First of all let’s define what we mean does “brand” mean? I think brand is the practical, emotional, or instinctual response that is stimulated in the brain by a product or company. Brand is the image and feeling that get to people minds and hearts when they hear, smell, see and think of your name, product, and benefit. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name. Unilever wants fewer brands because it takes time, energy and resources to manage each brand. The more brands you brandish, the more resources you expend. In addition, brands compete with other brands for mental real estate in the customer’s mind. So, Unilever needs to have fewer brands, but these brands have to be stronger. Also, Global decentralization brought problems of control to the company and its portfolio had grown is a relatively laissez-faire manner and that makes Unilever has lacked of global identity.
2) What was Doves market positioning in the 1950’s? What is its position in 2007?
In the 1950’s, Dove’s position was a functionally superior cleanser than soap, centered on science. Today, Dove is transforming into a lifestyle brand, centered on an emotional connection between consumer/product. In the 1950s Dove’s positioning was based on the functional superiority of its products and Dove’s position was a functionally superior cleanser than soap, centered on science. Since the formula for the soap had come from military research conducted to find a non-irritating skin cleaner with high levels of natural skin, Dove did not call their product ‘soap’. The advertisements clearly conveyed that Dove was one-quarter cleansing cream and further reinforced this fact visually with photographs that showed cream being poured into a tablet. Thus their positioning in the 1950s was solely based on conveying the benefits of Dove as a moisturizing agent and a