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A week ago, Hairitage, the hair care brand created by Mindy McKnight in partnership with beauty incubator Maesa, posted a video to TikTok, as it does 1-2 times a day. But this time, it saw a different outcome.
Under the post, which was set to Billie Eilish’s popular song ‘”Birds of a Feather,” it received a request: “I grew watching you and learned how to do my hair unfortunately I live 1 hour away from Walmart and have only tried once! could we make a deal! I don’t get many likes @hairitagebymindy”
“You got a deal! Let’s see if you can get to 1K likes and then 10 Hairitage products are yours! Don’t forget to tag us,” the brand replied. Dozens of similar requests followed, and Hairitage continued to make the same promise. This mirrors a trend in which TikTokers ask their moms or boyfriends how many likes they’d need to secure to earn a particular gift from them.
Since TikTokers and Hairitage started “making deals,” over 1,000 videos (with the brand tagged) have been made and over 60 “PR” packages have been sent, with about 30 more getting ready to be sent at press time. Around 80 participants, or 8%, have successfully completed the challenge thus far, said Bri Kennedy, director of integrated marketing at Maesa. At the same time, the brand, which now has over 155,000 followers on TikTok, gained 14,000 followers, representing a 10% increase, in the last week. On average, the brand has included five products in each box.
As it has only been a week, the somewhat accidental campaign is all about brand awareness and engagement. It’s too early to tell if it has affected sales, according to a spokesperson, who declined to comment on company revenue.
On June 6, the day after the comments started building on the first post, Hairitage posted a video of an employee packing up a box for a “deal” participant named Hannah, which elicited dozens more comments. “We also did a spin where we had [our founder], Mindy [McKnight], present us, the brand, with a challenge, saying that we can only keep this challenge going and giving out these deals if we reach 20,000 likes on the video, plus comments from five verified accounts,” Kennedy said. Hairitage hit those benchmarks in 48 hours.
“The community wants more deals, so, of course, they’re helping us get the engagement on our video,” she said. “We received more than five comments from verified accounts and some from huge CPG and beauty brands.” The video currently has 23,000 likes.
In some cases, TikTokers have proposed bolder deals: “50k for your whole line of hairitage products 🙌❤️,” a user named Madison commented on a video. Others are more general, with comments as simple as: “Me😭🫶🏿.”
The challenge, in general, builds on several current trends in beauty marketing. Never before have “regular people” been so familiar with influencer marketing and how it works. As for brides, it has become more common for non-influencers to ask how they too can receive “PR.” And it pays off for brands, too. Those with active, engaged communities generate buzz on social media and, often, sales as hype grows organically. Savvy brands like Set Active, Crown Affair, Arrae and Urban Decay have all added customers to their PR lists in the past.
Over the past couple of days, the brand has gone live on its TikTok account while members of its team pack boxes for participants. “We’ve seen engagement on those Lives like no other. These girls want to engage with us,” Kennedy said. “Not only are they talking about Hairitage products, but they’re also requesting songs, like, ‘Play Taylor Swift!’ Or, ‘Play Sabrina Carpenter!’ And they’re talking to us about concerts. We’ve also received messages saying, ‘I was able to grow my account so much from this, thank you so much,’ and, ‘I’ve made friends along the way.’ We are cultivating this entity of mostly females within our target market on TikTok, and it’s been it’s been amazing.”
Though the premise is simple, Nadia Khan, Maesa’s svp of brand marketing at Maesa, said it carries a message of “empowerment” because the participating women have all supported one another. User @xoxo.paeeee, for example, asked Hairitage, “How many for the curler & straightener in 1?” Hairitage responded, “2K likes 💜!” @xoxo.paeeee’s subsequent post has received 29,000 likes. User @Kendallcarlson0 was asked to get 1,000 likes for her request, though her tagged post far surpassed that with 89,000 likes. TikToker Abigail Demers posted a video where she says, “I just have to say how cute it is that all of the girlies are getting together and liking each other’s posts so we can all get free Hairitage by Mindy products. Like, this is true girlhood and it’s so cute.”
