Unilever To Expand Two Billion Dollar Global Dove Brand With Launch of Dove Hair Care in North America.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2003

Dove Shampoos and Conditioners Revolutionize Daily Hair Care Market

with Weightless Moisturization; Dove Hair Care Launch is Largest for Unilever and Category; Brand Already No.1 in Japan, Taiwan and Korea(1)

Pioneering the next generation of daily hair care products, Unilever Home & Personal Care has announced the launch in North America of Dove(R) Hair Care with Weightless Moisturizers(TM), a line of totally innovative and differentiated shampoos and conditioners that will establish a new segment in the highly-competitive, $5 billion hair care category. According to Unilever, Dove Hair Care is the largest new brand launch ever in North America for daily hair care in terms of support and anticipated growth. Unilever will spend upwards of $110 million and anticipates reaching between a seven-and-10 percent share in shampoos and conditioners in the first five years.

This latest Dove brand introduction will be backed by national print and broadcast campaigns and extensive promotional support intended to build on the brand's long-standing consumer loyalty and deep customer relationships. Globally, Dove Hair Care already is a market leader in Asia and Europe with strong initial consumer response from Latin America. The brand is number one in Taiwan, Korea and Japan.(1) Dove Hair Care launched in Europe in early 2002 and has a five-to-seven percent share in some of those countries.(2)

"The unprecedented retailer response to Dove Hair Care underscores the opportunity this breakthrough product line presents," said Jon Achenbaum, general manager, Hair Business Team, Unilever Home and Personal Care in North America. "First, more than 90 percent of our retail customers are taking all 13 SKUs, signaling the broad appeal and importance of the line's variants. Second, dollar and club channels are taking full distribution at launch. These retailers typically watch and wait up to a year before committing to a totally new brand.

We are uniquely positioned to harness the power of our Dove brand and our category experience to create hair care products that respond in a very differentiated way to consumers' needs," Achenbaum added. Unilever is the maker of ThermaSilk(R), Suave(R) and Finesse(R) in addition to Dove, and has been innovating and delivering outstanding hair care products for more than 70 years. Dove was first launched nearly 50 years ago as a beauty bar, and is number one in the bar and body wash segments in North America. Unilever successfully launched Dove AP/Deo in 1999, reaching a five percent share and the No.2 spot among female deodorant brands within its first year.(3)

The beauty scientists at Unilever's North American Global Technical Centers applied years of hair care cleansing and moisturizing expertise to address consumer concerns that are specific to this region. Recent data indicates the top two unmet needs are "moisturization" followed by "body."(4)

Dove Hair Care contains a unique combination of more than 15 Weightless Moisturizers(TM) that help make hair softer, smoother and naturally more vibrant, without adding any extra weight. These fifteen moisturizers are infused into the center of the hair strand to restore it, while two additional ones replenish and enhance the exterior. Recognizing that more than 50 percent of women in this market color their hair, Dove is one of very few brands to offer multiple color formulas for different hair types. Women, who tested Dove's shampoos and conditioners, rated them "off the charts" for hair-conditioning and volumizing performance and said Dove makes their hair look beautiful and feel really great.

Dove Hair Care has 13 formulations of shampoos and conditioners: nine shampoos and conditioners, including Intense Moisture, Extra Volume, Moisture Rich Color, Volumizing Color, Beautifully Clean; three 2-in-1s (cleans and conditions in one step), including Intense Moisture, Extra Volume and Beautifully Clean; plus one Intense Daily Conditioning Treatment for women who desire added moisture.

Dove Hair Care shampoos, conditioners and 2-in-1 shampoos with Weightless Moisturizers will be available January 2003 in food, drug, and mass retail outlets wherever Dove products are sold at a suggested retail price of $3.69 for a 12-ounce bottle.

DOVE BACKGROUND:

Dove, manufactured by Unilever Home & Personal Care - NA is the No. 1 personal wash brand nationwide. Nearly one in every three households uses a Dove product(5), which includes bar cleansers, body washes, facial cleansing cloths, anti-perspirants and deodorants. Introduced in 2000, Dove anti-perspirant/deodorant is the No. 2 female-oriented anti-perspirant/deodorant brand in the United States(3). Dove Hair Care shampoos, conditioners and 2-in-1 shampoos with Weightless Moisturizers(TM) will be available in food, drug and mass retail outlets January 2003.

UNILEVER BACKGROUND:

Unilever is one of the world's largest consumer products companies with annual sales of approximately $49 billion in 2001. It produces and markets a wide range of foods and home and personal care products. Unilever operates in 88 countries around the globe and employs approximately 279,000 people.

In the United States, Unilever sales were approximately $11 billion in 2001. It employs some 17,800 people and has 67 offices and manufacturing sites in 23 states. The business comprises:

Home and Personal Care: Wisk, "all" and Surf laundry detergents; Snuggle fabric softener; Sunlight dish detergent; Lever 2000, Caress, Pond's and Vaseline skin care; the Dove family of anti-perspirant, skin- and hair-care products; the Suave family of skin- and hair-care products; Axe deodorant bodyspray for men; Q-tips cotton swabs; Mentadent oral care products; Finesse, Salon Selectives and ThermaSilk hair care products; and Calvin Klein, Nautica and Lagerfeld cosmetic and fragrance products.

Foods: Lipton teas, soups and side dishes; Wish-Bone salad dressings; Lawry's seasonings; Country Crock and "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" spreads; Ragu pasta sauces; Knorr soups, sauces and bouillons; Hellmann's mayonnaise; Skippy peanut butter; Bertolli olive oil and tomato sauces; Good Humor-Breyers and Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. ice cream companies; and Slim-Fast nutritional and health snack products.

(1) Market position by country, ACNielsen data: 2002

(2) Market share by country, ACNielsen data: 2002

(3) ACNielsen (current 52 week data)

(4) Dove Hair Care Strategic Study: 1998

(5) ACNielsen data: 2001