Appendix 1a: Detailed description of LP (tecni.art & a-head) L’Oréal Professionnel; tecni.art and a-head
General description
“Because you’re worth it” is L’Oreal’s world famous slogan. This part describes the company behind the slogan and its professional products division.
L’Oréal’s brief history and current position
The company has its roots in Paris, France. In 1907, chemist Eugène Schueller started the company L’Auréale, which sold a small number of hair-colouring products for professional use. Soon the company showed growth potential and the product range was expanded with products for the consumer market. In 1935, L’Oréal was the first company to launch a range of sun-care products world-wide. Since then L’Oréal has expanded its business dramatically, including the pharmaceutical sector.
The ambition of the L’Oréal group is to achieve growth in expanding markets.
L’Oréal’s conviction is that priority must be given to internal growth to succeed in this. This is therefore a key factor in its strategy. Innovation and marketing are at the heart of the strategy. L’Oréal has always strongly invested in research and aims to devote 4% of its turnover to research within the next 5 years. The laboratories in France, Japan and the USA employ 2.823 people, who are doing research in the fields of cosmetics and pharmaceutics. That image of L’Oréal as a highly innovative company is supported by the fact that it holds about 200 patents.
The L’Oréal Group strategy is based on the richness of its brand portfolio, which covers the whole spectrum of the cosmetics market. L’Oréal is represented in over130 countries and has 290 subsidiaries. L’Oréal’s 17 global brands reflect the many facets of beauty and they support the group’s aim: to provide consumers with products that satisfy their needs and desires and to generate gradual but significant increases in profitability in the coming years
World-wide the company employs about 50,000 people, has 500 brands and 2,000 products. Each second 100 L’Oréal products are being sold worldwide. The L’Oréal group consists of smaller companies that are responsible for the
development, marketing and distribution of the brands in their particular country (Internal documentation LP, 2003).
L’Oréal Nederland B.V
L’Oréal products have been sold on the Dutch market since 1913. At that time they where marketed by a Dutch company that was under contract by L’Oréal in France. In 1976 this Dutch company was taken over by the French mother company and in 1977 the name of the Dutch company was changed into L’Oréal Nederland B.V. (Internal documentation LP, 2003).
The divisions
The L’Oréal Group has four divisions; Consumer products, Luxury products, Professional products and Active cosmetics.
Consumer products is the largest division and the best known among consumers.
This division develops a large range of products for hair- and skin care, hair colouring, make-up and perfume for a large group of consumers. These products are available at department stores and drugstores at a competitive price.
Garnier, L’Oréal Paris and Maybelline are well-known brands within this division.
The Luxury products division comprises prestigious skincare, perfume and make- up products. These products are sold through selective distribution channels;
luxurious perfumeries and department stores. Well known brands are: Ralph Lauren (perfumes), Helena Rubinstein, Biotherm and Lancôme.
The Active Cosmetics division develops cosmetics and care products that are being sold by pharmacists and specialty-stores. These brands are Vichy and La Roche-Posay.
Professional products is the division which develops innovative products for professional use (in hair salons) only. These products are not available in
drugstores, perfumeries or convenience stores. The Professional Products division carries a portfolio of unique and complementary brands. Whatever degree of maturity of the local professional market, the Division can meet the needs of every type of hair salon the world over. Its hair colorants and its styling, texture and hair care products are specially designed to meet all hairdressers’
expectations. The four brands within this division are L’Oréal Professionnel, Kérastase, Redken and “newcomer” Matrix, which has been acquired by L’Oréal in 2000. L’Oréal Professionnel is the largest brand in this market.
L’Oréal Professionnel General description
“All different: each unique”
The L’Oréal Group is the worldwide leader in professional products for
hairdressers through the four key brands. In the Netherlands, L’Oréal markets all four professional brands.
L’Oréal Professionnel stands for creativity and innovation and for being a partner in business. The creativity appears from the promotions and the inspiration it provides to hairdressers. These activities are often carried out in co-operation with well-known (fashion) brands, fashion institutes and creative artists. L’Oréal Professionnel frequently organises shows with nationally, and even
internationally, famous hairdressers.
Innovativeness of the company is evident through the constant improvement of the product-ranges and frequent launches of new products that are far ahead of the competition. LP thus benefits from the groups important investments in research.
L’Oréal Professionnel in the Netherlands has about 50 employees; about half of them are working as sales-representatives. The company has a broad range of customers, varying from small and traditional to large and trendy salons and chains. Due to the large variety of products the needs of a variety of customers can be satisfied.
Product
L’Oréal Professionnel offers a full range of products in the four product
categories: colouring products, shape products (perms and smoothing), hair-care products and styling products. The first two product categories are so-called technical products; only qualified hairdressers can apply these. The other two may be used in the salon, but can also be sold to people for use at home, in other words “retail products”. Although these products are sold for home use, they are exclusively available at salons.
The styling range of L’Oréal Professionnel is called tecni.art. The range used to have 7 distinct product categories, but is now reduced to five after the relaunch of a part of the tecni.art range. These categories can be subdivided into two
gammas: star and trend. The trend gamma refers to trendy products that are suitable for special styling effects. The remaining products are in the star
gamma. The star gamma can be characterised as generalist products; the trend gamma is positioned closer to the alternatives.
The tecni.art range (star gamma and trend gamma) is defined as follows:
• Fundamentals (star gamma): 16 products. These products are called fundamentals because they are the basic products each hairdresser needs. The packaging is white and fashionable.
• Color show (star gamma): 2 products. These products are developed especially for coloured hair. The design of the packaging is the same as the ‘fundamentals’ range, in a pink shade.
• Hot style (star gamma): 2 products. This category is relatively new; the first product in this range was launched in the Netherlands in 2003. These products are heat responsive, which indicates that the use of these
products is especially suitable in combination with blow dryers,
straightening irons etc. The packaging is very different from the normal tecni.art range. The containers are black with printing in red, with some yellow details.
