COVER STORY Completing the “look” When women shop, it is not an isolated purchase. It is to complete an overall “look”. Marketers need to device strategies to help her easily find the remaining missing pieces to complete the look. In departmental stores, while men's apparel is organized by type (shirts, jackets, slacks, etc.), women's apparel is organized by outfits, that is, an ensemble of say, a dress paired with a matching purse, scarf and shoes. So women who come in intending to buy a new blouse generally leave with a matching purse and earrings!
WOM spreads much faster among women The content of conversation between women and that between men are markedly different. Men prefer to talk about impersonal things and have very limited conversation about personal experiences as they are not as interested in the intimate details of each others’ lives as women are. Women talk in great detail about the experience they have had with a product or service and hence tend to pass on their experiences much more than men.
revolves around the concept of the “Real Woman”. Real women have flaws, they have curves, they have problems. They are not perfect. Over the years, Dove’s communication strategy to women has been that it is okay to have flaws because that’s what makes them human. The Dove “Evolution of Beauty” Campaign breaks the myth of unattainable beauty by showing how photographs seen in magazines and billboards are transformed using Photoshop. Dove’s Beauty Pressure campaign depicts how women from a very ripe age are exposed to unbearably high standards of beauty that society has imposed on them. Doves’ ProAge Campaign says that there is no age limit for looking beautiful.
THE DOVE CONNECT Dove has championed the art of marketing to women. It has consciously kept away from gorgeous A-list models who have unrealistically beautiful skin and perfect bodies and instead,
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Dove is a brand that really understands women. It has worked actively to increase the self esteem and the self worth of women and has created a very strong bond with them.
MARCH 2012