Unilever to spend £25m on extension of its Dove range

Unilever is gearing up for the launch of new range of Dove products as part of a &£25m marketing investment in the brand this year.

The consumer goods giant is rolling out a series of new Dove lines over the next few months that will be positioned above the core Dove range to encourage consumers to trade up.

Among the first products to hit supermarket shelves will be Dove Invisible, a new deodorant that Unilever claims will not leave white stain marks on dark clothing.

Other new variants will include Dove Fresh Touch, a new body wash with variants including almond oil and cocoa butter, and Dove Colour Care, a new shampoo and conditioner range.

The move follows the huge success of Dove’s award-winning “campaign for real beauty”, which used real women of all ages and sizes to appeal to consumers bored with the airbrushed beauty of professional models.

Developed by Ogilvy & Mather, this theme first appeared in Dove’s firmer skin campaign in 2003, which featured curvaceous women of different ages, sizes and races, posing in plain white underwear under the strapline: “Dove Firming. As tested on real curves.”

The campaign for real beauty, which was rolled out globally throughout 2004 and 2005, consisted of poster and print ads showing real women with two tick-boxes next to their faces. It used local models throughout Europe, Asia and the US, and asked consumers to decide whether they thought the women were beautiful or ugly.