A good hair day for marketing

May 25, 2006

Procter & Gamble is using a hair salon to promote its products, writes Julian Lee.

A HAIR salon might not seem like cutting-edge marketing to most, but at Procter & Gamble giving busy shoppers a wash and blow dry could be the latest way to connect with consumers.

Since March the global packaged goods group has been running its own hair salon in the heart of Sydney's CBD.

Branded the Pantene Shine Hair Spa - the first of its kind in the world - the salon trial is being watched closely by P&G worldwide, says the company's regional head, Joanne Crewes.

"Many people are interested in it because it's been so successful," Crewes says.

Since the salon's doors opened on the second level of the Skygarden Shopping Centre more than 2000 people have paid up to $30 each for a wash and blow dry and, what's more, they are coming back.

But, unusually for a retail space, no product is on sale; this is more about marketing than sales, Crewes says.

"This is a new way to raise awareness for her [the consumer] to interact and find out personally what's right for her and not feel pressured into buying anything," says Crewes, in Sydney for the launch of a trade event for P&G's beauty division.

(Australia makes up a third of P&G's $US2 billion regional beauty business.)

Crewes claims not to have considered selling product from the salon because the majority of sales in the Australian $430 million hair-care market, which is dominated by Pantene with a 24 per cent value share, are made in the supermarket or chemist while other products are purchased.

It is early days but its success to date points to yet more salons.

"It's definitely something consumers are reacting positively to and we need to know how we take this media vehicle forward," Crewes says.

Already the salon is capturing the attention of media strategists, who see it as another medium. Mitchell & Partners consumer insights strategist Carmen Campbell says other brands are bound to follow in P&G's wake.

Overseas, Apple has set up temporary Apple Stores that create a buzz around the brand, as has Swatch which closes up its "pop-up" stores just as soon as the masses discover them. HSBC has branded taxis in New York and London that give customers a free ride home if they can provide proof they are a customer of the bank - all examples of what the industry is calling "brand spaces", says Campbell.

"They aren't necessarily about making money but giving the consumers a tangible experience of the brand," Campbell says. "Brand spaces reflect the changing communications landscape from 'push' communications such as traditional media to 'pull' like interactive and experiential.

"Obviously brands with the 'cool' factor like Apple or 3 appeal more given the transient nature of their audience. However we have seen some great examples of other categories such as financial institutions who have had success in creating brand spaces."

Such ventures are a sign that P&G, which spends $US6 billion a year on marketing, is exploring new ways of getting its brands to market.

Last year it cut its US TV ad spend by 8 per cent to $US677 million and increased its investment in online.

This week Australian creative David Droga, the head of Droga5, and former worldwide chief creative officer of Publicis, one of P&G's rostered agencies, applauded its intentions.

"They are investing in online designers and creative and they're not waiting around, they may not be there [at digital] yet but they are getting there."

At the same time, the company is demanding more of its advertising - TV makes up about 60 per cent of its traditional media budget - and is urging its agencies to come up with ads that do more than showcase the product's features and benefits, the formula P&G has applied to ads since the dawn of TV advertising.

A local example is a new spot by Leo Burnett for its Herbal Essences brand that goes to great lengths to make people laugh rather than bombard them with facts about hair cleansing.

This year a team of P&G marketers will be at the Cannes Advertising Festival as they have been since 2003.

"We want our agencies to create advertising that consumers love, that will resonate with them and [they] will want to see again and again," Crewes says.

"We will see more of this … because what you need nowadays is cut through."

Not all advertising will be about laughs; the more expensive the product the more "proof" is needed to back up claims, says Crewes, noting that ads which explain hair-cleansing science (complete with cut-aways of hair shafts) will remain as will the popular beauty editor spots. "She loves those ads," Crewes says.

 

« More articles about trendwatching.com and our trends