Hair Care & Multicultural EPPS Educational Session
Monday, June 5, 2017 – Thursday, June 8, 2017
ECRM Las Vegas Red Rock Casino and Resort
Following the successful 2016 Facts Matter education event at ECRM’s annual Hair Care & Multicultural EPPS, the 2017 Update Educational Event was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Decision makers from more than 70 leading food, drug, mass and specialty retailers, as well as 50 manufacturers and brand owners, brokers, and distributors were in attendance. The annual event was convened by beauty industry icon Lafayette Jones with a participating audience of a virtual “who’s who” in the multicultural beauty industry.
An educational panel discussion entitled “Expanding Beauty Industry Horizons—Understanding the New Fundamentals” was held on Wednesday, June 7 at the Red Rock Casino and Resort in Las Vegas. This discussion coincided with the ECRM Skin, Bath, Cosmetics and Fragrance Suppliers/Suppliers of Hair Care, Multicultural Hair, Hair Color, Hair Accessories, Hair Appliances and Tools event and provided actionable insights and information to help buyers and sellers grow their beauty businesses. The three panelists who took place in the discussion were Michelle Breyer, CEO of TextureMedia; Sandra Miller Jones, Founder of Segmented Marketing Services, Inc. (SMSi); and Richelieu Dennis, CEO of Sundial Industries. The education session was moderated by Lafayette Jones, Urban Call Publisher and Global Beauty Alliance Convener.
The second annual ECRM and SMSi education session featured an all-star panel of experienced, business savvy industry leaders and experts. Lafayette Jones, the publisher of Urban Call and a well-respected industry leader, moderated the event and provided information about how to understand and leverage the latest multicultural trends that are transforming the multicultural beauty category. The overall multicultural beauty category size of $7 billion and compounded annual growth of 10% represents a huge opportunity for those who understand the new fundamentals. The panelists examined the trends that are transforming the multicultural category—from brand offerings to retail merchandising shifts to new general market opportunities, and how to reach these consumers with proven grassroots marketing techniques.
The entire beauty industry continues seismic shifts in consumer behavior, demands, distribution, and acquisitions affecting every sector and market. What was once considered the norm is being completely transformed. Finding the right balance is the key for companies and their brands to grow their business, and capture a fair share by improving their competitive position. This panel provided insights on how to adapt to these changes.
Meet Lafayette Jones
Each month, Urban Call Briefs covers subjects that provide readers of OTC Beauty Magazine with information on multicultural consumers – Hispanics and African Americans – who are the fastest growing consumer segments in the U.S. The mission of this column is to build a bridge of communications and information between manufacturers and retailers and the ethnic consumers they wish to serve better. The column offers resources covering marketing, retail merchandising, consumer research, purchase behavior, fashion and beauty trends, industry events and people, trade association news, new product launches and a potpourri of information designed to help the readers make intelligent decisions about the customers they serve. Urban Call is a registered trademark of Segmented Marketing Services, Inc. (SMSi).
The preceding article is the property of SMSi – Urban Call Marketing, Inc. and may not be reproduced without written permission from the author.
1. Lafayette Jones (Moderator)
CEO SMSi-Urban Call Marketing, Publisher Urban Call
During the 2015-17 period, Jones, serving as Convener and Board member, forged an alliance between leading global multicultural health and beauty care industry competitors to create the Global Beauty Alliance (GlobalBeautyAlliance.com), which represents the combined voice of the Multicultural Beauty Category.
Prior to this, at two Chicago minority-owned powerhouses—Johnson Publishing Company (Fashion Fair Cosmetics, Ebony magazine) and Johnson Products Company (Ultra Sheen, Gentle Treatment)—he served as VP and General Manager before founding and serving as President of the American Health and Beauty Aids Institute (AHBAI). He created the highly successful Orville Redenbacher Gourmet Popping Corn and Hunt’s Manwich strategies at ConAgra and served Procter & Gamble, Kraft, General Mills and Unilever as a sales and marketing executive. Jones is a beauty industry thought leader and decades-long magazine columnist for Beauty Industry Report, CosmoBiz, OTC Beauty Magazine, Sophisticates Black Hair, and Beauty Times Magazine, as well as publisher of Urban Call Custom publications. Visit Issuu.com/SMSiUrbanCallMarketing.com.
ECRM Panel Discussion Moderator – Expanding Beauty Industry Horizons: Understanding The New Fundamentals
2. Richelieu Dennis (Panelist/Presenter)
CEO/Founder Sundial Industries: SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage and Nyakio Brands
Richelieu Dennis has recently been named to the Fast Company 2017 Most Creative People list, recognized in the list’s Fashion and Beauty segment for his efforts to “break down the walls” separating ethnic beauty sections from the rest of the beauty department in their stores. His Amityville, N.Y.-based company is the maker of the SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage, Madam C.J. Walker Beauty Culture, and Nyakio personal care brands.
