Creating a vision and a brand
Max Eli is a creator of J Beverly hair colour line. Max’s passion is hair colour, he knew that he can create a more amazing product if he is not constrained by anything then his imagination.
Client
MaxEli LLP. A hair colour brand that uses the latest technology to bring unparallel results in hair colour. Fabric Eleven was in charge of brand development, product design, marketing collateral and web design.
The look and feel
Max’s primary product: hair colour was to be used in professional salons and not something that’s sold over the counter to consumers. We wanted the brand to feel luxurious and exclusive. Our vision was to use simple marketing material with the focus on the end result: amazing hair color. To make the brand stand out we would use energetic colors and bold typography, thus creating a more edgy feel the other brands.
Brand development
Our logo goal was to stand out from the crowd of basic fashion logos. Yet the new design had to be familiar since we do share the same audience. The brand mark had to be simple enough that it can be used on a clean white product box.
Since this was a hair colour brand, we pushed for direction #10. Unfortunately, background paintbrush strokes were not versatile enough when used in different content. The final logo ended up being thicker and ditched the brush strokes. This allowed for higher visibility from a distance.
Several different options were created to support both dark and light backgrounds. Max Eli’s slogan of “Educate, lead, inspire” was also added into the logo. This mission statement humanizes the brand and inspires our audience.
Infrastructure
We wanted to bring the expertise from more tech-focused companies to bear on the operational design for this company. We worked with the team to outline processes that integrated into the new digital infrastructure to boost efficiency and reduce errors in billing, invatory and shipments.
Operations
These operational updates were all key parts of the internal portal developed for the brand. The concern of technical support was eased with the build-out of an operational guideline digital handbook as well as a searchable help database native to the system. Each distributor had their own portal were they could download assets for promotions, marketing and staff trainning.
Bringing everything together
Once brand was finalized it was time to create collateral. We started with the business cards. We stepped away from our formula and made one of the card’s sides Sunset Orange. This way cards stood out from others. Cards also had foil printing on the white side making them stand out even more. The rest of the collateral (Colour Manual / Swatchbook etc) followed simple layout with Dark Purple being the main primary background color to create a luxurious feel.
Eli Colour Manual
Eli Colour Manual was designed to go as an educational piece that would teach hairstylists how to use Eli Colour properly. It’s a 30-page booklet that goes over what makes Eli Colour different as well as how to use it in different scenarios. The challenge here was to develop something that kept readers attention for the entire seminar.
Product Design
Packaging is one of the essential things when it comes to marketing. Even though Eli Colour would not be sold to consumers, it would be seen in salons and bought by salon owners. Eli Colour packaging needed to show the high class of a product as well as stand out from others on the shelf. For that specific reason, we made one side in Sunset Orange color, while keeping the rest white. The orange is seen from far away yet it doesn’t overwhelm the user. The text was then done in silver foil to give the whole package a professional look.
Activator goes together with Eli Colour and is considered a support product. We selected the Dark Purple as the only color to save on production costs. This also gave activators a more industrial feel that we wanted.
Corporate Site Design
For the main corporate website, we wanted to impress consumers from the start. We wanted people to see how big of a deal the new Eli Colour is and get people excited. The site features details about the product as well as an eCommerce store with an event system.
Marketing
The marketing was primarily driven through social media campaigns. We designed easy-to-apply collateral optimized for socials, centered around color applications and influencers who were hired to showcase their new look. This marketing strategy was to educate and empower distributors and beauty schools essentially building a stronger network of advocates for the brand.
Distributors
Colour sales were done by distributors. Distributors were required to buy a pre-allocated colour amount. Only one distributor per area allowed thus creating competition on who would get specific areas. MaxEli corporate would then sponsor events at different hair shows and locations.
Event Posts
All of the global MaxEli events were posted on the corporate website, this created a buzz around the brand as there was always something happening.
Results
With a great marketing plan, the brand saw rapid growth, within a year MaxEli was available in eleven countries. This success can be attributed to the consistency of the brand and the strict guidelines for promotions provided to distributors.
