Dove’s baby-specific skin care: proof of the category’s potential?

Unilever-owned Dove moved decisively into baby-specific skin care this year, launching in the US and the UK and with a presence in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and India too.

With the new range, the brand says it is looking to tap into an opportunity to meet the needs of ‘modern’, product-savvy parents. Commentators have also suggested the move is timely if Dove is looking to capitalise on the negative publicity directed at current category leader Johnson & Johnson, caused by recent lawsuits claiming its talcum powder products can lead to ovarian cancer.​

"Baby Dove is building on the 60-year heritage of cleansing and care and moisturization of the Dove brand​," said Nick Soukas, VP of Dove. "When you look at how brands are talking about parenting, there's a real opportunity to bring a modern, updated view of parenthood​.”

Baby market​

Baby and child specific skin care products are seeing increasing popularity globally, and Dove is just one of many brands investing and developing in this area.

In the UK, baby and child-specific products increased by 4% in current value terms in 2015, according to Euromonitor, which indicates a slightly better year-on-year performance compared with the 2% current value growth in 2014

Although the UK continues to see its birth rate drop year on year, the category parents are spending more than ever on baby and child-specific products, the research firm observes, with child- and baby-specific products reaching total sales of £425 million in 2015.

Baby Dove​

“We feel like Baby Dove is going to bring something very different in terms of superior care to baby skin. Dove will only enter new categories when we have a clearly unique offering. We spent years studying unique aspects of baby skin,​” Soukas has asserted.

Baby Dove marketing aims to "show parents as they really are, and the reality of parenting", according to the brand.

Its research shows nine of 10 mothers ‘feel pressure to be perfect’, but only 26% feel they can live up to the ideals portrayed in media.