How Color Captured 173 New Guests
When Aveda distributor Neill Corporation launched their recent color campaign in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, they targeted four salon groups to execute the promotion and give their summer business a boost.
Three of the salon groups were in Dallas, and Lemongrass Salon Spa represented Fort Worth with four locations in the area.
The promotion focused on hair color, offering $25 off a first color service to new clients or existing clients who had never tried color, and was promoted for two months– from June 1 through July 30. (The $25 offer was valid through November, giving guests ample time to redeem.)
Neill supported the color campaign with billboards, print and online ads, and a special Aveda Color micro-site to promote all the participating salons.
“Neill also gave us custom collateral made specifically for our salon, which included window clings, promotional cards, boosted social media posts and ads, email blasts, and web banners for our own website,” says Becky Pelletier, director of salon development.
Rick Cheek, owner of Lemongrass, says, “It was a good opportunity to reach folks who just come in for hair cuts and blow-dries.”
“Getting new guests in summer when it’s slow is great, but it was also good for stylists to keep the service wheel going all summer long.”
Launching and Executing
With the Neill Corporation supporting them and providing all the marketing materials, Cheek and Pelletier’s job was to get their staff up to speed with the promotion and coach them on how to educate clients. This is key to making any promotion successful.
Imaginal Marketing, Neill’s partner in creating the campaign, kicked off the program on a webinar with all participating salons.
“They explained the marketing strategy, with details about how to engage guests and how to measure the program,” Pelletier says. “We had our team watch the webinar recording in their downtime so they could hear it straight from headquarters.”
Managers also coached the team, and updates were posted on the salon’s internal Facebook page so staff could, in turn, share the promotions with clients on their personal Facebook pages.
“Newer staff members were more than happy to have new guests come in to help build their books, and it also gave seasoned staff the opportunity to capture new guests in a slower season,” Pelletier says.
Lemongrass saw its summer traffic increase with 173 new guests.
“We were able to measure the new business in three different ways,” Pelletier explains. “We distributed promo cards they would give us at the time of service, or they would download the card from our website. Cards were also available at Aveda Experience Centers with a different discount code so we knew where each one they came from.”
Pelletier says the large window clings were a huge business booster as well. Many clients—both existing and new—saw the beautiful imagery and special offer and asked about it.
Existing clients who had not had color in six months were also emailed the offer.
“We gave Imaginal access to our Demandforce account, our website, and our Facebook page so they could run the campaign. We did not have to worry about that.”
Following Through
While the Neill-supported promotional campaign ran through July 30, the $25 offer was good through November, and Lemongrass still kept its window clings up to advertise the incentive while it was still valid.
“When we explained this to the team, we told them what an honor it was to be chosen and that we were getting a lot of complimentary support on a huge marketing campaign,” Pelletier says.
“We let them know Neill chose us because we were going to produce the results, so we needed to take it seriously. The fact we were chosen really boosted their confidence,” she adds.
“The staff was so excited about the billboards and new website surrounding it—they were onboard right away.”
Cheek says that because Lemongrass is known as a salon that does not do discounts, that made the promotion even more exciting for guests. And for his team, he says the discounted price was not an issue.
“It wasn’t just about the $25 discount,” he says. “Because the color was discounted, service providers felt confident recommending add-ons and home care, which boosted the ticket back up.”
A maintenance plan for every guest was strongly emphasized during the campaign to ensure they would come back.
“Our stylists were on board, knowing this was not a one-time thing like Groupon, where the guest was just coming in for a cheap service,” Pelletier says.
“Every guest matters to our stylists. We know the people who come to us really want to be with Aveda and we need to educate them on the difference of the brand.”
Cheek says that among his favorite perks of the campaign were the marketing materials.
“The window clings are so eye-catching and beautiful,” he says. “Clients walk in because of them.”
Because of the promo, Lemongrass welcomed many more new guests throughout the fall and winter, retaining many of them as new Aveda clients.
“We were humbled and blessed to be a part of it,” Cheek says.
Neill Corporation is the Aveda distributor for a seven-state region in the southern United States, including Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama.