Marketing of Dove Soap Bar - Research Paper Example

? Marketing Report: Dove Soap Bar Executive summary Production of commodities in the markets characterizes provision of a product that has the potential to attract customers to buy it even when there are others that can serve similar purposes. This implies that in production, a company needs to have a clear understanding of its customers in relation to the things they need and an analysis of the most preferred size of the commodity. A good product that is acceptable in the market is able to win the confidence of customers and they are easily going to buy it from the market. Production and sale of Dove Soap Bar is one of its kinds because it has put into consideration the needs of the customers and this has made it very competitive in the market and has led many customers to neglect other brands of bar soaps to adopt it. Table of Contents Executive summary………………………………………………………………………………2 Table of content…………………………………………………………………………………..3 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….4 Supply Side Analysis…………..…………………………………………………………….……4 Demand Analysis……………………………………………………………………………….…5 Segmentation and Targeting………………………………………………………………….......6 Competitor Identification and Analysis………………………………………………………......7 Competitive Advantage of Dove Soap Bar ……………………………………………………….8 References………………………………………………………………………………….…….10 Introduction Dove Soap Bar contains some ingredients that make it good for bathing for people of different ages and sexes, who value skin protection. This is because in production of the bar soap, the producer focuses on giving people a quality product that has most of the things they like and need in a soap. The soap has different qualities that are physical and chemical, which add value to it as soap sold in a market that has other varieties. Dove Soap Bar is produced with some diversity so that it can capture different people in the market and have them buy it according to their preferences dictated by their health and socialization (Raju, 1995, p53). Dove Soap Bar appears in the market with different qualities that make it preferable among other soaps in the market. The physical qualities of the soap is that it has sweet blue fig and orange blossom scent which makes it to attract people because it is friendly to them. It also appears in different colors, which include; blue, white, orange and pink, to attract different class of people to whom colors are important in determining the choices they make for products. In this respect, people choose the Dove Soap Bar according to these physical qualities, which manifest without a need for detailed evaluation on its properties. Dove Soap Bar has different properties that make the customers to prefer it as compared to others that serve similar purposes to the people. For example, the property that it moisturizes after taking a bath with it and leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth makes it a preferable product for different people in the market (Parker, 2006, p57). Supply Side Analysis The supply of the Dove Soap Bar happens from an industry that produces it and presents the orders to customers make from the company. In the US, customers who come from within the industry have ease of access from the shops in the area and different retail opening in the area which supply consumer products in small quantities (Jacoby, 2010, p31). The supply of Dove Soap Bar is established in that it has two main channels i.e. from the industry to consumers and from the industry to the wholesalers who supply it to retailers and then these supplies to consumers. While the first method is applicable within the market in different places around the world, it contributes to a little amount of return to the industry relative to the one of the second channel. An online system of marketing ordering and selling of the Dove Soap Bars facilitate the process of exchange from the industry to the consumers (Raju, 1995, p39). The customers pay the due amount for the number of soap bars they need and the industry processes the order and makes plans for the supply to the customer by shipping or posting it. On the other hand, the supply that is done manually happens when the company supplies their manufactured soaps to wholesaler whom it recognizes and those make the Dove soap bar available to retailers or they make openings for selling the soap in small quantities to customers. The retailers link directly to the customers so that they can sell the product to them in different quantities as they could specify (Jacoby, 2010, p17). It is worth noting that other industries also supplies soaps that serve similar purposes as the Dove Soap Bar but they have different qualities that makes distinguish them. Example of soaps suppliers in the same market as Dove are Zest, Dial soap, Ivory, soft-soap among others that offer specific value to their customers. The properties they have make customers to make choices of the product they need for bathing. For example, Dove Soap Bar has established itself as a soap that is usable in any season and as one, that protects the skin of the user as opposed to others, which irritate the skin. Demand Analysis In order to establish the different requirements that people have for the Dove Soap Bar, the producing industry will need to carry out a market research that will gather information about the preferences of different people in choosing a soap they need for bathing. This research will collect the information about the different colors people like, the scent that attracts people, the size that is affordable to the majority, the shape of the soap that impresses people and will carry out a comparative research with other producers of soaps to determine the