Kao Salon Division Announces Kao Salon Industry Recovery Initiative

Learn More About The New Kao Salon Industry Recovery Initiative

Kao Salon Division, which owns Goldwell, KMS and Oribe, recently launched the Kao Salon Industry Recovery Initiative, a new program solely focused on helping salons recover and rebuild as they emerge from the COVID-19 crisis.

The initiative consists of three pillars of carefully constructed support campaigns designed to address the unique challenges facing the industry and its professionals as they look to reopen. Each one will individually and collectively provide industry pros with tangible, localized resources to ensure their businesses are not only restored but thriving in the months ahead.

The three components of the Kao Salon Industry Recovery Initiative include:

1. Stronger Together—Founded on the belief that no one person or organization holds the key to success but that by truly coming together, the industry will rise and flourish. #StrongerTogether represents Kao Salon’s financial support and unwavering partnership. Through this program, Kao Salon has committed to:

• Suspend invoices until local government salon closure orders are lifted.
• Sponsor free-to-industry opportunities to receive business recovery insight and information.
• Provide tangible support for local salon organizations to support activities that benefit stylists and their salons.
• Donate product to charitable organizations for key medical personnel and those in need.
• Work with local trade media to present information on supporting government programs and their details and timelines.
• Work with salon customers to arrive at a support plan for success upon reopening.
• Create a sponsored consumer digital campaign to inspire a #WorthTheWait consumer movement that presents a call-to-action for clients to patiently wait for their stylists instead of taking at-home measures.

2. Creativity Never Stops—Because Kao Salon inherently understands that the expression of creativity is the lifeblood of the industry, #CreativityNeverStops has been created to allow stylists to immediately nurture and hone their skills via:

• Access to online education programs that offer relief and inspiration to stylists confined to their homes.
• The transformation of the annual Goldwell Creative Awards into an entirely virtual experience, adjusting entry dates to expand participation.

3. Kao Salon Family—Serving as a constant reminder to customers that their individual recovery remains at the very center of Kao Salon’s focus, #KaoSalonFamily has begun to:

• Deliver hyper-relevant messages of hope and positivity through the Kao Salon network.
• Provide communication routes for stylists and salons to communicate their concerns and questions.
• Offer community and connection by directly inviting stylists and salons to connect with the organization through ongoing, virtual points of contact.

“Our priority during this crisis has been to galvanize our efforts around the full and complete recovery of the industry as a whole, with special focus on our partners and stylists,” says Cory Couts, Global President, Kao Salon Division. “We know the needs and concerns of the salon community are very specific. That’s why we designed this initiative to not only commit to global resources, but local, real solutions for their recovery. We believe in the power of the collective and know that by meeting this incredibly powerful community where they are, and joining them on their journey, together we will grow, rise and create the future.”

In North America, as part of the Kao Salon Industry Recovery Initiative, Kao Salon Division has also assembled a package valued at $5.6 million focused on the tools salons will need to reopen and grow in the months ahead, including:

• Financial donations to charities that serve salons, stylists and the communities in which they live and work.
• Enhanced backbar support which will provide cost savings to salons.
• Product samples to stimulate retail sales.
• Technical and business education, which will be available both virtually and in-person.
• Turnkey marketing initiatives and social media support for salon reopenings and beyond.
• Oribe.com Salon Commission Program made available for Oribe salons to enroll and earn commission on any orders placed by their customers (U.S. only).

The Kao Salon Industry Recovery Initiative also includes $1 million in product donations. Kao brands will donate soap, gloves, body wash, dry shampoos and other personal care products to charitable organizations and medical facilities in major metro areas that have been deeply affected by COVID-19 in North American including New York City, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Miami, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

For more information, visit kaosalondivision.com.