The approach taken by Dove was appropriate regardless of the criticism faced from traditional marketing. Dove strategy did not build upon an aspiration allure but positioned itself as a " brand with a meaning." Additionally, it was not directed to an specific product, but achieved to create a Masterbrand identity and maximized awareness through the use of social media. Nevertheless, further stages should be taken to differentiate the brand approach in the international level, and apply the strategies already used in the American market in different geographical regions.
The objective of the Dove campaign was not to take you to the next level of physical attractiveness, but to “make you feel happy with yourself.” To achieve motivation the Dove strategy is directed toward people with a specific set of values and needs. In terms of values the brand is directed toward people who are principle oriented. The objective is to tailor both the "fulfields" category and the "believers" category. In terms of needs, the brand tailors to both “safety”, “love” and “esteem” elements within Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It is important to establish that Dove is not a luxury brand therefore its value is less dependent on “status cues” that other brands within the same product category. Other Brands such as Aveda (Silverstein and Fiske, 5) would be oriented to people in the "status oriented" section of the VALS Survey.
The Dove marketing approach used the "means-end chain model" in order to determine the values that drive consumers decisions to buy beauty products. The marketing managers did not target the "instrumental value" of the Dove product line. Marketers replaced assumptions like" helps me look better", with " terminal values" such as "helps me be happier." Although there is no explicit reference to all of the exploratory research was done, the "laddering technique" could