Well.
I have been slightly paying attention to the new Dove men care marketing effort and then I saw an excellent television commercial featuring Jay Bilas and I became fully invested in thinking about it.
First.
The television commercial:
Jay Bilas Big Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xOwh0IxurA
<note: the following link takes you to all videos including the Dwayne Wade kids one which is also nice: http://www.dovemencare.com/Videos/>
I won’t dissect the Jay Bilas execution. It is charming, topical and well executed.
Second.
About the actual Dove Mencare line.
Dove® Men+CareTM Face Range is a full line of skin care developed specifically for men’s skin. Offering a variety of solutions that tackle men’s most common concerns – skin dryness, sensitivity, blocked pores and oily skin. The regimen provides skin care in three steps – Cleanse, Shave and Finish – to fit into any man’s grooming routine.
Now.
I admit.
I think some of this is marketing bullshit <trying to create a distinction between men and women needs> … for example … Cleanse with Care: So if you shouldn’t use soap on your face what should you use? Soap dries, Dove Men+Care doesn’t.
Well.
How is that different from a woman’s face needs? <maybe I am showing my true Neanderthal because I truly cannot answer that question>.
Seems like a woman wouldn’t want soap that “dries” if men would want it.
Specifically for men’s skin? Yeah. Whatever.
Anyway.
The real reason I elected to write about this.
Once I became invested in thinking about it … well … I admit.
I have mixed feelings about a men’s line of products from Dove.
Dove is, has been, and will always be … a female brand. A brand, with products, owned by woman-kind.
Yeah.
I am sure there are gobs of research showing that men have secretly been using Dove because <1> it works, <2> it smells good, and <3> men don’t give a shit and will use whatever is handy, i.e., whatever the woman put in the soap dish.
And I am sure there is also gobs of research showing that “empowering the male shopper to make unique purchases fulfills the subconscious self esteem” <yup … while I made this one up … you see that crap in research presentations >.
And I am absolutely sure there were gobs of analytics showing the potential sales on a line “specifically designed for men.”
But I still have mixed feelings … for one simple reason.
Well … Dove is, has been, and always will be … a female brand.
Now.
The folks at Dove <I am assuming they hired some men because women could never figure this out> have done a spectacular job clearly delineating what is for Men and what is not.
They are executing this business idea flawlessly.
And I could probably do a gangbuster presentation just using what I see from the outside looking in discussing the merits of what they are doing.
But.
Well … Dove is, has been, and always will be … a female brand.
The lure of the almighty dollar can convince you to do a lot of things in the world of business and marketing <and absurd acts of brand destruction>. And that same lure can convince you to isolate research data to prove your point.
That lure can also make you dance on the head of a pin to make your decision look clear cut.
This is not a clear cut decision.
I am not suggesting it is a bad decision … nor am I suggesting that in the end it won’t look like a damn good decision.
But I am suggesting it is a risky decision.
And I am also betting it is a decision that had the head person of the existing Dove product line fuming <and tearing hair out and lots of gnashing of teeth> because there is risk <and the existing Dove line was probably quite fat, dumb & happy, i.e., very profitable>.
However.
What I truly like about thinking about this?
I am not sure I would have had the kahones to do this.
And I love that.
Despite all the research factoids I threw out at you <that I made up … but am almost 99% sure are correct> I am not sure I would have borrowed the Dove equity and brought it into the Men’s category. Not because I don’t think men wouldn’t make the leap <for god’s sake … they have been slathering their woman’s Dove all over their bodies for years and they haven’t grown a vagina yet> but because I wouldn’t be sure women wouldn’t feel like they have been sold out by Dove.
Dove is theirs, has been, and will always be … oops … well … maybe not always.
It was okay when men stole it <in fact there is some satisfaction in this slightly guilty behavior> but now they can have their own Dove.
Sound silly?
Well.
Remember. Companies do not make a brand. The users do. They are fragile fickle things those users.
Someone at Dove is banking on fickleness landing in their camp.
Someone at Dove is banking on this decision not neutering the brand.
I have one word for ya.
Kahones.
Someone at Dove has ‘em.
I love it.