GARIMA NOWAL

Brand Extensions Assignment

DOVE ELIXIR

1. Overview of the Brand Extension: Dove Elixir is a super-premium hair oil, launched as a
category extension by Dove, HUL, in the perfumed light hair oil category.
2. Overview of the Brand: Dove is a personal care brand of Unilever that was introduced in
1955. It is sold in over 35 countries worldwide. A few of the Dove products include body
washes, soaps, deodorants, lotions, shampoos, conditioners and various other hair care remedies.
(Source:famouslogos.net)8
3. Overview of the Manufacturer: At the time of Elixirs launch, HUL was already a market
leader in shampoo and conditioner category. Since the last few years, HUL had been trying to
extend most of its key brands into newer categories such as hand and face wash, liquid detergent
and premium skin lightening. It had been particularly aggressive in the personal care portfolio
that contributes 30% to its Rs 22,000-crore sales and over half its operating profit. The company
significantly increased the number of innovations/renovations in the home and personal care
categories, especially in premium products, and revamped 60% of its portfolio in 2011-12.
HUL's high-margin personal products business has seen very stable growth in the range of 15%20% over the past nine quarters, driven by strong double-digit volume growth. (Source:
economictimes)7
4. Overview of the Product Category / Industry: In 2009, conversion from unbranded to
branded products and growth in the light hair oil category dove the INR 5,770-crore hair oil
market. Perfumed oil (INR 2,930 crore) and coconut oil (INR 2,110 crore) comprised the two
main segments of the hair oil market. Volume growth for the hair oil category was pegged at
12.8% and value growth at 17.7%. However, it was the light hair oil segment within perfumed
oil that was the fastest growing segment recording a value growth of 23.8 per cent and a volume
growth of 14.1 per cent in 2009, according to The Nielsen Company. (Source: The Hindu
Business Line)12
It was during this phase that Dove Elixir was conceived and finally set for launch in 2012-13.
According to another report, at the time of its launch, Hair oil accounted for 52% of the Indian
hair care market estimated at Rs 12,800 crore, followed by shampoos with around 31% share,
hair conditioners and dyes. But hair oil had one of the highest market penetrations at 90% and
was said to be highly competitive. The branded hair oil segment grew 19.8% CAGR in value

terms during FY07-12, while light hair-oil segment, where HUL launched Dove, grew 25% a
year. (Source: The Economic Times)7
5. 4Ps of the Brand Extension:
5.1. Product: Doves first range of hair oils is made with ingredients such as roses and oils of
lavender and hibiscus infused with almond, olive and argan oils. The three variants are Hairfall
Rescue: Almond Oil & Rose, Dryness Care: Olive Oil & Lavender, and Daily Shine: Argan Oil
& Hibiscus. (Source:The Hindu Business Line)3 An example of product description as given on
the dove website is:
Dove Elixir Hairfall-Recue
Product Description:
The sacred flora of Greek Goddess Aphrodite or the object of the great philosopher, Confucius
renowned study the rose; and it now lends itself beautifully to Dove Elixir. Rose with Almond
Oil known to be available in far Southern parts of Asia, make for the virtuous concoction Hair
Fall** Rescue by Dove Elixir. The golden drops of elixir breathe life into fragile hair that fall
easily, to nourish and protect hair from damage. The potion of Dove Elixir - Hair Fall** Rescue
to reduce hair fall dramatically. To give you the goodness of overnight oiling in 30 minutes.
(Source: dove.in)11
Directions for use is also given after product description on its website. It also launched an adcampaign once explaining the directions for use. (Source:youtube)14
5.2. Price: Its price is Rs.185 for a 90ml pack. (Rs. 205.55 per 100 ml. The same quantity of
Bajaj Almond Drops and Parachute Scalp Therapy will cost Rs. 125, while Marico's Hair & Care
is priced just Rs. 44 for 100 ml.) (Source: economictimes)7 Thus, price is an important
differentiator in this case and helps its positioning strategy of placing it as a super-premium hair
oil.
5.3. Promotion: During launch, it introduced Grandmas advice campaign in a very catchy
and youthful advertisement. Immediately after launch, it brought out a campaign explaining the

directions for use. Later, on its one-year anniversary, it encouraged consumers to love their
hair and say something nice about it which created a lot of buzz. (Source:youtube)14
During launch, its print media campaign was also very successful, and was nominated for the
best media innovation for print dailies, by The Advertising Clubs Emvies 2013:
Dove Elixir - The Power of Illusion - Mindshare
Mindshare created a campaign titled 'The Power Of Illusion'. On a Sunday morning, a print
advertisement was released which had three separate messages, one each for each variant,
depending on the angle from which the newspaper was viewed. The Times of India's supplement
Times Life was used. Three and a half million copies were used and the activity started two
weeks prior to the copy being sold. It resulted in stock of the hair oil selling out in three months.
(Source:CampaignIndia)4
5.4. Packaging: The brand packaged the oil in a transparent bottle which had a petal of the
flower inside it. It rich look complements the super-premium image of the brand.
(Source:CampaignIndia)4 An example of the packaging is given in the image below:

