Shaun P, Inventor, Tangle Teezer, the premium professional hair brush brand, shares the brand’s market presence, recent innovations and more with Salon India.
Since Tangle Teezer has been in India for a year now, how has the response been to the brand?
It’s been absolutely amazing and has exceeded our expectations. A lot of our loyal customers were happy to see their favourite brand on the shelves in their own country. Consumers who didn’t know about the brand are loving the experience of trying Tangle Teezer hair brushes for the first time.
What are some of the challenges you have faced in marketing and distribution?
Tangle Teezer is a premium beauty brand retailed within the likes of Harrods in the UK, Sephora worldwide and premium hair salons around the globe and that premium, professional positioning is very important to our consumers. However in India, that presented a challenge for us, principally in trying to build nationwide distribution within premium retail stores or professional hair salons.
Our retail pricing levels are close to parity with other global markets. Tangle Teezer hairbrushes are bought because of the value they derive, not because of a low price point and that influences where we would wish to see Tangle Teezer hairbrushes distributed. As a result, we are extremely selective about the distributors and distribution channels we use. We trust our partners PID Imports India Pvt Ltd to appoint and assign the best distributors for the Indian market keeping in mind our selective distribution strategy.
We place a lot of emphasis on innovation and do not wish to simply launch a product because we can sell it. We launch a product because we believe it will enhance people’s lives. A good hair day – where your hair is just right – can make the whole difference to your confidence, your response to friends and partners, and even your performance at
work! That is why education about our innovations and understanding our company values is crucial to us and that means we need distributors who understand the importance of that.
What are the improvements you have made to the product, if any?
We have globally patented products and do not change designs anywhere in the world. Our old and new consumers know us for the performance of the products and they work equally well for all kind of hair. We are introducing some more innovations that are going to be game changers.
How has the response been to the recent introduction, the Blow- Styling tool?
The response has been great. People are waking up to a brand new concept in blow styling and the best part is it works on any and every kind of hair around the world.
We are happy to know that stylists find it easy to use, delivers beautiful results and a great revenue generator since they can turn around clients very fast. For their clients, for the first time they can simply and quickly recreate that beautiful salon finish at home because the technology is built into the brush. It is a true innovation!
Which all salons is the product available at?
We are present with some of the prestigious chains like Juice Salons, Toni & Guy, Headmasters Surat, Page 3 Salons, at stand alone salons as well, and lifestyle stores like Shoppers Stop.
What are you planning for 2016-17?
Globally our brand new positioning will be rolled out in 2016. We are looking toward innovations in the products space. These will be available in India simultaneously as any part of the world. Brand new limited editions will be available as a part of the new launches for the year.
So far, what has been your understanding of the hair dressing industry of India?
I have been really impressed by the way in which the hair dressing industry in India is so attuned to the trends from so many parts of the world. We are also adopting many hair trends from India in our London salons, especially the surge in hair oil treatments the past two years. There seems to be harmony in hair trends and hair treatments globally and that is certainly helped our launch into the India market.
With the continued growth in the premium beauty and professional salon retail channels and the increasing profile and training of Indian hairdressers, we can only see a bright future for the whole industry and it is great to feel a part of that movement. The industry will undergo a sea change over the next few years and that is going to happen at a very very fast pace because technology and access to information is going to act as the catalyst that was maybe missing from the last few years.
