subject: Be Virtual With Redken Hair Products [print this page] We have come to expect a large number of applications for our devices such as the iPhone, and it also seems that there is no limit to the amount of games we can expect to find for our video console. Many of the applications are very unusual and some of the latest offerings for the videogame market are also a little on the edge. As an example of this, Redken hair products have designed their own videogame for the Wii console. The objective is to attract young girls to the art of hair styling at the same time as they publicise their products, of course.
Redken, owned by L'Oreal, has partnered with a videogame publisher to create a simulation game known as Busy Scissors. Fundamentally, Redken wants to stamp their authority on the market by revealing that there is, as they put it, a "Redken way to do it." The game encourages players to pretend that they own a salon based in Hollywood. Players have to cater to a very diverse clientele and earn specific points within the game for using proper techniques when cutting, colouring and shampooing.
This is cutting-edge and the first time that youngsters have been attracted to become hairstylists by using this type of media. As supermarket hair product prices have cut into the strength of the specialist market, Redken is finding a way of trying to correct it. Remember that Redken products are only available for purchase in salons.
Nobody knows how much money Redken put into sponsoring this game, but the company is also featuring the consoles at many of its salons. Around the world there are 110,000 salons which feature Redken and so many clients there will be able to jump onto the Wii console and play the Busy Scissors game.
Marketing analysts agree that brand exposure linked to new media objects such as video gaming has definite and quantifiable benefit. The company advocates that the presence of the Redken brand validates the experience for the gamer. It remains to be seen how difficult it will be to convince younger girls to actually play a console game, though. Missing from the promotion is the all-important social media element, which would certainly have helped to attract friends to any network environment.
This may be a brave departure for Redken as they seek to increase their market share in a competitive world. While the company is one of the largest in the industry, they have not been previously known for thinking so far outside the box, maybe. Other competitors, like Tigi hair products, however have. Tigi shampoo comes in a variety of funky brands with eye-catching designs and presentations. This company has definitely infused a trendy, hip and socially relevant element to the previously staid world of hair products.
There is currently no sign of other industry leaders breaking out of their conventional packaging approach. Paul Mitchell shampoo continues to be the most well known in the business and draws heavily on its reputation in the industry for quality and leadership.
