Behave like a fashion house, not a haircare brand.  Aspirational. Modern. Relevant.  Our strategy was to unify three, then, disparate brand experiences into one singular sensibility; 1. Frederic Fekkai, the savvy French-born stylist and taste arbiter sought after by supermodels, politicians, and power-brokers alike; 2. Frederic Fekkai Salons, the first salon experience that looked, felt and serviced its clientele like a fine European boutique hotel (and charged like one, too); 3. Fekkai haircare sold in the prestige channel.

The Verbal Identity:  This brand has a gift it wasn’t capitalizing on—its stylish, French-born, visionary authority, Frederic, whose core belief was unique: haircare products are as important as skincare. Frederic and his philosophies, henceforth, will speak for the brand through a combination of quotes and informative product information. (Of note, a Fekkai signature was the use of packaging components most often associated with skincare.)

Make prestige more prestige.  Make food/drug/mass (FDM) retail best in class.  The original P&G play was to take Fekkai to the masses and leave the prestige market for other upscale brands.  But after the sale, P&G management dug into Fekkai’s heritage and fell in love.  Who wouldn’t? They thought a dual channel distribution strategy would work under a one-brandname banner—Fekkai. Except it couldn’t.  And it didn’t.  Boy, were we ever vocal about our concerns.  We did presentations, showed alternative paths, new branded ideas, spoke to people up and down the food chain.  But the decision was made.  For many years we forged ahead in partnership executing the dual channel strategy nationally, shepherding the brand through P&G integration processes, and transitioning from more arbitrary entrepreneurial business practices to traditional corporate methodologies in preparation for a global roll-out.