Do clients really care about brands ?

[gillian w]

Of course being in the industry we all know what the best brands are but if i tell my clients i use such and such a product they are not really any the wiser, the name will mean nothing as its a professional brand and they will most likely have never have heard of it.

I use a professional but a middle range of manicure and pedicure products that i can get from my local wholesaler Sallys and my clients are none the wiser than when i used a very expensive product and they are just as happy.They do not know anything about professional products,to be honest how would they.So if i use something cheaper that smells great and i do the same routine why should i be spending loads more because as a person in the industry I think something is better.

At the end of the day professional manufacturers sell to us, we buy what we like and then promote it to our customers but do they really care.
The general public have mostly never heard of many of the products and systems that we use as professionals.

Skincare is slightly different because i think certainly the bigger companies do more promotion to the public.
Although i have to explain to my clients, when they ask what i use, that actually eve taylor is quite a good brand,with good ingredients, because unless you are in the trade where would you have even seen the name.

 

[collin]

What a good posting......

There are likely to be two mind sets...the first that just looks at price and doesnt give a dam about which brand is used ..or for that matter what the final outcome looks/feels like...then again there are those that will follow the media and want the same as that soap opera star they saw had an xxx treatment by xxx brand and that will whiteout hesitation pay more.

Therefore brand association is of utmost importance to some but a knock off jobby that resembles the same( well kind of is more important.

it follows therefore that it could be a good option for therapists to be able to offer both options to their customers......that way you get the best of both worlds.

 

[pure]

Brilliant thread!!

It's a tricky one isnt it? I have to say I do have people coming to me just because they know IO use OPI and they nhave obviously seen itg in the press with the latest celebrity using it and want to try it out. Of course once they have tried it they love it!!:lol: There again I have plenty who have never heard of it, really don't care what it's called and what it's status is as long as they get the results they want at a price they want.

On the otherhand with skincare I think people can be terribly suspicious of us in the beauty industry, what with all the programmes and written articles slating the top brands in favour of Boots own or whatever. So should we be stocking a brand that is in the media and that the public are aware of or do we go with what WE think is best. Which will get the clients through the door and have them returning?

Not sure what the answer is really because I'm currently in the middle of this very dilema with which skincare brand to stock. Very interested to hear what others thoughts are.

 

[gillian w]

But how often is a celeb promoting a professional brand we have Kate Moss promoting rimmel ,everyone whos ever made a film evidently uses loreal but fact is like hell they do.

 

[pure]

I suppose it also depends on which magazines you read too, the glossies will be promoting different brands to the cheaper mags. What image the clients wants to 'fit' with.

 

[essentia]

I think what clients care about is what you say about the brand and why you recommend it. If you can promote the reasons why you use it then I think they do care. I think people are getting more concerned about ingredients and becoming more aware about what they use.

Regarding skincare companies I do get annoyed when clients say "Oh I have never heard of that" meaning can it be any good. Large companies for example like Dermalogica must pay out an absolute fortune in advertising so everyone knows the name and yet there are companies that have been around for years that have very little profile but have excellent products. Clients may be forgiven that only a few skincare houses exist when such powerful marketing drives the brand.

 

['chelle]

ooh, interesting thread.

I think that people are more brand aware than we think. as Collin says there will always be clients who want value for money, so long as the price is competitive they aren't particular about the product. Personally I dont understand this, surely if you're treating yourself to a beauty treatment you want the products that will provide the best results, not necessarily the cheapest.

Anyhoo, personal opinions aside, I think brand recognition is important. I use CND and Biosculpture. With CND, even if people dont specifically ask for it, its a brand they recognise and they associate with quality. I have had clients come to me because I offer CND whereas the salon over the road uses "non specific middle of the road" brand. The fact that the product delivers the results it promises keeps people coming back to the salon, so although they may not set out to look for that brand in particular, they rely on the security of quality that the brand provides for their future treatments.

