Branding
How to make it work for you and your salon
Greg Robins
greg@salonmagazine.ca
604-561-4971

Who is this guy?
• Launched Salon Magazine over 20 years ago
• Producer of the Contessa Awards
• Added Elevate Magazine in 2004
• Added Salon Lookbook in 2012

What you will take away
• What branding is and why it matters to you
• How to discover your brand
• Designing your brand
• How to communicate your brand
• Using your brand to acquire, retain and grow your
business
• How to build a team to support your brand

Connecting
• Take notes - you’ll get more out of today
• Ask questions. Contribute. Challenge me.
• I’ll be around after to chat or or answer
questions.

What is branding?
The sum of all experiences your clients
have at all touchpoints of your business

What is branding?
It is as unique as you are. It can’t be duplicated and
rarely can it be copied or borrowed.

What is branding?
• A brand is the signature of your company
• A brand is your identity, clearly defined
• A brand conveys emotion and evokes feelings
• A brand is forever - it will outlive you
• A brand is shorthand for everything great you
do

What is branding?
• A brand is the signature of your company

What is branding?
• A brand says everything in a simple
moment

What is branding?
• A brand is your identity, clearly defined
Clean
Refined
Classic
Simple
Human
Memorable

What is branding?
• A brand is your identity, clearly defined
Clean
Refined
Classic
Simple
Human
Memorable

What is branding?

Branding permeates
• Your brand will touch everything you do
• Your salon will be defined by your brand
• Your work & design will be driven by your
unique brand
• Even you clients will be determined by your
brand

Defining your brand
Who are you, anyway?

Defining your brand
Who will you become?

Defining your brand
• Who are you?
• What do you love?
• How would others describe you?
• Why are you in business?
• Elements that define you: food, music, art, locations
• Your personal style: fashion, home, car, art
• Your professional style: presence, style, reputation
Your turn! Define
your current state

What is your brand now?
• What’s already done to create your
brand?
• How does your team define your brand?
• What products do you carry and how are
they part of your brand?

Up for change
• What do you LOVE about your brand today?
• What do you DISLIKE about your brand?
• How much can you afford to change?
• What is your ultimate goal?
• Who will support you and your evolution?
• Are you prepared to adopt change as your brand evolves?

Who is your target?
• Describe your ideal client
• What is their income and education?
• Men/women, single/married?
• What is their style (or lack of).
• What would be their values & creed?

Gen C
Create. Curate. Communicate.

Gen C
• How do you target the Connected Generation?
• Are the bored? What’s wrong with these kids?
• They are talking to each other instead of brands speaking
to them.
• Span of attention. Expectations. Changing levels of trust.
The love of a logo.
• I’ll be interested if you are interesting.

Up for change
• What do you LOVE about your clients today?
• What do you DISLIKE about your clients?
• What % of clients can you afford to shed?
• Who will support you and your evolution?
• Are you prepared to adopt changes to clientele
as your brand evolves?

• What are your personal
goals?
• How do you envision yourself
in 3 or 5 years?
• What do you want to change about your clients?
• What will be your dream workday in the future?
Your turn! Define
your desired state
Defining your brand

Defining your brand
• Brainstorm keywords that you describe
what you will become Your turn!

Your tagline
• Short
• Easy to remember
• Needs Cadance
• Tells it all
• Give a clear benefit
• Try a few now!
Your turn!
If you can't explain to people in
three to five words what you do,
then it will be hard to communicate
the vision to your employees. A
slogan isn't just about marketing
success, but it's also about having
internal customers see the vision
and the mission that the company
is working on.

Your visuals
• Choose a theme
• Keep it simple
• Rinse. Repeat.
• Keep it relevant
• Stick to it
• Examples of Guess

Some image trends
The glitch, women in power, instagram

Your space
• Your environment will support and build
your brand
• Consider everything: furniture, mirrors,
lighting, colours, plants, artwork, flooring,
music, front desk, bathrooms*, closet for
clothes, capes, stations, window signage,
sandwich boards, sign. Every detail.

Look at all areas of your salon and business
• Your station
• Your reception
• Your back bar
• Your retail

Your space

Your space

Your space
Resources:
• Ask your distributor for help
• Visit other salons near you
• Research and look at other industries
• Try a local design school that may provide students who can
help
• Remember - your space must match your brand

Your retail
Retail is one of the single most powerful sources of
effective branding
• The first and last thing a client sees inside your
salon
• Clients leave with the fragrance of that brand
• Retail defines colours, attitude and tone
• Product price points define your clientele

Include the people and staff
around you
• Don’t do this alone!
• Get input & help
• Introduce your brand
• Get buy-in
• Be persistent

MT: Feedback model
1. Ask permission
2. State the behaviour
3. Detail the consequences
4. Delegate the responsibility back to the
person to change the behaviour

Your marketing

• Look at all your marketing efforts
• For social, consider Hootsuite
• For other media (like papers, direct mail), tell your
reps about your new brand and ask them to help
• Make a calendar - yes it sounds boring
• Get your team involved in the right way
Your marketing

Social media:
• Have a plan and stick to it.
• Develop content that engages your target audience
• Include images that match your message
• Assign one person in the company to create and or execute
social media*
• Consider Hootsuite as a tool
Your marketing

Facebook primer:
• Use images. Make them authentic. Trends now are:
women in power, glitches, luscious images of products
• Post 3 - 5 times a week.
• Combine good content with offers and promotions
• Be professional, and have a separate personal
account
Your marketing

Twitter primer:
• Tweet things that matter, and be consistent
• Include images since Twitter is developing the
feature
• Retweet what makes sense
• Be professional and have a separate personal
account
Your marketing

Instagram primer:
• Post 2 - 5 times per week
• Make it count - don’t do it “just because”
• Shoot close, well lit. Be consistent with filters.
• Integrate hashtags or make your own - less is more
and they should have a purpose. #notlikethisohmygod
Your marketing

Media primer:
• Make all your marketing match
• Get your reps in on your plans & ask for help
• Tie offers together. Example: “Post an
instagram of your favorite hairstyle, hashtag it,
and you could win a day in the salon.”
Marketing your brand

Online Advertising primer
• Google Adwords for straightforward ads
• Facebook for targeted campaigns
Marketing your brand

Google Adwords:
• Works by showing your ads on Google Search
pages by matching “keywords”. For example, a
search for “short hair” will display your ad. You
only pay when somebody clicks your ad.
• You bid a price for your ad to display before your
competitor’s
Marketing your brand

Defending your brand
When social media does you no
favours
• Respond to negative
comments on social media to
preserve your brand
• Ask your clients to rate you -
use a small card to encourage
it.

Defending your brand
When social ratings do you no favours
• Reply when possible
• Take these as a lesson and opportunity
to improve your workplace

Commit to your brand
• It’s like working out - it only works if you
commit and stick to it
• Make it a filter which you pass all
decisions through
• Get to love your brand - make it part of
your next great move to success

Let your brand evolve
• Get regular feedback from staff, clients and
people you trust
• Check your metrics - foster the winners
• Stay educated and make use of your
distributor’s expertise
• Surprise (in a good way) your clients

Case study
Angelo’s Salon and Spa in Port Moody, BC
is a well established salon that needed to
go to the next level.
• Branded as “Experts in colour correction,
cuts, spa treatments and extensions”.

Case study
New web site, new staff photos

Case study
Established social media programs to have
Angelo’s appear at the top of Google
search.

Case study
Measured success with Google Analytics

Recap
• What branding is and why it matters to you
• How to discover your brand
• Designing your brand
• How to communicate your brand
• Using your brand to acquire, retain and grow your business
• How to build a team to support your brand

Contact
Greg Robins
604-561-4971
greg@salonmagazine.ca