Suave a sister product to Dove's products is hitting the airwaves with its Say Yes to Beautiful which speaks to the frazzled mom who sometimes just let's herself go' . The mission for the campaign is to asks moms to put taking care of themselves back on their very long, to do list. The creative is wonderful and one that I and many of my friends who are moms, can relate to (check it out at this address ), but as I watched the commercial my marketing radar clicked "on". Something is missing...diversity.
A quick look at some basic demos helped me understand clearly what was missing. In a study put out by Mintell International Group last year, Hispanic women are said to be "more likely than other women to agree with the statement - I take the time to look my best every day.". The study also states that "Hispanic women not only show a high degree of self-confidence, but also make consistent efforts to maintain stylish hair, makeup and nail care. " The report's list of demographic/psychographics indicators for Hispanic woman as a prime target for Suave's price point appears to be strong. In fairness, there may be more ethnically mixed TV spots to come, but coming from the same agency that developed the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty where diversity in age and race was evident from the beginning I found the Sauve spot surprisingly 'white bread'.
I took a quick look on the Internet to see if I could find any consumer video reviews on Suave products - sure enough, I found one on yahoo.com.Yahoo Video. Interestingly enough this review was given by a female from India. The audio is not very clear, but Yahoo posts transcripts you can read. Below are this reviewer's comments...."and it's very easy to use and you can buy it from any store. It also comes in different scents. It also comes in different sizes. And I highly recommend it. I have oily hair, oily and dull hair. I tried every shampoo. It did not work for me. This is the one that I found. This is working you know really best for me. All you have to do is put a drop little bit on this hand - and massage in - and rinse it out." This review carries a clear, simple message, Suave has different scents, different sizes, if you have oily hair - try it - and all you need is a little bit. For the cost conscious buyer, who is Sauve's market, these points are important.
I also took a quick look on epinions and sure enough, Suave has many reviewers giving their opinion about this product's price + beauty benefits. So where am I going with all of this? In an industry such retail beauty products that suffer from product overload, one has to fight for every bit of market share it can get and speak to each potential customer. Going after the Longtail so to speak. In fact, a recent article in the Wall Street Journal spoke about Unilever's declining market growth in the US and its transfer of marketing dollars away from its traditional brands to support new product development and marketing for products to meet the needs of the developing world's customers. In a product such as Suave, with a very low price point, not addressing a wide variety of diverse populations is missing the revenue boat.
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