Biosculpture is slightly different. The reason I undertook Biosculpture in the first place is because I was getting regular enquiries from people asking "Do you use Biosculpture". As a tech you can tell people that you can provide a service equally good to the one they like etc, but you know yourself what it's like when you find a product you like, you want to stick with it. I've done treatments on some of these ladies using an alternative brand but ultimately they like their Biosculpture, hence me deciding to do the training.

As far as manicures and pedicures are concerned, I have an interesting case study. I rent a room in a hairdressers. Until recently there was also a beauty therapist renting the room upstairs. She was there before me and she offered pedi's, so when I started there the agreement was that I wouldnt do any pedi's but she wouldnt do any mani's. She was using middle of the road stuff from Sallys for her pedi's. I have a regular client who visits me for her mani's and upstairs for her pedi's. She's always been quite happy with them, but then since the beauty therapist has left, she has had one of my CND Spa pedi's, and she was over the moon! She was so impressed with the quality (not to mention the lush smell) of the products, and above all she loved the fact that it was a pampering experience as opposed to the bog-standard functional pedi that she was used to, and now she will only ever want a Spa pedi. Even when clients are not brand aware, I think they can become brand aware when you introduce them to a superior treatment using superior products.

 

[Miss Pink23]

It does depend on the person.
I have had clients come to me because they know I use Creative.
I do think skincare would be where clients are more aware of brands as it goes on their skin, but again I do think it wholly depends on thr individual.
x

 

[bombini]

I think its very 50/50 there are some clients that are very loyal to certain brands and wouldn't dream of having a treatment with another range and others that couldn't give a stuff who makes it as long as it works !

I found that when I worked in spas the clients were very aware of brands and there is no way they would have gone to a salon that stocked a smaller range they had never heard of. To be honest I think a lot of it came down to the fact they liked to almost boast about which range they used & where they went for treatments !

I find OPI is very popular in the salon and I can't recall ever having one client that hasn't heard of them yet when I had CND not one client had ever seen/heard of them. Same with Dermalogica clients recognise the brand, and both ranges are forever in magazines, its not just about great PR its great products to.

 

[gillian w]

But you can also do a superior treatment using less superior products.I use the salon system thai range and i would say its a lovely professional range and it does get constantly commented on in terms of feel and smell, i can make it as luxurious as any expensive range.With certain treatments its the therapist that counts most to the overall treatment and not the product and just in case you are wondering i have used many a range at both ends of the price scale and even though in my head i personally love to use the more expensive ones my clients are none the wiser.

 

[Bev Rose]

I understand where you are coming from Gillian......

I use CND Spa Mainicure & CND Spa Pedicure products only.

They have a lush smell & results my clients talk about for a couple of weeks after.

My question is....like my Mum used to say....If you buy cheap, you buy twice.
In other words, does using a cheaper product give you less in actual benefit for the client - as in the resulting moisturizing (CND lasts for ages, both Pedi & Mani) - the spa mani lotion - which is a finishing lotion and contains ceramides also, which has a fantastic moisturising affect & leaves the skin plump for a lot longer the a 'cheaper alternative'.

That said, I have not tried the SS Thai Mani range, it looks very nice, but I'm happy with what I already use.

So, do the benefits to the client with the tech using a high end product range as opposed to middle range stay the same? Are the benefits of using one 'brand' or another cheaper 'brand' noticible over time....I'd say yes, the high end brand effects will last longer.

I can only say this from a CND point of view that my clients tell me & I use the Spa Mani Finishing lotion daily - on excema, which was crippling, but now hardly noticable, that's without using steroid creams - only my spa lotion.

 

[essentia]

I have to agree with Bev Rose and agree you get what you pay for but I do wonder if there is a perception that a product is good as it has a brand name. You only have to watch these programmes that test products blind on tv such as Gok Wan and This Morning where testers are suprised that the cheaper product was voted the nicer/more effective.

I do wonder if a cheaper product if differently packaged and splashed across the glossies would be hailed as the next best thing purely because of perception?