• Sprays (star gamma): 3 products. This category contains a L’Oréal classic: the Elnett spray. This spray is the only product that is available through both the professional and the retail channel.
• A-head (trend gamma): 7 products. These products are all especially suitable to create trendy hairstyles and are meant to target young and trendy people. The packaging and the visuals belonging to the A-head range are very distinctive compared to the ‘star gamma’ products; the containers are gold or transparent and feature an image of a cartoon figure. The products within this range have distinct names like Sprax, Gum and Web.
Distribution
LP’s styling products (star- and trend gamma) are distributed through the direct and the indirect channel. LP does not have a system of selective distribution;
clients can have any type of salon. This type of distribution can be referred to as intensive.
The sales representatives in the direct channel make regular visit to LP’s clients.
The men (at the moment there are no female sales representatives) are dressed in suit and tie according to company policy. The vast majority of these
representatives are middle-aged men with a classic appearance.
LP mainly focuses on a push strategy; the sales of the products are based on (commercial) promotions. LP provides materials to hairdressers to enable them to present the products in their salon to the end consumer. These materials will be discussed more in-depth in relation to the promotions.
With new product launches however there is an increased attention for a pull strategy; In this case the hairdressers and end consumers are influenced through the professional or consumer media.
L’Oréal is also present in the consumer market. Through its brand L’Oréal Paris it sells hair care, colouring and styling products in the retail channel. Hairdressers are usually rather sensitive when it comes to brands that market products for both professional and consumer channel, because they believe that the products are equal. Within LP there is a strict division between professional and consumer products, but this is not perceived as such by hairdressers.
Price
Promotion
LP is a company that pays great attention to promotion. There are many
initiatives to promote the brand and its products: external communication, retail animations, sponsorships, co-operations with ‘ambassadors’ and hairdressers- events. These elements are discussed in detail below.
LP has various means of external communication. First of all, the magazine
“Inspiration”, published by LP for its customers and associates. Secondly, media attention; LP does not advertise as much as the consumer division of L’Oréal, but especially new product launches are communicated through advertisements in weekly magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Elle and Beaumonde. Most attention in the media is gained through so-called free publicity. An example of free publicity is when well known hairdressers mention LP products in their column, or when products are named in editorial articles. The amount of attention that LP obtains through free publicity is more or less comparable to that of its main competitors.
A third, but very important means of communication is the professional press.
The Dutch market has a number of trade magazines (Coiffure, Le Salon, Top hair and Kappersnieuws). LP co-operates closely with them; the LP colour collections and product launches are frequently highlighted in their articles.
LP produces an array of promotion materials: posters, counter-displays and presentation units1. Apart from the permanent units for in-store promotions, a variety of temporary means are created to inspire the hairdresser and the end- user. With regard to in store promotions the emphasis is on LP’s retail products.
All communication means are characterised by striking visuals, which emphasise LP’s relation with fashion. Well-known photographers, hairdressers and make-up artists contribute to these visuals
..
To promote the LP brand further, the company has contracted seven
‘ambassadors’. These ambassadors are hairdressers who are well known in the Netherlands for their work and their approach to hairdressing (they win prizes and do make-overs in Dutch magazines for instance). These ambassadors work exclusively with the LP (colouring) products and they perform in shows that support events like the LP colour collection, the making of trend books etc.
Ambassadors can also be asked to teach courses at LP. LP currently has 7 ambassadors under contract. The ambassadors mainly focus on the colouring products of LP. Therefore most of them work with the (more premium positioned) hair care products of Kérastase and styling products of, for instance, Sebastian.
LP also supports its products by participating in and organising events. LP is always present at the Benelux’ largest hairdressing fair; Hairstyle, which is organised yearly and draws about 20.000 people. Hairstyle is an important event to reach existing and potential clients. This year LP was present with a large, stylish stand, which was noticed by many hairdressers. LP handed out large bags that could not be left unnoticed, containing product information and hair care products; the demand for these bags was extraordinary.
Each year LP organises a number of events to inspire hairdressers and to create a certain image around its brands. These events enable ambassadors to present their interpretation of the season’s trends in a number of shows.
1 The presentation unit can be used to present the full hair-care and styling ranges of LP in the salon.
Appendix 1b: detailed description of Wella (head games) General description
Wella is a German based company that is organised in three business divisions;
professional, consumer and fragrances & cosmetics. The Wella brand covers both the consumer and the professional brands.
The company is a worldwide player, operating in 150 countries. Recently multinational Procter&Gamble acquired the Wella-group.
Wella’s main competitors are LP, Schwarzkopf and Goldwell. The sales strategy of Wella includes the push of the brand Sebastian (which was acquired recently by the Wella group) along with the Wella brand to offer a more complete assortment (Advention, 2003).
Head games is one of the four styling ranges of Wella Professional. The brand has been launched on the Dutch market early 2004. Head games is positioned as a trendy, alternative brand with a focus on trendy styling effects.
Product
The head games range consists of hair-care and styling products, nine in total.
The products have names like Stay Put Firm Hold, All Whipped Up Volumising Mousse and Bizarre Twist Moulding Putty.
The packaging of the range differs from infuse bags containing shampoos to less extraordinary shaped containers for the styling products.
Head games’ claim is that ‘everything is possible’. There are no rules and no limits so it’s possible for everyone to create their own individual style. Head Games provides individual styling for individual minds.
All styling products contain a special combination of active ingredients that are designed so that all Head Games products are inter-mixable– resulting in infinite styling ideas.
Distribution
Head games is available through wholesalers. The sales representatives in the direct channel sales representatives visit most of Wella’s clients regularly. These representatives also have a rather classic appearance, like their colleagues of LP they wear suit and tie and vary in age from late 20’s to 60.
Wella is the first company with an on-line store for professionals (hair salons).
Existing Wella clients can select all products in the Wella assortment and buy them at the usual conditions (the amount of discount for instance varies according to the amount ordered).
