Brand Diversification & Brand Consistency

The case of Unilever, Dove V.S. Axe

Unilever is one of the global cosmetic product manufactures in this society.

Everyone can see its brands easily in the daily lives.

Dove and Axe, as parts of brand by Unilever, are also popular in the world.

However, those brands have contradicted message in one another.

 

Dove

Dove defines its value as a woman’s natural beauty with the statement of “to celebrate the diverse, the healthy, the real, and the truly beautiful.” 

 

 

 

Axe

Axe delivers its value for men to sexually attract “idealized” women.

 

 

 

 

Contradiction between Dove and Axe: Brand Diversification & Brand Consistency

As it is obvious above, Dove and Axe somewhat contradict each other. Axe allows guys to appeal “beautiful” or “sexy” women while Dove claims pursuing the women’s natural beauty.

This situation seems to be one of the negative aspects of Brand Diversification.

As the Marketer suggests in its website, Brand Diversification is often beneficial in terms of 1). Experiment marketing or 2). Creating Synergy.

However, Brand Diversification also has negative aspects, and one of them is similar to the case of Dove and Axe: Contradiction.

The direct quotation of “brands can expand to fit almost any range of goods and services, without losing their essential identity and values” indicates the importance of “identical messages among the brand”

http://www.themarketer.co.uk/trends/all-tips-articles/brand-diversification-dos-and-dontsbrand-diversification-dos-and-donts/

 

Inc., one of the media for small business of entrepreneurs, suggests the concept of “Brand Consistency.”

http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/11/how-to-maintain-brand-consistency-across-product-lines.html

Let’s focus on the paragraph of “Maintaining Brand Consistency Across Product Lines: Have the Right Message”

“If you keep changing that message, the message itself never has time to really take hold in the mind”

 

Companies would lose their trust by not being consistent of them. Companies would also lose the brand loyalty by their customers.

Unilever actually faced this significant strategic marketing issue by its sub-brands of Dove and Axe.

  

Solutionè what should Unilever do?

Honestly, the first thing I thought was

“Oh my god, Unilever did the critical miss-operation for brand strategy, even though I would notice such a contradiction.”

However, now I believe that actually Dove and Axe do not contradict each other.

I, and other classmates, and even the professor firstly did not have doubt in mind that the Unilever is contradicting among its sub-brands.

This is the BIGGEST QUESTION for me.

I have just realized that this assumption itself may wrong.

Unilever

“We help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others” http://www.unilever.com/

By this statement, I think both of Dove and Axe are fine.

Dove pursues the women’s beauty within. =>for women's daily good lives

Axe allows the men’s sexual attractiveness.=>for men's daily good lives

 

That is it!

Even Axe takes the ideal model of girls in its CM, it is the fact that most of the men’s interests are those types of women.

If Axe says that the women should be like those girls, it should have been the contradiction against what Dove says.

But, Axe does not say anything about women.

Therefore, I finally get to the idea that the first question itself was wrong, and Unilever is operating well.

 

Well…I really want to argue with someone who is still think those of two are contradicting.

Every single activity I have disadvantages is…English…

 

I hope you could get what I am saying in this post, and then cast me the couterargument.