Beauty Store Business

NOV 2016

For beauty business news, beauty store owners turn to Beauty Store Business. Beauty business trends, beauty business profiles and more!

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40 November 2016 | beautystorebusiness.com media as an extension of customer ser- vice across all of its brands. Murphy explains that providing a platform for each brand to have direct interactions with its customer base is extremely valu- able. For example, Barbicide engages directly with its customers, cosmetology students and school owners about certi- fication programs. Sometimes company reps communicate with class attendees who have follow-up questions. "It's a great big pipeline where we can interact directly with our customers. It gives us a presence. It shows that we're there. It's an ongoing dialogue, and it's imme- diate. Social media is about collaborating with other players in the industry to bring a unified message to everyone through exposure," Murphy says. Ulti- mately, social media channels allow BlueCo to hear what's important to the customer. Murphy sets a respectful tone with social media messaging, careful to provide value content rather than fluff. "It is also a way to broadcast our mes- sage, but we are very protective of our followers' time. When we put something up there, it's relevant. You're not ever going to see a post of what type of sandwich I ate for lunch!" TRUST On a broader note, Murphy believes that BlueCo Brands is a company that customers trust—not only for its prod- ucts, but as a corporate entity—to do the right thing, even if the "right thing" involves additional time and money. Murphy explains, "All the regulatory issues…causes a lot of work. We are doing the right registrations and the right testing around the world. Each country has different requirements and different registration processes. We're always going to be doing everything we need to do by the book." When salons and barber shops can be fined for noncompliance with sanitation require- ments set by regulatory boards, they rely on companies like BlueCo to deliver a compliant product. STAYING ALERT As BlueCo's leader, Murphy knows the importance of staying alert and aware— and never taking its current solid state for granted. For example, he marvels at the recent Dollar Shave Club sale to Unilever for $1 billion. "It's a great lesson for us all. In its five years of life, it took a 6-percent market share. That's $215 million dol- lars of the razor market, which was predominantly held by Gillette…because of a new and different way of delivery!" Murphy says. He adds that consumers want to buy products in nontraditional ways and that companies need to be aggressive, alert and awake "because you never know when some little guy will come up with an idea in a YouTube video and all of a sudden, he's got market share." Murphy states the takeaway lesson in simple terms: "If you're the giant, be aware that someone can slay you. If you're not the giant, be aware that you can slay the giant!" FOCUS AND FUN BlueCo's future is bright, says Murphy. "We're going to focus our investment on education, for sure, and continue to bring customers products across all our brands. When we determine there's a need, we will continue to look for acquisitions that we feel fit within our investment strategy and our core competencies…and we're just going to keep having fun!" ■ Shelley Moench-Kelly is a freelance writer and editor based in Vermont. Get Connected! @Barbicide facebook.com/Barbicide bluecobrands.com 800 627 5839 www.adisalonproducts.com info@adisalonproducts.com N E W A R R I V A L G O G R E E N U S E 1 0 0 % C O T T O N T O W E L S V S . PA P E R T O W E L S H A P P Y T H A N K S G I V I N G

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