This product is characterised by an intensive distribution support; head games can be found in a great variety of salons.
Like LP, Wella is mainly focused on a push strategy. Product launches are supported by advertisements in professional media. Wella also has its share of free publicity in the consumer media, although the head games range has not appeared in an editorial article yet.
Wella is also present in both the professional and the consumer markets; Wella products go by the same name in the retail channel and consumer products are more and more adopting a professional image This makes the distinction
between professional and consumer products even smaller.
Price
In general the styling products of Wella have the same price as LP’s styling products. The head games range is priced slightly higher. Wella offers price reductions of up to 40%. Such a discount applies to the entire assortment.
Promotion
The Wella Corporation as a whole does not advertise in consumer media as much as the L’Oréal group does. The free publicity that Wella gets is comparable to that of LP.
In the professional press Wella is notably present, with its seasonal trends and product launches.
The head games range has known some rather remarkable promotions. During the launch the products where presented to the hair salons in car batteries. The artwork of head games is also quite striking.
A special home page is created on the Internet for head games. This site offers a number of activities for consumers like joining the Head Games Hyper team where contestants can win prizes.
Wella was significantly present on the annual Hairstyle fair with the head games brand; flyers where handed out with a trial sample of one of the styling products.
This probably had a positive effect on their brand awareness as head games was mentioned a few times as a Cool brand in the research that was conducted at Hairstyle. This effect appears to have been of a limited duration; in the later research round none of the participants identified head games as a Cool brand2.
For in-store promotions or presentations head games does not provide eye- catching materials; there is only a simple rack to present the infusion bags.
2 The second research was conducted with a narrow population; hairdressers where selected on the basis of the use of a certain Cool styling brand.
Appendix 1c: detailed description of Sebastian (Xtah) total look from Dutch hairdressers c
General description
Sebastian is originally an American company, which has been acquired by the Wella Group. According to the Sebastian advertisements the company is “the no.
1 in selling professional styling products in America”
Product
Sebastian is specialised in styling and hair care products. Xtah is one of the five styling ranges in the assortment of Sebastian, the other ranges are: Body Double (especially meant to add volume to the hair), Shaper, Laminates and Collection.
The packaging of the various Sebastian ranges has distinctive, timeless and classy designs. Although there is a great difference between the ranges in colour and package design, each range breathes the distinct Sebastian image and the products look smart as a whole.
Sebastian knows regular changes in its product assortments; new products are added and others are deleted to keep up with the trends in the market.
Unlike the main Sebastian range, which is marketed in subtle white and silver containers, the Xtah packaging has various metallic colours while the shape of the jars is also distinctive.
According to the Sebastian web site “the Xtah products are innovative, performance driven raw materials that allow the user total freedom for experimentation and design”.
There are five styling products within the Xtah range; Cyclone Silkon Hair Cream, Twisted Taffy Free Former, Crude Clay Modeler, Roxx Rubber – Iced Gelatine, Bondage Rock - Hard Hold.
Distribution
Sebastian is marketed through a very selective distribution system and cannot be purchased through the indirect channel (wholesalers). The Sebastian sales force consists of rather young, trendy people. There is a strong relationship between them and their clients.
Many hairdressers claim that they practically had to plead to be able to buy Sebastian. Before a hair salon obtains permission to purchase Sebastian products, Sebastian employees come to see if the salon is fit to become a Sebastian salon. Some hairdressers criticise that the Sebastian salons and the Sebastian employees are a tight clique with some similarity to a sect.
The Sebastian corporation practises a pull strategy; it has such a solid image (this is further discussed in the section promotions) that there is a great demand from the hair salons for the products.
Sebastian only sells products in the professional market, although strictly speaking the company does belong to Wella, which sells consumer products.
Price
The brand is premium positioned; Sebastian products are amongst the most expensive professional styling (and hair care) products. The price of one styling product is about 30 Euro. Many hairdressers comment that the prices are outrageous, but it presumably does support the perceived high quality of the products.
The company does not offer great discounts to their clients.
Promotion
A number of promotional initiatives support Sebastian’s pull strategy; first of all the company is one of the few professional brands that advertise regularly in consumer press and not only to promote new product launches. The
advertisements are always stylish, subtle, and leave much to the imagination.
There is also quite a lot of free publicity for the Sebastian products.
When the Xtah visuals are compared to the head games visuals the similarity in the colour combination is striking. Perhaps the head games visuals where inspired by Xtah, which would not be very surprising as both brands belong to the Wella Group.
The mouth-to-mouth publicity for Sebastian is great. Among the hairdressers in the Dutch market the brand is a trade symbol; even if hairdressers have never worked with Sebastian products they know that the quality is great and the price is very high.
Sebastian reputation is not related to their presence at Hairstyle for instance;
Sebastian was one of the absent companies. The reason for its absence might be that it is not in line with the company’s exclusive image.
For in-store promotions Sebastian has appealing materials; the large white banners for instance are real eye catchers, but subtle in communicating the brand as they mainly feature the models.
Appendix 1d: detailed description of Fudge most creative and inspirational General description
Fudge is an independent distributor of professional hair products specialising in hair care and styling products. The company targets creative and fashionable teenagers and young adults (16 to 24 years old, male and female).
Initially the brand was only available in the Australian market. In 1994 operations started in the Netherlands.
Apart from styling, Fudge’s product range comprises hair care, colour and accessories. The colour line has just been launched. Fudge styling products represent 55% of the total sales.
Fudge was originally positioned as a ‘rebellious’ product and it claims to be more on the edge than others. Fudge positions itself as a very trendy brand within the medium to premium segment. People at Fudge claim to attract clients who want to be trendy, but cannot afford Sebastian products. Fudge does not want to be a mass producer of professional products like LP, Wella and Schwarzkopf.
Fudge employees indicate a number of differentiating elements of the brand; the brand is trendy and affordable, the packaging is very distinctive compared to the other brands and Fudge has a high marketing investment. Fudge claims to invest more in marketing than other smaller size brands. Finally, Fudge has a good sales efficiency.
Fudge aims at hip, trendy, young salons (that focus on young consumers).
Fudge’s target is to have 2 to 3 salons in cities and 1 in smaller towns. They also aim at salons seeking a new image. By offering a very trendy and exclusive quality product for a reasonable price.
In recent years Fudge grows faster than the market. This growth mainly concerns hair care and styling Products.
The company identifies Tigi and Sebastian as its main competitors. Fudge claims to differentiate itself from its competitors through notoriety (through heavy marketing investments) of their brand and its price-quality ratio.
Fudge’s development strategy is to increase the number of clients through an attractive pricing policy and a trendy (Cool) image. The company believes that it can add value to the concept of chains that want to position themselves as trendy.
Product
The range of styling products can be sub-divided into two categories; styling and finishing:
1. The styling range consists of the following products: Shaper, Putty, Varnish, Licorice, Gum, Erekt, Skrewd
2. The finishing range (product that is used for the ‘finishing touch’) consists of only one product: Head Polish
The Shaper is the star product of the styling range; hairdressers selling Shaper have experienced that clients will come especially to their salon to buy this product. Salons can sell about ten Shapers a day. Within the business some people claim that the success of Fudge is mainly based on the Shaper (it is said to represent 26% of the total sales).
The packaging is an eye catcher; the containers are bright orange (blue for the hair-care products).
Although Fudge is often seen as an innovative brand, the assortment and the appearance of the styling and hair care ranges have not undergone a single change in approximately 5 years.
Distribution
Fudge products are only available through direct distribution. Fudge does not sell products in the consumer market. Fudge sales representatives are young, trendy people who are dressed informally. Fudge’s distribution is mainly characterised by a pull strategy; the company believes that Fudge is a brand that sells itself and the sales representatives are not focused on making frequent visits to the clients to sell the promotions. This will be elaborated further under promotions.
It is the Fudge policy not to provide discounts to clients; the company wants to maintain an exclusive and straightforward image (Advention, 2003).
Fudge grants some exclusivity to full range Fudge salons; Fudge clients are usually consulted before Fudge decides on selling its products to a nearby hair salon.
When a hair salon becomes a new Fudge client it is obliged to acquire the entire range of Fudge products. After this initial order the hair salon may choose from the assortment.
Price
The average price of styling products is 14 Euro per product. This is slightly higher than the price of the LP tecni.art star gamma. The price difference is in practice greater as LP usually offers discounts. Fudge is almost half the price of Sebastian’s styling products.
Promotion
Promotion campaigns are presented to the customers by fax. Campaigns mostly include free gifts (an example of a free gift is underwear) with the purchase of certain products.
Next to selling by fax, the Fudge sales representatives visit their clients once every 10 to 15 weeks.
Fudge advertises regularly in the various professional magazines but not frequently in the consumer media; the brand gets a large amount of free publicity in weekly magazines.
With regards to manifestations Fudge makes an effort to be present in an uncommon way. On the hairdressers’ manifestation Hairstyle, Fudge was one of the few well-known brands that were absent. To grasp the attention of the hairdressers they organised however a big party, that same weekend, in the same city. Of course, Fudge handed out flyers for this party at Hairstyle.
The company frequently organises its own events, which breathe a distinctive Fudge image. These events are usually huge parties with famous DJ’s and dressed up entertainers.
Appendix 1e: detailed description of Tigi most creative and inspirational total look from Dutch
General description
The brand was founded in the late ‘70s in the UK where it serviced the Toni &
Guy3 artistic team and focused particularly on developing products, for instance the professional product range for Toni & Guy salons. Tigi Hair care became a separate company in 1989. In 1994 the brand made its official entrance in the Dutch market (Advention, 2003).
Nowadays Tigi distributes professional hair products, specialising in styling and hair care (60% styling and 40% hair care). All products are manufactured in the US. The brand especially targets fashion conscious customers (17 to 35 years old).
Tigi’s mission is to be the global leader in fashionable hair care and cosmetic retailing with full educational training and business development support.
According to its web site Tigi is the leading company in fashion hair care with funky and innovative products and packaging. (www.tigihaircare.co.uk) The Tigi products were the first in the cosmetics market to focus on a ‘Total Look’, which involves a range of cosmetics. Next to creating a range of
cosmetics, they started to train professionals in order to offer a complete beauty service to customers in salons.
Tigi, like Fudge, experiences a growth that is much faster than the market.
Fudge, Nexxus and Sebastian are Tigi’s main competitors. The directors of Tigi only perceive Fudge as a real competitor. The directors do not see large brands as a threat; these brands are perceived as trend followers if not copiers. Wella, for instance has introduced head games, a line that consists of products that are copies of the Bed Head range. Tigi does not perceive these brands as a threat because they cannot provide the emotion associated with Tigi products and hairdressers can see that immediately. The directors believe that by the time everybody has copied the Tigi products, Tigi will have something totally different on the market and the cycle can start all over again4. The statement that Tigi is a brand that keeps reinventing itself is supported by the fact that it used to have a positioning which was comparable to Sebastian’s. The brand was premium priced and had a vague character, but was extremely hip for over 7 years. The current positioning of the brand is premium and extremely trendy and Cool.
Tigi’s development strategy is to focus on premium, trendy salons and to continue to drive end-market and increase over the counter sales performance.
Furthermore the strategy is to differentiate from others through customised services to accelerate growth. The focus is on large salons and chains.
A number of differentiating elements of Tigi can be identified. First of all the brand has a market growth driven by end-market demand; the intention is to make Tigi a self-saleable brand.
Tigi also aims to be a creator of fashion and not a follower. Finally, Tigi strives for flexibility in terms of pricing and services.
