June 2015 Brett McKinnon on authenticity
Complete authenticity and a tech-savvy attitude are a powerful combination at The Murphy Gozzard Hair Community, enabling them to strengthen ties with their community and grow their business. Brett McKinnon shares the story of their rebranding journey.
Brett Albury and I had been working at Suki in Paddington for five years when we decided to buy out the business and make it our own. It immediately began to take on a new direction and flavour, and we soon realised we needed to formally develop a unique brand identity.
At first we didn’t even know what we would call ourselves. We started the rebranding process by consulting our team to help determine what makes us special, and started to develop our brand values from there.
We chose to use our mothers’ maiden names, “Murphy” and “Gozzard”, in an homage to the wisdom passed down from one generation to the next, and particularly in the context of the close family ties often seen in the hair industry.
The word “community” was something that came up time and time again and is intrinsically part of who we are, so we knew this had to be part of our new name. Our community focus is our point of difference and what sets us apart from our competitors.
At Murphy Gozzard we don’t just say we care, we genuinely give back to our community. When we say the faces of our brand are real people we don’t just pay lip service, we use women of all ages portrayed beautifully rather than relying on professional models.
Although we strive to have a high-fashion edge, we never compromise when it comes to creating a look that truly suits our clients. We will not give someone the latest cropped cut if it doesn’t suit them. This genuine approach is core to maintaining the integrity of our brand.
At the same time as rebranding, we re-examined how we were using our business technology. Today everything is moving ahead so quickly and we have to constantly make sure we are moving at the same pace. We need to harness the latest technology and use it efficiently and effectively. Otherwise, there is a real risk of falling behind the competition and losing clientele.
People today live such fast-paced lives. Our clientele are mainly professionals, and every day is spent on the go. They need things to move quickly and want to be associated with brands that are moving at the same pace they are.
Technology helps us build real connections with these clients, and our brand can be experienced at every single touchpoint. We are pedantic about ensuring it is consistently integrated across all channels and aspects of our business, from our brand imagery and collateral to social media dialogue and of course the salon experience.
When we initially rebranded, we needed to build awareness as quickly as possible, in a way that was achievable within our tight budget. Set & Forget Marketing was a key tool that helped us drive awareness and appreciation of the new brand.
It has enabled us to develop a much stronger and more personalised dialogue with our clients, and identify what’s important to them and develop our strategy accordingly. It’s been interesting to see the results – we’ve crunched the numbers and we know that the emails we send out are one of our most effective marketing tools.
Our open rates are better than ever – almost doubling in the space of a year. We’ve had so much great feedback from our clients, who genuinely love staying in touch. They look forward to receiving our emails, rather than seeing them as junk mail, which means we are doing something right!
The entire rebranding process has highlighted just how important it is to be authentic in everything you do. By doing everything with integrity, we have built a new brand that has a life of its own. The salon pulses with its own unique energy, and we love coming to work each day.
It’s a bonus that our average monthly revenue has also increased by 163% since the rebrand. The real reward is that this enables us to build and support our community more than ever, at the same time as growing our business.
Photos: Kylie Coutts
Hair: The Murphy Gozzard Hair Community
Makeup: Kimberley Forbes, OneNinetyNine Management
Styling: Britt McCamey