6. Positioning the Brand Extension (Competitive Frame of Reference):

6.1. Target Consumer: Women in the age group of 17 to 35, as shown in ads. This is slightly
different from parent brand Dove whose products are usually considered for mature women,
usually above the age of 23. The parent brand embodies simplicity and maturity, to which
teenage girls might not identify. Dove Elixir while maintaining the real beauty image of Dove,
adds a sparkle of youthfulness to the brand in its early ads, where it shows both young and
mature women in a playfully caressing their hairs, with a catchy background music.
6.2. Main Competitors: The light hair oil market before the launch of Dove Elixir consisted of
the following players:

Volume Shares (%)

2.3

6.2

7.4

0.3

46.8

0.3
15.2 21.5

Bajaj Almond Drops

Keo Karpin

Hair & Care

Almond Gold

Dabur Vatika

Eleen

Clear Active

Others

(Source: The Hindu Business Line)12

6.3. POPs: Like other brands in the perfumed light hair oil category, Dove Elixir is light, nonsticky, smells good, and provides nourishment to hairs.
6.4. PODs: The most important point of difference for Dove Elixir was that unlike other hair oils
at the time that prescribed over-night oiling before shampoo, it proclaimed to replace over-night
oiling benefits, with oiling just 30-minutes before shampoo. This made previously reluctant
consumers more willing to try using oil.
Another important POD was that it launched its range of hair oils in the super-premium
segment, using its tagline as precious hair oils with real ingredients. Its price is Rs.185 for a
90ml pack. (Rs. 205.55 per 100 ml. The same quantity of Bajaj Almond Drops and Parachute

Scalp Therapy will cost Rs. 125, while Marico's Hair & Care is priced just Rs. 44 for 100 ml.)
(Source: economictimes)7 This helped it gain preference of quality-seeking high-end consumers
who were willing to pay more.
Floral formula: The real ingredients phrase in its tagline was used for ingredients such as roses
and oils of lavender and hibiscus infused with almond, olive and argan oils. The three variants
are Hairfall Rescue: Almond Oil & Rose, Dryness Care: Olive Oil & Lavender, and Daily Shine:
Argan Oil & Hibiscus. (Source: The Hindu Business Line)3 The flower extracts provided it with
exceptionally attractive fragrance, which ultimately became an important POD.
What made it work?
Desirability Criteria: Consumer Perspective

Personally Relevant

Distinctive & Superior

Believable & Credible

Overnight Oiling not

required. Existing
TG of Dove had no
time for overnight
oiling
Link established to
"grandma's advice of
using hair oil" which
Indian women could
relate to

Super-premium
pricing
Superior packaging
Ads & Tagline using
the phrase "precious
hair oils"
Superior quality of
product

Floral Formula:
Rose, Hibiscus,
Lavender extracts
Almond oil, olive oil,
argan oil
Focus on "real
ingredients" even in
ads

Deliverability Criteria: Firms Perspective

Feasible

Light hair oil

growing at CAGR of
25% pa during FY
2007-12
Light hair oil withing
perfumed oils
growing at the fastest
pace
Dove already very
successful in hair
care category

Profitable

Super-premium
pricing will help
cover costs of
superior product.
Premium image will
be profitable in the
long run too, instead
of gaining volumes
at reduced prices

Difficult to attack

The "real
ingredients" present
in product makes it
difficult to be
attacked
Quality cant be
matched easily
Premium image will
protect from new
entrants

7. Brand Elements
7.1. Brand Name: Dove Elixir retains the parent name Dove which helps it to exploit the
brand equity of the parent brand that is already well-established in the hair care segment
because of its previously successful extension into shampoos and conditioners, and caters to a
very well-defined target group of real mature women who value their own real beauty and focus
on preserving it, rather than embellishing it externally. This goes well with the hair oil category
too. The word Elixir is usually referred to a magical potion with medicinal values. This too
put forth beautifully the brands value proposition and premium position.
7.2. Logo:

The Dove logo is among the most popular and instantly recognizable logos in the cosmetics
industry. It comprises of a delicate dove symbol, which being an emblem of peace, love,
gentleness and purity, compliments the brands products very well. The logo was designed by the
famous Toronto-based lettering designer, Ian Brignell, and is kept intact with Dove Elixir too.
(Source: famouslogos.net)8

7.3. URL: The Dove India website, gives extensive details about each of its product in all
categories. Below is an example of the Dove Elixir Hairfall Rescue product URL:
http://www.dove.in/en/Products/Hair-Care/Oil/hairfall_rescue.aspx (Source:dove.in)11
7.4. Slogan: Two slogans appear on the bottles of Dove Elixir: precious oils with real
ingredients which as explained earlier helps position the brand as a super-premium hair oil
with the word precious oils and highlights one of the core PODs of the product real
ingredients which symbolizes purity and superior quality, and goes well with the brand image
of the parent brand Dove. The second slogan that appears on the bottle is written below the
Dove logo, saying Love your Hair. This stresses the importance of using hair oils which
normally girls are reluctant to use because of time constraint and its stickiness, hassle, etc.
7.5. Jingle: The launch ad of Elixir contained a background song which was a remix of nani
teri morni, a song well-remembered by most Indians that brings back childhood memories of
their grandmother. This was presented with a visual in which grey-haired grandmothers were
shown along with their young grand-daughters, giving their appreciation and approval for using
Dove Elixir. This supported the launch argument of the brand that reminded consumers of
grandmas advice of using hair-oil.
7.6. Packaging: The brand packaged the oil in a transparent bottle which had a petal of the
flower inside it. It rich look complements the super-premium image of the brand.
(Source:CampaignIndia)4 An example of the packaging is given in the image below:

8. Brand Extension as a subset of the Brand Portfolio:

Dove Elixir fits perfectly into the portfolio of its parent brand Dove, as it already has three more
hair care categories, namely shampoos, conditioners, and hair-fall treatment products. Besides,
Dove Elixir Hair Oils will fall under the following types of category extension by Dove:
8.1. Selling Companion products: There has been a trend of using hair oil over-night
before using shampoo. Elixir provides an even better solution of using it just 30-minutes
before shampoo, thus making it a perfect companion-product.
8.2. Leverage Customer Base: The existing customer base of Dove, which comprises of
real mature women who value real beauty, will fit in perfectly with the target group of
Elixir, as it focuses on preserving the real beauty of hairs with real ingredients.
REFERENCES:
1. Pinto, V. S. Business-Standard. March 25, 2014. Multinationals New Oil Regime.
Retrieved from http://www.business-standard.com/article/management/multinationalsnew-oil-regime-114032501233_1.html
2. Mangaokar, S. Hindustan Times. January 17, 2013. Winter Care for your Hair. Retrieved
from http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/fashion/winter-care-for-your-hair/article1990996.aspx
3. Business Line. December 20, 2012. Lord of the blocks. Retrieved from
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/brandline/lord-of-theblocks/article4218133.ece
4. Campaign India Team. August 26, 2013. The Advertising Clubs Emvies 2013. Retrieved
from http://www.campaignindia.in/Article/354724,emvies-2013-case-study-briefs---day3.aspx
5. Malviya, S. The Economic Times. Feb 15, 2014. Coconut oil loses sheen as consumers
go for light hair oil. Retrieved from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/201402-15/news/47358885_1_hair-oil-coconut-oil-market-leader-marico

6. Gurtoo, H. C. Hindustan Times. July 15, 2012. A black, shiny market. Retrieved from
http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/a-black-shiny-market/article1889575.aspx
7. Malviya, S. The Economic Times. Sep 4, 2012. Hindustan Unilever plans to launch Dove
Hair oil as super premium brand. Retrieved from
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-09-04/news/33582093_1_hair-oil-oilsegment-indian-hair-care-market
8. Famouslogos.net. Dove Logo. Retrieved from famouslogos.net/dove-logo/
9. Shatzman, C. Forbes. Oct 15, 2014. 5 Reasons you should be using hair oils. Retrieved
from http://www.forbes.com/sites/celiashatzman/2014/10/15/5-reasons-you-should-beusing-hair-oils/
10. HUL Website. Annual Reports. Retrieved from
http://www.hul.co.in/investorrelations/AnnualReports/
11. Dove Official Website. Oil. Retrieved from http://www.dove.in/en/Products/HairCare/default.aspx
12. Chatterjee, P. Business Line. April 22, 2010. Light segment nourishes Rs. 5,770-cr hair
oil market. Retrieved from http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tpmarketing/light-segment-nourishes-rs-5770cr-hair-oil-market/article989718.ece
13. Euromonitor. 2014. Hair Care-India-Brand Shares. Retrieved from
http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal/statistics/tab
14. Youtube videos. Dove Ads. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/results?
search_query=dove+elixir+ad