Facial profiling
I paid for my first haircut in nearly five years last night. Lori has been cutting my hair for that period of time as we looked to save dollars anyway we could. Now that we're breathing a little easier on the financial front, I thought it was time to relieve her of her pruning duties.
I began looking for a new place to go this week. Barber, hair salon...whatever you want to call it. As I do with anything, I began my investigation online, figuring anyplace that was Google-savvy had a leg up on the competition. I recalled a salon about a mile from our house that opened a few years back. It is called 18|8 and is apparently targeted solely for men. Hmmm...sounded good. I got online and checked it out.
Turns out this is a small chain of three locations. My interest in the place was heightened by the pretty insightful research they recapped on their Web site. Seems the entrepreneur behind the chain, Ron Love, did a large amount of market research into what men want from a haircutting experience. I have to tell you, just about every point on his list resonated with me. I don't want to go to a "fem" salon, I hate the SuperCuts assembly line experience, and I prefer sports magazines to copies of Cosmo. Suddenly I felt this place calling out to me. I even liked the backstory to his brand.
So I go there after work last night and the experience was great. At least two weeks overdue, I felt compelled to have my hair cut by John Deere. My "Centre Specialist" Rosi handled the clippers with the acumen of an Australian sheep shearer...something most traditional "fem" salon stylists can't do. It was fast, efficient...I even got the hot towel treatment. Apparently for seven bucks more I would get a five-minute neck massage, a facial, and some other "product" peddled on me.
So here's the point of the blog. Already aware that I was in a place clearly masterminded by a marketing-savvy pro, and sensitive to all the accoutrements deliberately crafted to make me feel comfortable (soft lighting, dark wood and brushed steel fixtures, private cutting area) I became aware about ten minutes in of the music playing overhead. I tuned into a sequence of five songs: Peter Gabriel, Erasure, INXS, Haircut 100 (ironic), and Phil Collins. All mainstays of my formative 80s. The Haircut 100 song really alerted me to the suspicion that I had been demographically targeted with the precision of a laser-guided missile. Frankly, I started feeling a little vulnerable...a little exposed.
Have I crossed into an age group so transparent that even my haircutting experience is customized for me? Sure, I understand the profile-ability of magazines and TV shows, but am I now one of millions of Gen X'er men who have become disenfranchised by the X chromosome-dominated hair and beauty industry and who have taken to the streets in search of alternative grooming? Did 18|8 know I would go online? Did they know I live in Irvine? Did they know I hate salons and being paraded around with wet hair in front of gossipy women with Medusa-like coifs of foil and frosting gel? And how did they know I like "Boy Meets Girl" and "The One Thing"?
I guess I'm just predictable. And/or it's a commendable case of a business man valuing branding and doing his homework.
Hat's off to Ron Love. Or should I say, hair off?
I began looking for a new place to go this week. Barber, hair salon...whatever you want to call it. As I do with anything, I began my investigation online, figuring anyplace that was Google-savvy had a leg up on the competition. I recalled a salon about a mile from our house that opened a few years back. It is called 18|8 and is apparently targeted solely for men. Hmmm...sounded good. I got online and checked it out.
Turns out this is a small chain of three locations. My interest in the place was heightened by the pretty insightful research they recapped on their Web site. Seems the entrepreneur behind the chain, Ron Love, did a large amount of market research into what men want from a haircutting experience. I have to tell you, just about every point on his list resonated with me. I don't want to go to a "fem" salon, I hate the SuperCuts assembly line experience, and I prefer sports magazines to copies of Cosmo. Suddenly I felt this place calling out to me. I even liked the backstory to his brand.
So I go there after work last night and the experience was great. At least two weeks overdue, I felt compelled to have my hair cut by John Deere. My "Centre Specialist" Rosi handled the clippers with the acumen of an Australian sheep shearer...something most traditional "fem" salon stylists can't do. It was fast, efficient...I even got the hot towel treatment. Apparently for seven bucks more I would get a five-minute neck massage, a facial, and some other "product" peddled on me.
So here's the point of the blog. Already aware that I was in a place clearly masterminded by a marketing-savvy pro, and sensitive to all the accoutrements deliberately crafted to make me feel comfortable (soft lighting, dark wood and brushed steel fixtures, private cutting area) I became aware about ten minutes in of the music playing overhead. I tuned into a sequence of five songs: Peter Gabriel, Erasure, INXS, Haircut 100 (ironic), and Phil Collins. All mainstays of my formative 80s. The Haircut 100 song really alerted me to the suspicion that I had been demographically targeted with the precision of a laser-guided missile. Frankly, I started feeling a little vulnerable...a little exposed.
Have I crossed into an age group so transparent that even my haircutting experience is customized for me? Sure, I understand the profile-ability of magazines and TV shows, but am I now one of millions of Gen X'er men who have become disenfranchised by the X chromosome-dominated hair and beauty industry and who have taken to the streets in search of alternative grooming? Did 18|8 know I would go online? Did they know I live in Irvine? Did they know I hate salons and being paraded around with wet hair in front of gossipy women with Medusa-like coifs of foil and frosting gel? And how did they know I like "Boy Meets Girl" and "The One Thing"?
I guess I'm just predictable. And/or it's a commendable case of a business man valuing branding and doing his homework.
Hat's off to Ron Love. Or should I say, hair off?
posted by JabberDrew at 12:49 PM
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