NOT ‘JUST’ A SALON
A national ad campaign has shown millions of people the remarkable impact hairdressing businesses have on their local communities.
A cut, a chat, a shoulder to cry on. Hair salons wield an extraordinary power: the ability not only to create beautiful physical transformations, but also to form nurturing community spaces.
For the past few weeks, a major advertising campaign, Not ‘Just’ A Salon, has shown the remarkable ways hair pros take care of people, whether creating safe spaces for people to relax and unwind, or extending their support beyond the salon walls to impact positively on their local neighbourhoods.
Created by The Hairdressing Industry, the Community Interest Company dedicated to showcasing the value and opportunity of careers in hairdressing, in an exclusive collaboration with L’Oréal Professional Products, the campaign features nine salons – Noco Hair, Bloggs Salons and Gaudi Hair in Bristol; Hession Hairdressing, Dylan Bradshaw and Wildflower in Dublin; and Charlie Miller, Neil Maclean Hair Studio and Toni&Guy in Edinburgh – collectively demonstrating how hair pros are the driving forces behind initiatives to support and nurture local neighbourhoods, with examples ranging from mindfulness and nutrition advice to charity work and menopause clinics.
The campaign also reinforced the message behind The Hairdressing Industry’s 2022 Not ‘Just’ A Hairdresser campaign, highlighting the hairdressing industry as a vibrant, inspirational place to work, offering lifelong learning and opportunities.
Not ‘Just’ A Salon was seen by around 20 million people on Meta platforms and YouTube, while in Bristol the campaign also appeared on billboards and other outdoor sites around the city, as well as on the sides of major bus routes. The campaign concluded with dozens more salons taking part in The Big Hair Do long Wednesday (November 8), a live in-salon event, where people invited got a taste of the expert skills and knowledge, and exciting services and products available in-salon. Guests left with new fringes, colour touch-ups, beautifully glossy hair – and a goody bag filled with product samples from a range of L’Oréal Professional Products brands.
Says The Hairdressing Industry CEO, Jenny Brooks: “The dedication and commitment of hair professionals to their local communities don’t just impact the services they provide, but also the people they touch, making it a better world for everyone. Not ‘Just’ A Salon reminds people of the benefits of a salon visit to mental health and wellbeing, while showcasing how salons are innovative, exciting and compelling places to work and make a difference.”
The campaign comes at a time when the hairdressing industry is facing its greatest recruitment challenge in a generation.
According to a 2022 report by the National Hair & Beauty Federation, ‘Careers At The Cutting Edge’, there were 10,000 fewer hair and beauty apprenticeship starts in the United Kingdom in 2020/21 than four years earlier. With the campaign linking people to a dedicated website, the-industry.co.uk, where they can meet all the case studies and find out how to get started in hairdressing, Not ‘Just’ A Salon is part of a wider drive to create and safeguard a new pipeline of talent to meet the needs of salons and barbershop businesses in the future.
See Not ‘Just’ A Salon and read the salon stories in full at the-industry.co.uk
Credits:
Still photography: Sarah Seal
Bristol video: clockwise.film
Big Hair Do photography: Matt Willis (Bristol), Roger Kenny (Dublin) and Jess Shurte (Edinburgh)