The black salon and barbershop is the epicenter for gossip and conversations.
Conversations range from entertainment to sports to health issues. Considering the amount of narratives shared in salons and barbershops. Advertisers, TV networks, movie studios and global brands have become eager to join the conversations, the narratives, and literally become part of the salon story line unfolding in real time within these trusted environments. The best way to reach the African American consumer is to find places where they live, work, shop and groom.
African-American consumers have an insatiable appetite for entertainment such as television and film.
According to Nielsen’s Diverse Intelligence Series (DIS) report, the African-American viewer watches more than 50 hours of live and time-shifted television a week — more than 10 hours above the total population.
However, many companies fail to effectively advertise to Black audiences through predominantly African-American out-of-home outlets such as urban beauty salons and barbershops. This is a missed opportunity for companies, who can use such venues to reach African American consumers within trusted environments where Blacks see themselves as most influential.
These deeply ingrained, urban beauty businesses have created a gateway to new ad space where none existed before. Urban salon marketing is so effective because it’s done through the “gatekeepers” local hairstylists and barbers, people whom African Americans trust. This automatically generates strong endorsements. It’s accomplished by building authentic narratives based on the narratives or stories shared by the consumers and their experiences with such brands, products and venues in which these brands are marketed in.
Unlike TV, radio or print, an Urban Beauty Salon Marketing Strategy cannot be time shifted, turned off, or put down; it is an ongoing 24-7 means of brand marketing, centralized through word-of-mouth and interaction between consumers addressing likes and dislikes of brands and services within salons. With that in mind the salon is the primary platform to launch, analyze, assess, revise, and continuously market brands to African American consumer.
This marketing philosophy is simple; focus on reaching consumers when they are most receptive and captive.
Connect cultural touch points in which they can add to the overall narrative of brands. You can add your brand’s relevance beyond mere sales and purchase intent by engaging consumers in organic conversations establishing brand loyalty and customphoto credit: embellezca DSC_0093.jpg via photopin (license)er retention for featured brand activations as well as the salons in which the marketing experiences take place.Bring your brand and the brand message into an environment where you can speak to them in an authentic credible way.
Delivering your brand message in a culturally relevant manner that resonates with the African American consumer.
photo credit: embellezca DSC_0093.jpg via photopin (license)
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