Product
Tigi has five product ranges:
3United Kingdom based chain with hair salons world-wide, named after their founders Toni and Guy Mascolo.
4 This claim shows parallels with the diffusion theory in Chapter 2.
1. Tigi Hair care: the classical product range: shampoo, hair care and styling (10 references, 3 styling products). This line is progressively phased out;
2. Aromatherapy product range: Tigi essensuals with essential oils;
3. The product range ‘style of life’ Bed Head, containing hair care, shampoo and styling (31 references, 21 styling products). Targeted at trend followers.
4. The fashion product range Catwalk containing hair care, shampoo and styling (18 references, 10 products). Targeted at trendsetters.
5. Hardcore (accessories)
Through their very trendy and distinctive packaging, Tigi creates awareness of its products in salons; the product virtually sells itself. The products are distinctive through the colour and shapes of the containers and the fragrances of the products (even chocolate and cookie fragrance). The names are also quite distinctive and humorous; like Boy Toy Body Building Funkifier, Head Shrink Mega Firm Gel, Hard Head Mohawk Gel and Rubber Rage Only For Cool People.
Apart from being a brand that continuously reinvents itself, Tigi keeps working on the assortment and products are frequently added or deleted to keep the range up to date.
Distribution
Tigi’s products are exclusively available through the direct channel and are not available through wholesalers etc.
Tigi provides no exclusivity to salons, but the distribution is selective. Not every salon will get permission to buy Tigi products. Tigi also asks/ informs their clients before pursuing the possibility to supply a nearby salon with Tigi products.
In the Netherlands Tigi targets trendy, commercially independent and the best salons. According to Tigi approximately 4500 Dutch salons could be suitable to sell their products.
The company focuses on a pull strategy; as their development strategy illustrates: the brand aims at turning Tigi into a self-saleable brand.
The Tigi sales representatives are trendy and supportive. Tigi clearly
distinguishes itself from the big brands’ representatives who wear a suit and a tie. Tigi says to employ very trendy people, who come to take your order or deliver and give advice, over the counter sales support and product information.
They listen to your needs, and try to help you in any possible way that can add value to your business.
Although Tigi is now an independent corporation, their original parent company Toni&Guy sells products in the consumer channel.
Price
The product prices vary between €14,10 and €19,75. These prices are about 30% higher than the prices for the LP Trend gamma products, but still 40% lower than the prices for the Sebastian products. The company works with different prices (discounts) depending on their clients’ needs and volume.
Promotion
With the purchase of 90 products hair salons receive a Tigi display. This display is very simple; it is a display with different compartments, and each compartment is specifically suitable for one particular product. The display can easily be moved around in the salons. Most hair salons choose to place the display in front of the shop window as it communicates to customers that the salon is trendy / young.
In addition to that the products are very attractive and draw buyers of styling products. This display is highly appreciated by the Tigi clients as they really have the idea that it increases the flow of styling products.
Tigi’s has monthly promotional offers where two products are presented in a special package for a special price.
The company also produces Tigi posters for in-store use.
Tigi does not advertise in consumer or professional media. It gets a lot of free publicity in editorial articles.
The company says to get a lot of requests from Dutch television shows that want to use Tigi products to style the tv-stars. Tigi works together with TMF for
instance.
At Hairstyle the company was also present; Tigi had a very trendy and Cool looking stand, with young Cool people. The stand featured a DJ and was filled with Tigi products. At the stand people could buy small try-out parcels.
Appendix 2a : Original lay out of interviews held at Hairstyle In original language
Enquête Hairstyle beurs
1. Wat is de naam en de vestigingsplaats van uw salon?
2. Uw salon is
onafhankelijk
onderdeel van een franchise keten 3. Uw functie binnen de salon is
werknemer
eigenaar en kapper
eigenaar, niet kapper
leerling 4. Leeftijd respondent:
jonger dan 20
tussen 20 en 30
tusen 30 en 40
tussen 40 en 50
ouder dan 50 5. Hoe omschrijft u uw salon?
6. Wie is uw hoofdleverancier van kleurproducten?
7. Wie is (indien van toepassing) uw tweede leverancier van kleurproducten?
8. Wie is uw hoofdleverancier van styling producten? En waarom werkt u
met dit styling merk?
9. Wat vindt u dat het gebruik van dit stylingmerk zegt over uw salon?
Welk merk is volgens u het Coolste professionele stylingmerk in Nederland en waarom?
10. Vindt u dat de onderstaande termen een Cool styling merk in de
professionele markt beschrijven? Ja of nee?
Innovatief
zelfverzekerd
serieus
eigenwijs
origineel
schreeuwt om aandacht
rebels
authentiek
grappig
inspirerend
enige in zijn soort
jong
voor iedereen
vernieuwend
shockerend
vriendelijk
kleurrijk
selectief
gesloten
stijlvol
sluit aan bij u ambities als kapper
exclusief
onspannen
goedkoop
klassiek
duur
eerlijk / open
eigen karakter
volgt laatste trends
loopt voor op trends
modieus
kwaliteit
loyaal tegen over beste klanten
geloofwaardig
vrijheid
subtiel
mysterieus
betrouwbaar
75 Appendix 2b: Results of interviews held at Hairstyle
Total number of respondents: 29 (1 questionnaire could not be used as the respondent was not a hairdresser/working in a hair salon). The responses were translated from Dutch.
1. Name salon, city and province
1) Maluc Kappers, Terborg Gelderland 2) Foxx Hairfashion, Amerongen Utrecht
3) Mo´s Way. Dordrecht Zuid Holland 4) Creation kappers, Waardenburg Noord Brabant
5) Erik Hairstyling, Dongen Noord Brabant
6) Mix, Brunssum, Limburg
7) Hairdesign, Haren Groningen
8) Kapsalon Anja, Ossendrecht Noord Brabant 9) Studio Martin Hair, Zierikzee Zeeland 10) Ami Kappers, Enschede Overijssel 11) Trendline kapper, Almere Flevoland 12) Hairstyling Maya, Maastricht Limburg 13) Hairboutique Susila, Nuenen Noord Brabant 14) Timmer, Groningen Groningen 15) Twins Haarmode, Oss Noord Brabant 16) Ami Kappers, Nijverdal Overijssel 17) Haarmode Assendelft, Leeuwarden Friesland 18) Tophair, Den Bosch Noord Brabant 19) Weber, Rotterdam Zuid Holland 20) Nicole Coiffure, Doetinchem Gelderland
21) Gladys, Hilversum Utrecht 22) Trendline, Westerhaar Overijssel
23) Unknown, Horst Limburg
24) Romboudt, Hendrik Ido Ambacht Zuid Holland 25) Studio Hairstyle, Lekkerkerk Zuid Holland 26) The Haircompany. Nieuw Vennep Noord Holland 27) Kapriden, Ettenleur Zuid Holland 28) Hot Gozzip, Bussum Utrecht
29) Hairstudio Monroes, Hendrik Ido Ambacht
Zuid Holland 2. Salon is
Independent: 24 Part of a franchise 5 3. Position in the salon:
Employee: 15
Owner and hairdresser: 13 Pupil:1
4. Age:
20< : 4 20-30: 11
30-40 : 11 40-50: 3
5. Description salon:
All kinds of customers: 19 Trendy, modern: 10
6. First supplier of colouration products:
Alcina 2 Bes 1
Davines 1 Schwarzkopf 4
76
Goldwell 6 Indola 1
Farouk 1 LP 4
Kemon 1 Redken 1
Keune 3 Wella 3
Sebastian 1
7. Second supplier of colouration products:
Revlon (next to Keune) 1 LP (next to Schwarzkopf) Sebastian (next to Wella)
Schwarzkopf 1 (next to Sebastian)
8. First supplier of Hairstyling products and reason of working with this supplier?:
1) Alcina:
• good products • quality – price ratio is good 2) Matthew James:
• The newest brand in the market 3) Schwarzkopf
• good cooperation with company
• good products
• modern image
• innovative
• distinctive
• trendsetters
• good technical support 4) Indola:
• quality – price ratio is good 5) Fudge:
• good products 6) Revlon
• quality – price ratio is good • is good for the hair 7) Tigi Bed Head
• products look great
• good products • large range
• aimed at young people 8) Paul Mitchell:
• good products
• modern image • good cooperation with
company 9) Redken:
• good products 10) Keune:
• good products • easy to use
11) Sebastian:
• exclusive / luxurious image
• target a trendy audience
• used to work with the brand
• fits well with the image of the salon
12) Wella:
• good cooperation with
company • good products
• good price 13) LP:
• good business support • good product 14) Goldwell;
• determined by the franchise
• large range • good products
• used to work with the brand
77 9. Do you think that the hair styling brand you use says something about the image of your salon?
Matthew James • Modern image
Schwarzkopf • Supports a certain approach to
hairdressing
• Good quality
• Says nothing in particular
Revlon • Priced Good
• Proper and neat
Tigi • Cool /trendy
• For a (mainly young) trendy audience
LP • Attracts a broad audience
• Quality
• Class
Paul Mitchell • Shows own character of salon and
owner
Fudge • Cool /trendy
• Shows own character of salon and owner
Redken • Exclusive / luxurious image
Keune • Good price – quality ratio
• Solid image
Sebastian • Luxurious image
• Cool /trendy
• Innovative
• Good quality
Goldwell • Modern image
• Says nothing in particular
Alcina • Superior quality
• Classic
• Suitable for anyone
Wella • Modern
• Says nothing in particular
Indola • Suitable for anyone
Which professional hairstyling brand in The Netherlands has the Coolest image and why?
Tigi • Modern, happy image
• Aims at a young audience
• Packaging (colour)
• Scent
• Quality products
• Names of products
• Extensive product range
Fudge • Many styling possibilities
• Quality products
• Packaging (colour)
• Scent
• Aims at a young audience
• Modern image
• Distinctive appearance
Matthew James • Quality products
• Modern image
• Packaging (colour)
78
BadAzz (Farouk) • Packaging (colour)
LP (a-head) • Packaging (colour)
• Aims at a young audience
• Names of products
• Modern, happy image
• Fantastic promotional material
No answer • No idea, is not interested in Cool
products
• No idea, does not have enough knowledge of the market
• There are no Cool professional styling brands
• No opinion
Parucci: • Modern image
• Packaging (colour)
• Quality products
• Distinctive products
Schwarzkopf (Osis) • Modern image
• Packaging
Sebastian (Xtah) • Many styling possibilities
• Quality products
• Packaging
• Distinctive style
• Is a trend-setter always the latest products / trends
Wella (head games) • Packaging (colour)
• Aims at a young audience What terms describe Cool professional hairstyling brands in the Dutch market?
Innovative 17 Self-assured 25
Serious 12 Self-opinionated29
Original 25 Screams for attention 22
Rebellious 25 Authentic53
Funny 23 Inspiring 23 One
of a king 15 Young 24 For
everybody 18 Renewing 29 Shocking 20
Friendly 18 Colourful 25
Selective 20 Closed 1
Stylish 27 Suits hairdresser’s ambitions 27
Exclusive 19 Relaxed 19
Cheap 5 Classic 1
Expensive612 Honest / open 26
Distinctive character 29 Trend follower 17
Trend-setter 22 Fashionable 28
Quality 27 Loyal to hairdresser 27
Credible 28 Freedom 22
Subtle 16 Mysterious 20
Reliable 26
5 Word is not known amongst many hairdressers
6 For many hairdressers the term “Cheap” does not apply to Cool hairstyling products.
However, the question whether Cool products should be expensive makes the respondents doubt; this is probably due to the fact that it is unnatural for people to indicate that products should be more expensive.