properties that make their products acceptable to the people. This research will ensure that the producer will streamline production according to different demands of the people in the market, which will ensure that they constantly demand the soap. This will ensure that customers do not only have to conform to the product that is availed to them but also to have their preferences put forward by the producer (Walters and Glaser, 2008, p41). In the analysis of the data obtained in the research, the industry will factor in the different things that are important to the customers as determinants for sale. Through these, it will carry out market segmentation for any of the variety of the soap it will produce to ensure that people buy without staying long since their first supply. The research will offer some insight into the different sizes and prices that are affordable to the majority population and implement the sale on that focus so that they can keep their products moving. The industry cannot overlook the requirements for the scents because different individuals and cultures have various preferences and therefore, it will need to know those differences before they supply Dove Soap Bar to them (Wreden, 2005, p79). Segmentation and Targeting The production of the Dove Soap Bar, the industry will put into consideration various factors that will distinguish the preferences of the different groups of people. This means that in production the industry will have a focus on the demands and the preferences of specific people in the various societies. This will mean that what they will produce for one group, another group will not necessarily use it, although it could be having similar brand name. The products will be supplied to the people in accordance to small deviations in properties that will distinguish it from the ones that will be used for similar purpose by another group. Segmentation will result to unique products for different groups of people according to the great generalizations that exist in the environment. In supply of the Dove Soap Bar, the producer will focus on men between the age 20 years and 55 years, women of the age between the age of 20 years and 60 years and little children between the age of one year and 12 years. This is regardless of the fact that there are no negative effects in using any of the varieties by a person from another group (Deryck, 2012, p7). The producer will produce Dove Soap Bar for men, which will focus on the specific interests of men in terms of their preferences and the impact it has on their bodies. This variety of the Dove Soap Bar will be produced with a high hydrating formula, which will have ? moisturizing cream that will produce a smoothening effect on the skin of its user. This variety will have this property because the skins of men are relatively harder compared to that of women and therefore, to soften it, the soap will need to have a high moisturizing cream. The producer invests in this venture of production of this soap in consideration of the large population of men who fall in this age group and who are potential buyers of the soap. This group of people characterizes over 60% of men who are in the market, which is targeted to capture the whole world, because the younger and the older men constitute a lower percentage of the same population (Deryck, 2012, p7). The producer in production of Dove Soap Bar for women who fall between the age of 20 years and 60 years considering the fact that this is the majority of people who have a large population of women. The group constitutes over half of the women in the world and therefore, the soap will be accepted by them with ease because the target population is large. This ensures that production will be streamlined on the needs of this population because they have relatively similar characteristics. Dove Soap Bar for women will have a lower hydrating formula than that of men and will have 1/3 moisturizing cream as could be explained by the softer skin of women than that of men. The producer will supply this soap to different women in the market in its variant colors of green, pink and white. The producer will produce a Dove Soap Bar for children in consideration of the needs of the children who have very soft skins. The soap will have a low hydrating formula, which has ? moisturizing cream because the bodies of children have little need for softening because it is already relatively soft. The production is directed by the fact that there is a large group of people that fall in the age group and who need to use the product to preserve the moisture of their skins (Deryck, 2012, p9). Even with these groups as the most potential customers for the company, Dove Soap Bar that target women will be the main product that will be produced in large quantities. The area of focus of the market will be targeted to reach women with the soap. The segmentation to target women will be driven by the fact that women are more in number as compared to the number of men and have higher buying powers than children have. This will mean that the Dove Soap Bar will be a product that will target women more than any other group of people. Competitor Identification and Analysis In production and sale bar soaps in the market, there are different products, which win the interest of the people in the market. The different brands of bar soaps have affected the sale of Dove Soap Bar when marketed to customers and they have distinguished themselves in terms of different qualities. Through the presence of these bar soaps in the same market as the Dove Soap Bar, its production and supply faces competition and creates a need to improve the qualities it has so that it can win the interest of as many people in the market. The most common competitors of the Dove Soap Bar include Dial Soap, Ivory, and Zest brands, which attracts the interest of different customers. The Zest distinguishes itself in that it provides the customers with a strong scented product and shapes that are easy to hold when a person is using it in bathing. However, the Zest bar soap has an irritating effect on the skins of sensitive individuals and can be unfriendly when used by such people. On the other hand, customers know the Ivory because it has a quality of ease cleaning on the skin that does not need abrasive cleaning but it does not have a strong cleaning power as compared to the others in the market. The Dial Soap has qualities that make it attractive to many customers in the market, which includes its ability to moisturize the skin, deodorizing effects and the sweet clover-like scent. This soap also has antibacterial capability, which is a property that attracts people to buy it in preference of others that exist at the same market. The soap is, however, expensive, which could be a discouraging factor that makes people to avoid it when they go to the market (Parker, 2006, p117). The Dove Soap Bar has the characteristics that place it at a competitive advantage when compared to its competitors in the same market. This manifests in its characteristics of being sweet scented with a blue fig and orange blossom, low pH levels that prevents any allergic reactions and the potential to make its prices are relatively low compared to the different other competitors that exist in the market. Because of this, most people who want to have a perfect clean body, no skin reaction and to purchase a product, which cost them less that other products in the market, prefer the Dove Soap Bar. For this reason, the Dove Soap Bar remains competitive in the midst of other products that are in the market that could be perceivably good when compared to it because it bridges the gap between the different other brands available to customers for serving similar purpose of bathing (Behrer and Van den Bergh, 2011, p53). Competitive Advantage of Dove Soap Bar In the production of the Dove Soap Bar, the producer has considered the different things that can make it the most preferred product in the market. In relation to customers, the perspective with which the producer looked at the product ensured that it does not have similar weaknesses as its competitors (Davies, 2003, p15). This is to maximize on the possibilities of people to buy it because it has addressed the needs of the people in the market and in the best way possible. Some factors that have led to the positioning of the product include sweet scent, low pH value, moisturizing effect and relatively low price as compared to others of the same category. To reduce the possibility of irritation on the skin, the producer of Dove Soap Bar lowered its pH value to reduce the reactions that result from the effects of high acidic concentration in the substance. This has made people who are allergic to buy it and bath without experiencing negative effects on their skin but attaining their goal of getting clean (Davies, 2003, p21). As compared to others soaps, the Dove Soap Bar cost less than other soaps that fall in its class in the market, which makes it the best alternative to different customers. In this respect, the producer uses pricing as a market positioning strategy for the Dove Soap Bar. Through this property, people choose it because it offers them the best value for their money because it is of high quality and come to them at a low cost (Davies, 2003, p33). Dove Soap Bar has a sweet scent that is attractive to the people in that it causes them to buy and use it for their bathing purposes. The scent is characterized by the blue fig and orange blossom that are attractive to its users and is a quality that has made it a competitive product for people who have problems in sensitivity in strong scents (Andrew, 2009, p448). On the other hand, the product is positioned in terms of its moisturizing effects, which are enhanced, by its creamy nature and properties of the Dove Soap Bar. This property in uncommon with other soaps that are its competitors in the market and this means that every person who wants the soap that moisturizes will select the Dove Soap Bar. Those who want to maintain soft skins regard this soap because it keeps their skins moist so that they do not dry up the body and crack. Dove Soap Bar has this unique property, which positions it favorably among the others in the market, and therefore, competition against it is low as per this property (Lopes and Duguid, 2010, p91). References Andrew, G. P. (2009). Use of scent in a naturally odourless store. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 37, 5, 440-452. Behrer, M., & Van den Bergh, J. (2011). How Cool Brands Stay Hot. Kogan Page. Davies, G. (2003). Corporate reputation and competitiveness. London: Routledge Deryck, J. R. (2012). Strategic brand venturing: the corporation as entrepreneur. Journal of Business Strategy, 33, 3, 4-12. Jacoby, D. (2010). Guide To Supply Chain Management. London: Profile. Lopes, T. S., & Duguid, P. (2010). Trademarks, brands, and competitiveness. New York: Routledge. Parker, P. M. (2006). 2007-2012 world outlook for toilet soaps, the. ICON Group. Raju, P.S. (1995). Consumer behavior in global markets: the A-B-C-D paradigm and itsapplication to eastern Europe and the Third World. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 12, 5, 37-56. Walters, D., & Glaser, S. (2008). Evolution of the value chain concept: Implications for logistics. Bradford, England: Emerald. Wreden, N. (2005). Profit Brand: How to increase the profitability, accountability & sustainability of brands. London: Kogan Page. Read More