever's biggest UK launch of 2010 according to Talking Retail. The range has already been launched in France. Many people watching are asking "Can the Dove brand stretch into male skincare?" Brand Channel's answer seems to be "no", and they say: "Men do not respond well to products typically thought of as feminine."

This is the sort of question that marketing folk could spend hours, days or even years debating. But in my view its actually the wrong question. The question we should be asking is can Unilever make any MONEY out of stretching Dove into male skincare? Looked at this way the chances of success are actually pretty good.

1. A big opportunity: Firstly, there is a large and growing market for "male grooming" products, which according to Mintel will be worth almost £900million in 2010. Unilever's only presence in this market is Lynx/Axe which is teen-focused. 

2. Never mind the sizzle.... Importantly Nivea for Men and L'Oreal for Men have both shown that guys are prepared to buy products (or have them bought for them) from brands built with female "sizzle" i.e. a female target and brand personality. This is on 2 conditions: i) you fine tune the pack design and comms to have a more male take on things, which Dove has done, ii) the product sausage is good... which brings us on to the next point.

3. Brand added value: Dove's skin care technology does seem to have an added value in the category. According to the Talking Retail article "51% of men saying that current body washes don't care for their skin and 38% of men citing ‘does not give dry skin' as the most important skin care product characteristic". And the brand has a nice bit of product sausage to answer this need in the shape of "micro-moisture" technology.

4. Business model: this is the killer point. And its why Dove Men+Care has a better chance of success than the brand theorists might suggest. Unilever have fantastic competence in skin cleansing and especially deodorants, where they are world leaders with the Dove, Rexona/Sure and Axe/Lynx brands. They have economies of scale, master the route to market, have good presence on shelf and negotiating power with retailers. Also, these categories have long-term strategic importance, and so the launch is likely to get sustained support, not just "launch and run" support.

Net, my money is on Unilever pulling it off on the strength of the business model. After all, I bet a lot of male grooming products are actually bought by women. And there are a lot of happy Dove ladies who are probably going to be more then happy to stick Dove Men+Care in their shopping basket. And if the product delivers, they'll be back for more.

Comments

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[Lauri Hersh]

Before, women are the only ones who are conscious in making our skin glowing. Men used to just work all day, play around and ignore their skin, because when they do so, people might think that they are gay. But it amazes me how men have changed these days. They are even more sensitive when it comes to their skin. Like for my husband who's been going to his dermatologist in Boca Raton, FL for a couple of months now. I don't know how he came to realize this but with all fairness, he looks hotter now!

[AndrewAxeMen]

Yes, Men do not prefer using feminine products dove used to give feminine soaps and products and now that its in masculine area I feel more and more people will want to buy it hope the products delivers what it claims.

[Juicy Couture Bags]

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[Juicy Couture Bags]

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[Belisi Rx]

This would be something very interesting to follow. I would like to see how things go for Dove. Like you said, it's all about making profits and should Dove manage to hit off big with this strategy, it is something that I would love to research more.

[Calli]

I wonder if Unilever have given any thought to the impact onto the Dove brand? After all one of the biggest dangers of brand stretch is to damage the core brand. Will ladies change their opinion of the brand in any way due to the men's products? I guess it's worked for L'oreal but will the real women who buy Dove want their man buying it too!
Also have to say that I am not a fan of the name. Dove Men + care, too much going on for me with all the sub messaging as well.

[asit]

Seems like it is being launched in US and other European countries ( http://www.dovemencare.it/). In Italy, they are using some kind of Football association and the site says-POWER+ COMFORT.

The tagline in the US video on the website ( BE COMFORTABLE IN YOUR SKIN) sounds very close to the Olay end line which they are still using : LOVE THE SKIN YOU ARE IN.

[asit]

Interesting. It all looks very logical with an problem area- the discomfort of irritation/dry skin, being addressed by
- an RTB : micro moisture and a very clear benefit " COMFORT"
- naming: MEN +care and
and delivered in a male-friendly manner ( GREY packaging, hard edged shape of the soap bar)

Of course, Unilever must have done the usual research to know there is a segment in the now big enough male grooming market which values "CARE" also and nor just a masculine and vigorous clean ( which connotes dryness). There is no doubt they will get trial and business. It all looks too logical though :))

I just wonder, what is does to the 'REAL BEAUTY" platform. It seems the brand is back to its core product equity -moisturizing ( or as the Brand manager put it-superior care). How they evolve/ re-orient the sizzle will be very interesting to watch.

[jean]

Nice analysis!