79 Do you think that it is important for a professional hairstyling brand to have a Cool image?
Yes
• But is dependent on type of salon
• Easier to sell the styling products
• Draws a certain audience into the salon
• Trends are important to hair-salons, they need to keep up with the developments
• Having a good image is good for the hair-salons
• Self-assured, makes a better impression on the client
• Cool products attract a broad audience
• Makes the salon attractive No
• Attracting a broader audience is commercially more interesting
• It is most important that the products are good and the hairdresser can create various styles
• Depends on the target audience you want to attract in your salon
80 Appendix 3a: Original cards with statements for sorting task
In original language
1
Cool styling merk laat zich ontdekken door kappers
23 Cool styling merk heeft veel moeite
gedaan om een Cool imago te krijgen 2
Cool styling merk sluit aan bij de mode trends
22 Cool styling merk heeft een
bovengemiddelde prijs 3
Cool styling merk is een trendsetter
21 Cool styling merk is grappig / gebruikt
humor Cool styling merk heeft lef / durft 4
risico’s te nemen
20 Cool styling merk moet opvallen in een salon
Cool styling merk werkt samen met 5 coole / trendsettende kappers
19 Cool styling merk heeft coole / trendy
medewerkers Cool styling merk heeft producten met 6
veel styling mogelijkheden
18 Cool styling merk is in allerlei salons te
krijgen Cool styling merk komt van een relatief 7
klein bedrijf
17 Cool styling merk komt van een bedrijf dat ook producten verkoopt in de
drogisterij etc.
Cool styling merk heeft 8 kwaliteitsproducten
16 Cool styling merk is vernieuwend /
heeft vernieuwende producten 9
Cool styling merk heeft een eigen karakter
15 Cool styling merk is geloofwaardig
10
Cool styling merk is origineel / uniek
14 Cool styling merk heeft zelfvertrouwen
11
Cool styling merk komt eerlijk / echt over
13 Cool styling merk is rebels
12
Cool styling merk heeft een verpakking die duidelijk anders is dan dat van
andere merken
81 Appendix 3b: Original scale for the sorting task
In original language
The card above was used for the sorting task. The respondents sorted the cards with the statements by laying them down on this card below the appropriate category.
(-2) (-1) (0) (1) (2)
82 Appendix 3c: Respondents of the individual interviews with sorting tasks Total number of respondents: 21
Name, gender, city and FTEs7
1. Housewives on fire (m) – Amsterdam, 3 FTE 2. Scissorhands (v) - Amsterdam, 4 FTE 3. Toni & Guy (m) – Amsterdam, 15 FTE 4. Shining Star (m) - Amsterdam, 2 FTE 5. Nemo hair (v) – Amsterdam, 1 FTE 6. Kinki Bijenkorf (v) – Amsterdam, 6 FTE 7. Check your head (m) – Amsterdam, 1 FTE 8. Mike Degger (v) – Noordwijk aan Zee, 3 FTE 9. Mike Degger (v) – Noordwijk aan zee, 3 FTE
10. De wereld kapper (m) – Alphen aan den Rijn, 2 FTE 11. Kinki– Alphen aan den Rijn, 4 FTE
12. Kinki- Alphen aan den Rijn, 4 FTE
13. Sjenkels & Sjenkels (v) – Leiden, 15 FTE 14. Kniplokaal (v) – Leiden, 1 FTE
15. Haarstudio (m)– Leiden, 3 FTE 16. Hype (m)– Den Haag, 5 FTE 17. Scissors (v) – Breda, 8 FTE 18. Scissors (v) – Breda, 8 FTE
19. Koppie Koppie (v) – Den Haag, 8 FTE 20. Hedi’s Hair (v) – Utrecht, 3 FTE 21. Studio Sandra (v) – Rotterdam, 4 FTE
7 FTE’s stands for Full-time employees
83 Appendix 4: Results individual interviews with sorting task; rotation angles and matrix indicating defining sorts
Rotation angles used for factor analyis Rotating Angles Used Between Factors FTR#1 FTR#2 ANGLE
1 2 -35 1 3 -10 1 4 -20
This table shows how the different factors have been rotated, in relation to one another, to make the factors clearer.
Factor Matrix indicating defining sorts
1 2 3 4 Resp1 .2474 .4172 .3363 .5701
Resp2 .4191 .7028 .3575 .1522
Resp3 .5141 .6751 .1847 .1474 Resp4 .3534 .0974 .1770 .7914
Resp5 .7202 .3181 .3701 .1100 Resp6 .3065 .4298 .2084 .4795
Resp7 .0765 .9021 -.1134 -.1959
Resp8 .8315 .3362 -.1814 .2057
Resp9 .5976 .7054 .1408 .1458
Resp10 .4192 .8215 .1190 .1561
Resp11 .3350 .2899 .7702 .0956
Resp12 .6520 .3378 .3612 -.0064
Resp13 .6531 .2937 -.3535 .3610
Resp14 .8416 .3529 .2236 .2026
Resp15 .7269 .4782 .0056 .0676
Resp16 .8595 .2250 .1960 .2877
Resp17 .4354 .7364 -.0662 .3489
Resp18 .8027 .3080 .0834 .4056
Resp19 .8424 .3849 -.0512 .2800
Resp20 .6839 .0923 .3176 .2990
Resp21 .8193 .3223 -.0320 .3528
% expl.Var. 39 24 8 11
Scores are significant when the value is .50 or higher. The highest and significant scores are indicated with a bold font.
84 The tables in appendix 5 represent the scores of each of the sorts (respondents) with the statements. As the weights of each of the respondents are calculated (this depends on the correlation of the respondent with the factor, see chapter 3) the assigned position of each of the statements can be determined for all four factors, according to the scale –2 to 2.
Appendix 5: statement scores of factors 1 and 2
85 Appendix 5: statement scores of factors 3 and 4
86 Appendix 6: Characterising Q sorts
To facilitate the process of determining the consensus and distinguishing
statements the tables in appendix 5 are translated into characterising Q sorts for each of the factors.