 

[tori]

Hi everyone! this is a question I asked myself a while ago, as i,m at the stage of opening for business soon. I decided to sms about 20 friends/ aquaintances I know (different ages etc) with that very question! As i,ve become massively geeky, i was feeling that my personal views were maybe not what the average client to be would be looking for in her salon visit. It was interesting the feedback that came back!.. Despite the credit crunch upon us (even in Cyprus) all of them said QUALITY AT A COMPETITVE PRICE.. though nobody was actually interested in the details of the products/ brand names. And the 2nd thing was enhancements that last and look good.! This was interesting for me, because despite them wanting quality, "if" the product was not the top of the range, but the nails lasted, i sense they wouldnt have minded! Many said they felt it was their little treat to themselves, despite the economic situation victoria xx

 

[Lynne Baker]

I always make it abundantly clear to my clients which brands I use because I want those names out there!
It's important to me that my products actually work, and it seems that the cheaper own brands don't work as well as the better branded products. I use the Clean and Easy was system and recently ran out of strips. I bought some Mercia ones from Sally's because they were out of stock of the C & E ones. Lordy, they were rubbish! They were floppy and smaller than the C & E and so I used loads of them. I didn't feel as confident using them as with the C & E ones and although I remained professional throughout I worried that my disquiet with them would be projected onto my client.
I can be absolutely confident with my branded products which, for me, means that I can give a perfect treatment with them.
So, whilst my clients might not know one product from another, what they do know is that they get the very best treatment as a result of my using them.

 

[Purple Rose]

I really hope people care, otherwise I wouldn't have forked out a lot of money to do all these courses with the best products, and would have sticked to Sally's down the road. lol :lol:

Seriously I care about my products, and I care about my client's. I would rather spend more my end to get them loyal to me as the products are wonderful and luxurious. At the moment I use OPI, its an ok mani and pedi, but when I had a CND Spa pedi I fell in love with it and have now booked myself on a course to do both so I can offer to my clients. I won't change my prices, at least not at the moment as I want people to see how lovely these products are, once they see the difference between this and the OPI I know exactly what one they will chose.

With regards to nails, I'm training in CND, yet again I thought it was the best and want to pass this on. Also people round my area tend to know the name Creative, although I do know a few who go to discount shops I am hoping when I am good enough that I will convert them. I do try and talk them out of going to them, and even recommend other techs but there're waiting for me which is quite nice I suppose. I also use Bio Sculpture. To be honest on this one I didn't really think through the training just booked a name that I know. But it has been a really good gamble as people look for me just because of using Bio. If I had been advertising just gel nails they wouldn't have found me in the first place. So although expensive it has been well worth it. With spray tanning the name Sienna X and Fake Bake are very popular round here. In the salon I worked in we offered Fake Bake but personally I really don't rate it. I tried Tantrick and absolutely loved it, so I offer both Tantrick and Sienna X. I offer the Sienna as people look for that tan, and the Tantrick as that is my personal favourite, and I'm quite good at getting people to try it, and they love it too.
Don't get me wrong, I am a very new mobile tech with a very small client base, with only 2 bookings for January so I am by no means an expert. But those i were doing nails for before christmas all came back, although are having a month off are planning on re-booking. So to me it is worth investing in named brands. I also used the names to advertise, so rather saying luxury manicure for example I would say CND Luxury Spa Manicure or Gel Nails to Bio Sculpture Gel nails. People would look and think its good from the name, even if they don't know the brand. At least I presume so anyway.
I suppose with the skincare range though it must be very hard as big names do have lots of publicity so I'm not sure what I would do if I was to offer skincare. It is partly why I don't offer skincare to be honest.

 

[RedAdmiral]

Ok I just wanted to add a little about Over The Counter products.
There a few houses in the WHOLE world who make products or who have secret formula's for products. Most companies cannot invest in a lab and scientist and use other peoples and stick a diff label on and call it the new wonder product. I have worked alongside L'oreal and my Bro works for Proctor& Gamble. We used to joke as I was 'with' the opposition! L'oreal have shown how by having one elite product can transform a whole line - I worked with Kerastase which you may be familiar with but I wash my hair with Elvive............. have you ever noticed the similarities? its cheaper and yes I use twice as much but I dont mind as it has the same technology. Some nail companies are the same there are those who make the product and there are those who just buy it and have a little imput into changes.
I use CND as they make, test and research their own and the results are just fabulous. I also use Young as they also manufactor products.
The house of Lauder is one of the biggest for make up as is Coty for perfume........ You didnt seriously think Vicky Beckham had a hand in making her perfume now did you!