Hairitage’s typical shopper demographic is 25-40 years old. Brand executives estimated that those receiving products through these deals are slightly younger, at 16-25, thus exposing the brand to dozens of potential new customers. Hairitage is sold at Walmart, CVS, Kroger and H-E-B, as well as on TikTok Shop, where it debuted in November and has already sold over 15,000 units.
“Some [TikTokers] say, ‘Oh, I haven’t tried Hairitage, but I’ve heard of it. I would love to try something.’ Some of them say, ‘Oh, I love the argan oil,'” Kennedy said. “It’s been a pretty good balance of what seems to be new consumers and consumers who are already engaged.”
“It’s so important that Hairitage cultivates a strong, engaged community filled with consumers who know they can come to us and trust us with hair-care advice. We love engaging with our community, and it’s imperative to our success,” said McKnight, who has 644,000 TikTok followers. McKnight started as a YouTuber in 2009.
“Mindy built her whole hair-care community of 5.6 million followers, … and that community turns to her for hair tips and tricks. Hairitage is an extension of that,” said Khan.
“Now that we’ve grown our community so much, [we’ll continue to think about] new content types that are going to resonate with these new, younger followers,” Kennedy said.
“This has given us a fun, playful edge that I think is important for the brand, [and we will continue] to create content in this vein,” Khan added. “It will be important to retain this demographic, as well.”
Collabs of the week
Away x La Ligne
Just in time for summer vacation, Away, known for millennials’ favorite suitcases, and La Ligne, known for its striped apparel, have teamed up on a 20-piece capsule collection. The corresponding campaign is fronted by actress Natasha Lyonne. The collection includes luggage, packing cubes and apparel, among other products, all in an orange and blue color scheme.
“We have long been admirers of [Away co-founder and CEO] Jen [Rubio]. … Jen and I first met as co-founders of DTC businesses and became close friends over the years. So the idea of collaborating was something we discussed for some time, and it felt so organic and easy,” said Molly Howard, CEO of La Ligne.
“Both La Ligne and Away have amassed followings by taking essentials — cozy sweaters and suitcases — and making them elevated and easy at the same time,” Rubio echoed. “With the summer travel season fast approaching, the timing for a capsule collection couldn’t be better to provide our communities with a vibrant, playful collection that really captures the spirit of summer.”
The luggage portion of the collab is shoppable on Away’s site, while the apparel can be found on La Ligne’s.
Blueland x Alexis Nikole Nelson (@blackforager)
For its first scent collab with a creator, Blueland, known for its sustainable cleaning supplies and personal care products, tapped Alexis Nicole Nelson, AKA @blackforager. Nelson only started her career as a creator in 2019 but has already amassed 4.4 million followers on TikTok and 1.8 million on Instagram. Still, given that she creates content about nature and sustainability, she is often wary of brand collabs or anything that feels like it is pushing product, she said at an event celebrating the project earlier this week.
But Blueland is a rare brand she feels is aligned with her values and mission, she said. “The scents are Beach Rose, Juneberry Basil and Lilac Clove, [and were] inspired by some of my favorite foraged flavors that are always in my routine. Foraging embodies a symbiotic relationship with the environment, and my collection with Blueland gives environmental activism the fun twist it sometimes needs,” Nelson told Glossy. Shop it here.
Madewell x Lisa Says Gah
Though collabs often bring together brands that play in different categories, Madewell and Lisa Says Gah both live in the apparel space. Still, the two brands teamed up on a 20-piece capsule inspired by the Greek isles and designed to make packing for a summer vacation easier.
“We were excited to partner with Madewell and tap into their talented design team, resources, and commitment to fit and quality,” said Lisa Bühler, CEO and founder of Lisa Says Gah. “Our strengths in print and novelty must-haves were taken to new heights by the addition of Madewell’s dependable fit and quality,” she said, noting that the project took two years to bring to fruition and covers not just apparel, but also swim and jewelry. “We selectively choose brands that excite us with their designs and creative points of view and aim to explore new categories or areas that we may lack. Our fans eagerly anticipate the surprise and delight factor that comes with each new collab. Having two beloved brands merging is the ultimate delight,” she said. Shop it here.
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