The beauty industry is a huge rage now!
It earns billions every year with hundreds of new beauty products emerging every quarter.
The marketing strategies of the beauty industry have been in the news for long. It has its fair share of controversy, cut-throat competition & corruption. But whether you are a marketer or not, you somehow can’t ignore the fascinating world of the beauty industry.
So, today after a lot of debates, we decided to pitch two of the most unique & oldest beauty products of the world- Dove Vs Lux!
Both of them are significant beauty brands that have been in the market for quite long & both of them have a very different marketing strategy despite being from the same parent company- Unilever!
Go on give it a read!
BACKSTORY
Lux
Developed way back in 1899 by the Lever Brothers, Lux was originally named as Sunlight Flakes & was branded as a laundry soap.
Can you imagine that? Such a huge mainstream beauty product was originated as laundry soap!
Presently, the brand has it’s headquarters in Singapore, where it celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2018.
Lux started using movie stars as their model in the 1940s & 50s. A few of the most prominent stars to grace the face of its covers were Sandra Dee, Audrey Hepburn, Debbie Reynolds, Barbara Rush, Parveen Babi, Sridevi, Sharmila Tagore & many more.
At present, the brand has a range of beauty products that include, beauty soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, & bath additives.
Dove
Dove, again owned by Unilever is a beauty care brand but it was developed during 1955. The original patent-holder of Dove was Vicent Lamberti, while he was working with Lever Brothers.
Dove is sold in more than 150 countries ( Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, & many more), offering products for both men & women.
It produces body wash, beauty bars, lotions, hair care products & so on.
It also has a Dove Men + care & Baby Dove. These are much later additions to the family of course!
MARKETING STROKES
Lux
Lux uses 360-degree promotional techniques through TVCs, print ads, online ads, etc.
From the 1960s, the brand started a different approach for the promotion of this product. The integrated “Fantasy Element” that we commonly associate with the brand today, by simply using movie stars as fantasies.
The completely romanticized the brand using sensational & emotional dimensions associated with desire!
It was a genius move & worked wonders for the brand.
In India itself, Lux is related to a brand that uses beautiful women to endorse their products. Right from Sharmila Tagore to Sridevi, Hema Malini to Madhuri Dixit, Rani Mukherjee, Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt all the women in the tinsel town have been the face of this renowned brand.
In 2005, Lux singed Shah Rukh Khan as the face of Lux in 2005, when the brand turned 75 years in India.
Some of the very well known ads of Lux are one with Srk & Katrina, just before Jab Tak Hain Jaan!
The brand almost ties major world stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Lauren, Audrey Hepburn, Hema Malini, Shah Rukh Khan together with one single product!
In 2017, Lux incorporated their new campaign “More than you see” which pushes boundaries & rises above social judgments. Lux communications now revolve around showcasing the different sides of women expressing their femininity.
In India, it celebrates its women with “Golden Rose Awards” every year to aspire to the female cinematic legends of Bollywood.
Dove
The target audience of this iconic brand is the middle-class & upper-middle class.
The promotional strategies for Dove has been very different from that of Lux.
Unlike Lux, Dove focuses on “every day, real women” with its unique campaign of ‘Campaign for real beauty’ focusing on the self-esteem of a woman.
Throughout its campaigns, Dove communicated that women of all colors & ages are equally beautiful. It celebrates diversity in each individual.
There are no models in their campaigns, it uses people of all body shapes, colors, ages in their ads.
It somehow normalizes the concept of “conventional beauty.”
Some ads focuses on women’s reaction after buying the product. This creates a sense of acceptability creating a positive influence in the market.
The use of ordinary women makes the product much more relatable.
In 2004, they created “Dove Campaign for Real Beauty” with Ogilvy & Mathher where they organized an exhibition titled “Beyond Compare: Women Photographers on Real Beauty”. The campaign became super successful among the crowds.
The brand even uses short videos or films talking about social issues like girl education, women empowerment & so on which are widely viewed.
GROWTH & REVENUE
Lux
Lux has built an empire!
According to Wikipedia, in 2009, Lux’s revenue was estimated to be around 1 Billion Pounds with market shares in more than 100 countries.
In 2019, in India Lux is reported to have ended with a turnover of Rs.136 crores!
In 2020, according to Mr. Saket Todi, the VP of the company said, “FY19 we ended turnover of Rs 136 crore which is approximately around 30 percent growth and similarly for FY20 we are expecting 30 percent growth and we should be closing between Rs 170 and Rs 175 crore.”
Other than this, their Facebook page has over 7 million followers.
Dove
Despite being embroiled in various controversies, dove manages to stay at the top of the game.
According to The Guardian, Net profits before exceptional items rose 17% to €1.2bn (£789m) in the three month period with earnings per share up by 18% in 2002.
In 2019, the revenue from Dove & Sunsilk gained Rs 4539 crore revenue for HUL.
The net profit in December 2018 was around Rs. 1,444 crores, a 8.9% rise in quarterly profit!
Other than this the Dove Self-Esteem Project has reached more than 19 million young people in 115 countries.
They are quite popular in social media with over 28 million followers!
There you have it. A solid comparison between two iconic brands, under the same parent company, with completely different take on marketing strategies!
How are you liking our series? Let us know in the comments!
Also which one is your favorite? Or you like both? Comment that too as well!
And for our other interesting blogs here is the link!
Disclaimer: All the above information is not to defame or promote any particular brand. This is just for reading purpose & do not have any unethical intention.
