In a magnificence sector nonetheless dominated by shiny high-heat imagery and airbrushed perfection, Cloud 9 is taking a special strategy. The hair styling model has unveiled a brand new visible id and strategic repositioning, created by Leeds-based consultancy Propaganda, that places actual folks and actual hair on the coronary heart of its message.
The relaunch marks one thing of a homecoming. Propaganda was instrumental in serving to create Cloud 9 again in 2009 and has now returned to guide a complete transformation of the model, spanning technique, design, digital, social, and retail.
The transient was clear: make Cloud 9 a real various in a sector that has lengthy felt caught in its methods. Whereas styling instruments have developed technologically, model messaging has lagged behind, nonetheless hooked on nightclub glamour, aggressive warmth styling, and a slender imaginative and prescient of magnificence.
Right now’s customers are shifting priorities, although, with a rising quantity chopping again on warmth styling to guard their hair’s well being. They’re in search of ease, care, and merchandise that match into on a regular basis routines with out compromising outcomes. It is that unmet want that Cloud 9 and Propaganda noticed a possibility to personal.
On the core of the rebrand is a brand new strategic proposition: Power + Kindness. It is a easy phrase that reframes the model’s function, recognising that highly effective styling instruments haven’t got to return on the expense of hair well being.
By means of its detailed Model Discovery course of, Propaganda gathered perception from customers, retailers, salons and Cloud 9’s worldwide staff. What emerged was a transparent want for instruments that help private type whereas being gentler, extra intuitive, and higher aligned with how folks truly stay.
“Having been there initially of Cloud 9, it is actually thrilling to be again serving to to launch a brand new period for the model,” mentioned Laura Kynaston, managing director at Propaganda. “With this new model, Cloud 9 is stepping as much as meet magnificence customers the place they’re and is poised to utterly shake up the sector.”
Cloud 9’s merchandise already provided a compelling level of distinction. Not like one-temperature-fits-all instruments, their straighteners supply 11 variable warmth settings and a patented Revive Mode, which makes use of 8,000 harmonic vibrations per minute to minimise injury. Their use of Sericite® plates, a pure mineral for enhanced smoothness and shine, provides to the concentrate on hair-first innovation.
The brand new model merely brings that message into focus, presenting Cloud 9 because the quiet disruptor it has lengthy been.
The artistic execution of the rebrand spans an entire overhaul of the visible id, tone of voice, digital channels, and point-of-sale expertise.
The refreshed web site and social platforms mirror a softer, extra assured tone, whereas nonetheless celebrating the technical efficiency of the merchandise. Gone is the over-styled aesthetic of conventional magnificence campaigns. As an alternative: a extra pure, easy look that promotes actual hairstyles for actual folks.
Retail show methods and commerce communications have additionally been up to date, with focused campaigns rolling out throughout each shopper {and professional} channels.
Importantly, the relaunch marketing campaign pays tribute to the model’s roots and one among its pioneering figures. Susan Powls, honorary chair of Cloud 9 and one of many model’s authentic founders, performed a central function in constructing the ceramic styling class within the early 2000s. She famously coined the phrase “good hair day”, which went on to encourage the identify of a now-ubiquitous competitor.
Her legacy and Cloud 9’s early fame for innovation nonetheless underpin the model’s ambitions as we speak.
For Martin Rae, Cloud 9’s founder, the rebrand represents a long-awaited second of readability. “Cloud 9 has at all times had the product to rival the class chief, and now now we have the model to match,” he mentioned. “Power + Kindness provides customers an actual selection, with a model that places hair well being first.”
He credit the Propaganda staff with serving to to articulate and categorical that imaginative and prescient. “We could not be extra happy with Propaganda, from the deep perception they’ve given us to the artistic and strategic rigour they’ve delivered.”
Whereas the rebrand may really feel like a recent begin, it is truly a return to the founding ideas that made Cloud 9 the success that it is grow to be… innovation, sector disruption, and a refusal to observe the herd.
With a refined proposition and renewed confidence, the model is setting its sights on worldwide development and a much bigger share of a market prepared for one thing new.
