When Covid hit, one of the first things to go was regular visits to your local stylist. Not only was this devastating for the small business owners who keep us looking good, it tested L'Oreal's commitment to it's stylist network (also a huge part of the company's revenue. in response, we worked with l'oreal to develop the #supportyourstylist program. ironically, not the most beautiful work, but perhaps the most meaningful, as we were able to help keep thousands of stylists in business by leveraging Facebook and Instagram's latest tools.
To garner awareness and build community, we leaned on the iconic Rosie the Riveter, a symbol of self-empowerment and resilience in the face of adversity. Our influencers challenged their followers to strike the pose to let their own customers know they were not going to go down without a fight. The central focus of the program was a #SupportYourStylist Facebook Group that provides easy to use tools to help Salons and Stylists fortify their digital skills and boost their businesses with better content throughout the platform, as well as support from a global community of Stylists.
Our goal was for L’Oreal to shift their consumer-facing media investment to boost individual stylists on our platform. This virtuous circle of incentivizing small businesses to double-down on their own businesses ultimately helped L’Oreal’s global business weather a very challenging storm.
First, we leveraged key beauty influencers to build simple to follow instructions for stylists to fortify their digital skills and boost their businesses. We turned a new “coupon sticker” in Instagram Stories into a way for people to pay now for an appointment once the lockdown lifted. This helped salons pay their rent while everyone was still stuck at home.