Born in Liberia, Sundial Brands CEO Richelieu Dennis came to the United States to attend renowned business school Babson College. When he graduated in 1991, he was unable to return to Liberia because of civil war. Driven by his passion for entrepreneurship and sustained by a vision to fill unmet consumer needs, Richelieu partnered with his best friend and college roommate, Nyema Tubman, to pursue a bold concept: address skin and hair care issues traditionally ignored by mass market companies. Drawing from deep traditions born out of his family’s roots in Africa and passed down to him from his grandmother, Richelieu incorporated four generations of recipes, wisdom and cultural experiences into natural bath and body care products, co-founding Sundial with his mother—Mary Dennis—and Nyema. Sundial remains true to the deep family legacy and an inspiration of Richelieu’s grandmother, Sofi Tucker.
ECRM Presentation – The New General Market: #BreakTheWalls Campaign
3. Michelle Breyer (Panelist/Presenter) Named one of the 50 Most Influential People in the Multicultural Market by Women’s Wear Daily in 2015, Michelle Breyer is a visionary entrepreneur who took a personal frustration over out-of-control curls and built it into one of the largest media platforms for hair. What started as a hobby for the former award-winning newspaper reporter 19 years ago with NaturallyCurly.com has grown to a community that now spends more than $1 billion a year on hair care.
Michelle has consulted with companies both large and small to help shape their strategies for coils, curls and waves, whether it be developing the right products or communicating effectively with this consumer. Michelle has shared her message of empowerment with other female entrepreneurs, inspiring them to channel their own passions into successful careers.
TextureMedia is the largest hair care platform and trusted thought leader that empowers and inspires millions of textured-hair women to embrace their naturally beautiful selves. By engaging beauty enthusiasts through original content, branded entertainment, social media, product reviews and commerce, it influences up to $5 billion in haircare sales each year.
For clients and brand partners, the platform is a creative powerhouse delivering impactful marketing services and data-driven insights that translate to increased brand exposure and greater market share. Its monthly social, consumer reach is 26 million strong across a portfolio of digital brands including NaturallyCurly, CurlyNikki, Shop NaturallyCurly and its Market Research & Insights division. NaturallyCurly is the flagship brand and first-to-market platform, which has amplified the needs and voice of its textured-hair community since 1998.
Two decades ago, few products existed for textured hair, even though more than 60 percent of the population has wavy, curly or coily hair. As brands and retailers realized the size and power of this market, the category has grown exponentially. The textured-hair consumer spends an average $82 on hair care products over a 3-month period—more than twice as much as the straight-haired consumer. Texture is not a one-size-fits-all category, and it requires a sophisticated understanding of this passionate, knowledgeable and diverse range of consumers. It is not a consumer that can be studied exclusively by ethnicity. This presentation looked at who this consumer is—by ethnicity and texture type—what influences her purchasing decisions, what brands and products she buys, how much she spends and where she shops.
ECRM Panel Presentation – The Power of the Multicultural Consumer in the Haircare Aisle
4. Sandra Miller Jones (Panelist/Presenter)
CEO/Founder Segmented Marketing Services, Inc. (SMSi)
Jones was the first African-American woman to receive an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business. After leaving Kellogg, she worked as a marketing executive for the Quaker Oats Company, managing a variety of national brands, including the $100 million plus Quaker Oatmeal, Captain Crunch and Quaker Grits franchises. During her 35 years in business, Jones’ company has helped numerous clients expand their multicultural businesses, including Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, AARP, Aetna, Magic Johnson Enterprises, General Mills General Motors and other leading companies and brands. Jones has helped numerous women entrepreneurs start and expand their businesses, which is her passion. She has also employed hundreds of community residents each year, including local outreach managers in 36 top cities. SMSi’s proprietary networks (SegmentedMarketing.com) for community outreach include 10,000 churches, 40,000 beauty and barber shops, 20,000 independent retailers and other locations where multicultural consumers can be accessed. The company distributes millions of free product samples and promotional materials via the networks gatekeepers. Jones is a member of the Urban League, the Black Chamber of Commerce, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and The Links Inc. She is also a board member for NC Mutual Insurance Company and the Women’s Fund, and past chairman of the Winston-Salem YWCA. She is married to Lafayette Jones and they have a daughter, Dr. Bridgette Jones Brooks.
While social media and other high-tech communications approaches have become valuable tools for marketers, the continuing importance of more intimate, high-touch consumer interface must not be ignored. This is especially true for key multicultural consumer segments, where trust of traditional media messaging tends to be low. We all know that meeting consumers where they live, shop, worship and play drives purchase, but we face the challenge of doing this efficiently. This presentation provides an overview of leading proven grassroots marketing techniques, including case studies in which they were successfully used.
ECRM Presentation – Reaching Consumers with Effective Marketing Tools
Each month, Urban Call Briefs covers subjects that provide readers of OTC Beauty Magazine with information on multicultural consumers, Hispanics and African Americans, who are the fastest growing consumer segments in the U.S. The mission of this column is to build a bridge of communications and information between manufacturers and retailers and the ethnic consumers they wish to serve better. The column offers resources covering marketing, retail merchandising, consumer research, purchase behavior, fashion and beauty trends, industry events and people, trade association news, new product launches and a potpourri of information designed to help the readers make intelligent decisions about the customers they serve. Urban Call is a registered trademark of Segmented Marketing Services, Inc. (SMSi). For more information, call 336-759-7477 or visit www.segmentedmarketing.com.
The preceding article is the property of SMSi – Urban Call Marketing, Inc. and may not be reproduced without written permission from the author.