Anyway back to the issue yes there is a difference no matter you gloss it up, some is premium some is watered down, the important thing is your clients are happy and so is your pocket.
For me personally my feet are so dry an hour after using pedi-cure products or hand truth and fantastic for hours after a spa or solar!

 

[min11]

Even before I trained I became brand aware, I think how the salon projects in its self also affects how a client sees the products. My first outing into nails wasn't so great and I dont remember the products as I didn't go back for more than my second appointment after a call to them about my natural nail seperating at the free edge from the acrylic resulted in the advice I could use 'nail glue' from Boots to stick it back down. The several salons later I went to a Salon that used Creative, new to me, it was a very swish salon and every question I asked was answered. Consequently after that when ever Stuart called a different salon I always had him ask if they used Creative. When I went to Norway I still stayed with Creative.

So, I think there are clients who care about what is used :hug:

 

[A Perfect 10?]

Hi all,

Going a bit further on this thread..... (thought it was appropriate - so hope it's ok??) Can I as if many geeks use your brand's logos on your marketing material then??

I am in the middle of designing my first set of business cards. So far, I've included a sentence on there with regards to the fact that I use Calgel and CND.

However... I was wondering how many people taking my card this will actually be relevant to??? And therefore is it worth doing. There's nothing worse on a card than too much irrelevant info..

Thanks, Kirsty

 

[collin]

Hi all,

Going a bit further on this thread..... (thought it was appropriate - so hope it's ok??) Can I as if many geeks use your brand's logos on your marketing material then??

I am in the middle of designing my first set of business cards. So far, I've included a sentence on there with regards to the fact that I use Calgel and CND.

However... I was wondering how many people taking my card this will actually be relevant to??? And therefore is it worth doing. There's nothing worse on a card than too much irrelevant info..

Thanks, Kirsty

It is a good idea to incorporate brand association on websites,business cards,advertising etc providing it is done in such a way as to not take over your own identity or de value the brand you are representing.

The vast majority of manufacturers are more than happy if their customers use their logo's etc provided that it is used in such a manner as to portray the brand in question in the right way..I.E. in the way that the manufacturer wants to be seen in the market.

Through this "joint venture" both the therapist(or salon) can be seen as professional and the brand owner gains further exposure and consequential brand awareness grows...which benefits both parties concerned.

Some manufacturers are however VERY protective on how their branding is used so its always advisable to ask permission first.
HTH

 

[A Perfect 10?]

It is a good idea to incorporate brand association on websites,business cards,advertising etc providing it is done in such a way as to not take over your own identity or de value the brand you are representing.

The vast majority of manufacturers are more than happy if their customers use their logo's etc provided that it is used in such a manner as to portray the brand in question in the right way..I.E. in the way that the manufacturer wants to be seen in the market.

Through this "joint venture" both the therapist(or salon) can be seen as professional and the brand owner gains further exposure and consequential brand awareness grows...which benefits both parties concerned.

Some manufacturers are however VERY protective on how their branding is used so its always advisable to ask permission first.
HTH

Couldn't agree more with regards to the permission. I have had the conversation with Calgel and CND and both have sent me their logos to use.... however I was having a problem uploading them for my business cards.

My sentence was just along the lines of "Qualified in CND and Calgel" - but is this actually going to mean something to people. I didn't want to "busy" my business card with information that isn't necessary to my clients.

One part of me thinks that it can only be good but then I quite literally stumbled across my nail tech and didn't have a clue what (at that time) Creative Nails were. All I wanted was some nice acrylic nails. How times change!!

Thanks, Kirsty