During the months of February and March, Sally Beauty is leaning into its BIPOC customer base by working with historically Black colleges and university students.
With a campaign called “Rooted in Success,” Sally Beauty is working with the interactive museum and advocacy group The Black Hair Experience to host events for both the public and HBCU students, plus it’s providing a nationwide discount for active HBCU students. The primary intention is to capture new loyalty members by signing people up via their email addresses. The name Rooted in Success is meant to convey an uplifting sentiment and to connect Sally Beauty with feelings of empowerment, inclusion and knowledge.
Notably, Sally Beauty has over 100 textured hair-care brands on its roster and over 50 Black-owned or-founded brands. Approximately 30% of its hair-care sales are textured hair products, said Maryann Herskowitz, vp of merchandising at Sally Beauty, in a 2019 interview. According to Sally Beauty’s first quarter of fiscal year 2024 earnings from February, net sales were $931 million for the quarter, marking a decrease of 2.7% year-over-year. Sally Beauty’s 16 million loyalty members generated 77% of sales.
“We’re hoping to continue to build community with The Black Hair Experience and celebrate hair together through two beauty events. When we talked [internally] about the audience and who we wanted to embrace during this time, it was a natural fit to support HBCUs and their students,” said Elizabeth Nix, vp of marketing at Sally Beauty.
The two tentpole in-person events will be held in Atlanta, on February 24, and in Washington D.C., on March 16. The free public events feature hair product demos and guidance on curating hair routines, as well as networking opportunities, free headshots, free product goody bags, and a panel discussion with representatives from Mielle, SheaMoisture, TPH by Taraji and PuffCuff. The panel will also be broadcast on Sally Beauty’s YouTube channel and e-commerce site. Sally Beauty is specifically targeting HBCU students by working with HBCUs to announce the events to their student bodies; HBCU students will also receive a 10% student discount.
“HBCUs are synonymous with building community and equipping young generations as they’re starting their journey. What better place to start [recruiting customers] than when they’re at school, learning and diving into community and culture by exploring the possibilities ahead of them?” said Nix.
Sally Beauty typically celebrates Black culture and customers during February’s Black History Month. In 2023, the retailer launched a campaign called We See You, celebrating inclusivity through founder spotlights on social media, in-store signage and dedicated space on e-commerce. But by targeting students, Sally Beauty also quietly recognizes the impact and influence of younger people in the textured hair-care space. According to Pew Research, Gen Z best exemplifies the U.S.’s changing racial and ethnic makeup, influencing factors like hair type and skin tone. Nearly 52% of Gen Zers are non-Hispanic white, significantly smaller than the 61% share of millennials who reported as non-Hispanic white in 2002. When P&G incubated its Gen-Z brand Nou with Walmart in Aug. 2021, changing demographics was called out as a motivating factor, with 75% of Gen Zers saying they have “textured” hair.
“[Hair texture diversity] doesn’t change the product mix, but it changes how we talk about it and who we can talk about it to,” said Herskowitz. She also pointed out that Sally Beauty does not silo textured products, which have historically been separately merchandised in mass and drug stores. Some have derided this practice as alienating and even racist, especially when stores place locks over textured products but not non-textured hair care items. In 2020, Walmart acknowledged the issue and promised to no longer lock up products geared toward Black customers.
“You’ll notice in most of our stores that hair care is one continuous aisle; there aren’t separate sections in most of our stores. The aisle goes from general hair care all the way to the coiliest hair products,” said Herskowitz.
