Unilever Tests Dove Men+Care in Europe

All things to all men? Or women? Or both? Unilever is to test whether its ubiquitous, but highly successful, female brand, Dove, can work its magic on men, too. The company is launching Dove Men+Care in Italy and some other European markets this fall, and there is talk of a U.S. rollout early next year if the line succeeds.

Dove Men+Care consists of five deodorant SKUs and three shower gels, with gray packaging. The line is targeted at men aged 35 and over, positioned to find a better balance between personal and professional activities. A brand director is quoted as saying the line was created to complement the company’s younger male brand, Axe, and that having launched with deos and shower gels, the company will look to extend into other products.

Happi columnist Colin Hession, managing director of specialist consultants, Colin Hession Consulting, comments “At last it seems Unilever is having a proper go at building on the unique position it has created in the male grooming category with Axe. If it works, Axe users will no longer have to graduate to the opposition, Nivea Men, L’Oréal Men Expert or Gillette when they grow up.”

He continues “But what will success look like? Certainly not like Unilever’s over-cautious Vaseline Men which tiptoed onto shelves last year, or even the failed, silver colored Axe Skin Systeme of distant memory. Success will need to be measured in solid repeat numbers, plus little or no attrition to the Dove masterbrand’s values longer term. And there’s the rub, because both these metrics will need quite a long time to be read with the sort of confidence required to convince the grown ups in Blackfriars. But, if it does succeed, then financial markets can expect to see significant net sales increases as the huge Dove sales pipeline is filled worldwide.”