Unilever: Dove Advanced Diagnostic Instrument (DADI)

Our client asked:

Sagentia Innovation was asked to develop a high-tech diagnostic device for Dove’s dry/damaged product line for use in TV commercials and point of sale promotions.

The project story:

Unilever’s hair care business , Dove, wanted to develop a diagnostic device to support brand activation, engage consumers and encourage them to trial new products. The aim of this diagnostic tool was to engage and communicate with consumers around their current level of hair damage and to recommend and prove the efficacy of specific Dove hair care products.

We developed this device which uses hair-on-hair friction as a measure of hair surface damage. In use, a stylist or host operating at an in-store promotion runs a strand of the consumer’s hair through the device.

The device gives an instant reading on the level of dryness/damage and the host uses the damage score as a cue to advise on a specific care and product regime. The device connects to the internet and uploads the consumer’s damage scores along with various metadata such as hair colour and user profile.

We also enabled this service element to the device by writing software that communicates with a mobile phone and uploads the data to a website.

Results: deliverables and outcomes

We worked with Unilever from concept through to full production, taking responsibility for all aspects from industrial design, product development & global testing through to transfer to, and management of, the contract manufacturer.

Unilever’s Dove brand now has an engaging tool for brand launches, which enables the creation and maintenance of a personal consumer relationship – while collecting use data for R&D to build the next range of products.