25th October 2023
The last few days have seen a flurry of activity following the announcements made last week, which have been very well documented, not just by me, but on lots of other platforms and from lots of hairdressers, business consultants, sales people, educators, and marketeers.
The news has stirred emotions, and rightly so. Some view the news as negative and a betrayal of the hairdressing and barbering industry. Some see it as a positive because the brands will be more freely available to lots more consumers. Most, if being honest see it as inevitable.
Everyone knows that salon retail is struggling, and with a plethora of product ranges available in chemists, supermarkets and on-line, recommending retail has become more challenging for salons. Nonetheless the introduction of ‘professional’ brands into the mainstream made me wonder ….. and I appreciate this is a little bit of a Carrie (SATC) moment: “Is the word professional too freely used these days?”
The Oxford dictionary defines Professional as:
The word Profession has a different definition:
We see the word Professional attached to lots of brands, especially in the hairdressing world, and whilst it suggests that the brand has been developed and created and marketed by professionals in their own specific field, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the people who are responsible for the product are hairdressers or from a hair background; and therein is the crux of this debate, the brands are, of course, professionally created and brought to market, but the job after that is for the hairdresser and barber to use their skills and their understanding of their profession to recommend professional products to their clients.
I personally don’t believe any brand that is picked off a shelf, irrespective of whether its haircare or something else, without any advice or recommendation should have the word professional emblazoned on the packaging. As previously stated, I see no wrong in the big corporate brands having products in chemists and supermarkets. I also recognise that they have to have an on-line presence, but I firmly stand with the hairdressing and barbering fraternity who, for years have spoke of the difference between salon professional and mass market product ranges.
The introduction of the brands into the mainstream is not one that’s happened for brand awareness reasons, it’s all about the money. Behemoths are chasing targets and growth year on year and unfortunately, when salons don’t meet their annual targets everything suffers, so I see exactly why this step into mainstream has been taken.
Another Carrie moment: “And just like that, everything changed”.
Change is good, it’s exciting, exhilarating, nerve wracking and challenging. Deciding to move to a new brand or two is a big big step for any salon owner, however it offers a chance to showcase the professionalism of the salon team, and it encourages everyone to talk to their clients about the new products introduced into the business that are recommended by the professional who understands hair and scalp because that’s their profession!!
Have a look around at the brands that are out there that remain salon exclusive, you might be surprised at what you find. You may decide that the brands you use will be the ones you keep on using and that’s absolutely fine, remember it’s all about your choices.
