Lately, a growing number of hair care brands are tapping the power of the professional.
On Wednesday, premium US label Amika debuted a new campaign including a series of short videos and stills showing stylists in action using the products on clients’ hair, and also announced the expansion of its “stylist collective” with 10 new professionals including Eric Vaughn and Abbey Brookee, both stylists and salon owners. According to a source close to the brand, Amika will generate more than $250 million in sales this year.
“[Customers] are really skeptical of creators and paid influencers, but there’s something really special about when a stylist says, ‘Hey, I use this, I trust this product, and I use it on my clients’,” said Chelsea Riggs, chief executive of Amika.
While influencers still drive viral peaks, expert endorsements can give brands a stronger selling point as shoppers become more value-sensitive. Prestige hair care lines like Amika, Olaplex and Redken are doubling down on their networks of professional stylists, hoping to convey that their lines are more trusted by the very people customers trust with their own hair.
The phenomenon isn’t limited to hair care — skincare companies like Medicube are tapping makeup artists like Sir John, while device companies like Lyma are recruiting celebrity facialists; the mass cosmetics brand Max Factor, founded in 1909, has long advertised itself as “the makeup of makeup artists.” But in the hair category, there’s a particular sensitivity to professional recommendations. Many consumers have the foundational, most expensive parts of their hair style, such as colour services or silk presses, crafted by a professional at a salon, but are tasked with maintaining the look at home by themselves.
“When stylists trust your brand, consumers are going to follow,” said Riggs. “That trust has become one of the strongest growth levers for us.”
Trust is a well-worn lever. In April, Olaplex unveiled a brand refresh with a focus on its pro community and created a stylist collective including the longtime spokesperson and legendary colourist Tracey Cunningham; in July, L’Oréal-owned Redken also debuted a new roster called the Artistic Ambassador Network of 20 stylists and colourists. Smaller indies lean on their founders; Roz, founded by celebrity hairstylist Mara Roszak, heavily references her work in action on the red carpet in its marketing, signalling the trust top starlets have in her.
Rachel Green, a beauty consultant and former marketer for Estée Lauder Companies said a desire for content on social media that feels educational is also helping creators who are also subject matter experts edge out their peers.
“Maybe two years ago, it was all about aspirational content,” she said. “But in this economy, if people are going to stop scrolling for your video, they want to learn something.”
Return to Form
Marketing hair care products has become more complex in an era led by DIY remedies and virality-chasing stunts. On social media, trending videos about hair care now often feature home remedies, like making your own shampoo or oil with rosemary, which devotees claim boosts hair growth, or improvised heat-free styling methods with socks or other household items.
As so much of the conversation becomes about gimmicky methods of hair care, it has slowly created white space for expert-led content, said Green, as more customers realise their most reliable sources of expertise come from professionals, not punters.
Many of the hair category’s most influential voices have a professional bent: Abbey Yung, an American creator with over 1 million followers, is a trichologist, or hair and scalp specialist, and works with brands such as Dove. Others include celebrity stylists like Jen Atkin, creator of the lines Ouai and Mane and former coiffeuse to the Kardashian-Jenner clan, and Guy Tang, the hair colour specialist (and Olaplex ambassador).
For typical hair concerns like damage, dryness and colour restoration, seeing a professional demonstrate products either on clients or themselves is an extra guarantee that can help convert scrollers into shoppers. But it means playing the long game. Riggs said while it’s rare for the brand to see immediate virality with its products, content that demonstrates its products in action tend to have a higher chance of a purchase being made in the future.
“We have to create the immediate and the long term effect that means the brand comes to mind when someone’s about to buy something,” she said.
Reaching Professionals, Reaching Consumers
According to Nilofer Vahora, Amika’s chief marketing officer, most of the US’s best-selling premium hair care brands also happen to be professional brands, so working with stylists and colourists is a natural fit. However, brands have to work harder to win over professionals, and ensure that they will get their endorsement on and offline. If a brand wants to trade on performance, it must be sure of its superior quality.
Brands also need to enhance and clarify their communication. Green said that alongside professional credentials also often come scientific claims around experience and performance. “You can’t just tap into a cultural moment like the rosemary ingredient without having some kind of clinical results, too,” she said, adding that consumers found such content inauthentic. “If you have someone speaking about your product, they need to do it with authority.”
Riggs said busy hair professionals also need to quickly and easily understand where products fit into their clients’ routines, and be able to troubleshoot easily. “If you overuse a product, and have to wash your hair to get it out and start fresh, you absolutely blame the brand and the product,” said Riggs. If product usage instructions aren’t easy to follow for a professional, a consumer has even less chance of having a successful experience.
Brands can work on their expert credentials by creating education platforms or sponsoring professional development initiatives for stylists — in addition to Amika and Olaplex’s stylist collectives, mainstay brands like Schwarzkopf and Wella have long offered training courses, free sampling and event sponsorships. They also need to be willing to take feedback from professionals, and adapt or tweak their offerings if they fall short.
Of course, a strong professional network is still no substitute for robust consumer distribution — shoppers still usually discover products in stores like Sephora, Target or Space NK, and may need both the professional seal of approval in step with availability in a retailer they already frequent to make a purchase.
“95 percent of customers aren’t necessarily looking to purchase at the time when they see an advert, and reaching the 5 percent that are is expensive,” said Vahora, describing its marketing as attempting to linger in customers’ minds.
“That’s where the real life experience of the product comes in.”
Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.