A characterising Q sort represents the answer pattern of a fictive respondent who has a strong, significant correlation to a certain factor.
Factor 1
-2 -1 0 1 2
2 12 1 7 - 17
3 13
4 14 6 18
5 15 21
8 16 22
9 19 10 20 11 23
Factor 2
-2 -1 0 1 2
1 11 5 7 18 17
2 12 15 23
3 13 21
4 14 22
6 16 8 19 9 20 10 Factor 3
-2 -1 0 1 2
1 12 2 7 4 5
8 14 3 17 18 6
9 15 13 19
10 16 22 21
11 20 23
Factor 4
-2 -1 0 1 2
1 10 2 16 7 19 17
4 11 3 21 18
6 12 5 23 20
8 14 13 22
9 15
87
Appendix 7: Results per determinant
To make the translation to the conceptual model the table below puts the statements back into relation with the original determinants. Now the scores on each of the determinants can be established in a straightforward way.
Authenticity -2 -1 0 1 2
2 connects with fashion trends xxx x
7 is m arketed by a relativ ely sm all com pany
xxxx
8 has quality products xxxx
9 has a distinctiv e character xxxx
10 is original unique xxxx
11 has an im age of sincerity xxxx
15 is reliable xx xx
16 is innov ativ e / has innov ativ e products
xxx x
17 is m arketed by a com pany that also sells products in the consum er channel
x x xx
19 has Cool / trendsetting em ployees xx x x
Effortlessness -2 -1 0 1 2
1 is discov ered by hairdressers xxx x 23 has worked hard to obtain a Cool
im age
x x x x
Confidence -2 -1 0 1 2
1 is discov ered by hairdressers xxx x
3 is a trendsetter xx xx
4 has guts / dares to take risks xxx x
9 has a distinctiv e character xxxx
13 is rebellious xx xx
14 is self confident xxxx
Relating to consum ers -2 -1 0 1 2
5 co-operates with Cool trendsetting hairdressers
x xx x
6 has products with m any styling possibilities
xx x x
8 has quality products xxxx
15 is reliable xx xx
19 has Cool / trendsetting em ployees xx x x
Exclusiv ity -2 -1 0 1 2
7 is m arketed by a relativ ely sm all com pany
xxxx
17 is m arketed by a com pany that also sells products in the consum er channel
x x xx
18 is av ailable in a large v ariety of salons
x x xx
22 has an abov e av erage price xxx x
Aesthetic elem ents -2 -1 0 1 2
12 has packaging which clearly distinguishes it from others
xxxx
20 attracts attention in the salon xxx x
W it -2 -1 0 1 2
21 is funny / uses hum our xxx x
88 Appendix 8: Reliability, validity and generalisability of the data collection methods
In this section the validity and reliability issues will be addressed, as well as the element of generalisability.
The reliability issue is concerned with whether alternative interviewers would reveal comparable information. Various types of bias can influence the reliability of a research. The various issues will be discussed in relation to the data-
collection methods.
The first type of bias is the interviewer bias; this type of bias is caused by characteristics of the interviewer. For instance the interviewer can influence the participant by placing comments etc. The interviewee can also lack credibility.
As both interviews face to face there was a risk of bias due to the interviewer. To make sure that this bias was limited the following measures were taken:
The comments that the interviewer made with regards to the questions were limited to cases were something was not clear to the participant. Potential answers were not given.
In the semi-structured interviews the information was noted down on the questionnaire; this way the information was structured immediately per respondent.
During the interviews with the sorting task the interviewer bias was limited as one of the advantages of the Q methodology is that there is minimal intrusion by the observer: the statements emerge from previous research (in this case
literature research and market research) and the respondents rank the statement as they see fit (Brown, 1996).
After both interviewing rounds the information was processed immediately to make sure that as much information as possible is saved.
The second type of bias is interviewee or response bias. This type of bias is caused by the interviewee.
The following measures were taken to limit the chances on interviewee bias: The participants were not told that the research was done for LP to make sure that respondents have the feeling that they can answer freely. To test this a number of hairdressers were told that the research was for LP. In that case the
hairdressers were reluctant to participate and had the idea that the interviewer was aiming to sell something.
It was very easy for the respondents to participate in both rounds of interviews;
the first round of interviews was held at the Hairstyle manifestation and the second round in the salons of the hairdressers. In case of the interviews in the salons these hairdressers were approached by telephone first to make an appointment for the interview.
There is a number of advantages to doing interviews in the salons of the hairdressers;
- the interviewer can be sure that the salon is indeed a Cool / trendy salon and that they work with the specified brands.
- the interviewees are flattered that they are approached for this research and are very willing to co-operate. Most respondents made sure that they had enough time to participate in the interview.
- the interviewees are in their own surroundings and are therefore very comfortable and, again, willing to co-operate.
Validity refers to the extent to which the researcher has gained full access to the knowledge and meanings of informants’ (Saunders et al, 2000). A qualitative
89 research approach is very suitable to improve the validity of the research as topics can be covered from a variety of angles and questions can be made clear to the respondents. Chapter 3 explains that this research is based on explanation building. An advantage of this technique is that is enhances the internal validity of a research.
Finally there is the issue of generalisability; can the findings in this research be generalised to the entire population?
To begin with it this research is mainly based on qualitative research methods, and usually this type of research is not suitable to make generalistations about the entire population as it is based on small and unrepresentative number of cases. In this case the though the results are generalised to the entire
population; i.e. the hairdressers that are a target market for Cool professional hairstyling products. First of all the research is based on a number of researches (literature-, market- and customer research) and the results support one
another. And by using the Q-methodology there is empirical proof for the existence of a number of subjectivity segments, with a number of important consensus statements amongst these segments (see chapter 4).
As this research is tailor-made for the market of professional hairstyling products the results are not generalisable to other markets.
