Every other year, thousands of Aveda stylists and salon owners descend upon Minneapolis to soak up inspiration and community, and to celebrate the craft of hairdressing.
They’re also flocking to Aveda Congress for the tea. The recent 21st iteration was Shane Wolf's first Congress as president, and the hairstylist-turned-corporate boss shared a few juicy tidbits pertinent to the Aveda network. Other global artists dished a little as well.
Here are five big reveals from this year:
1. Aveda’s Spending $$$ Driving People Into Salons
The company’s “Hair in Chairs” campaign, designed to lure new consumers into Aveda salons, is working in a big way in preliminary trials, Wolf said. “We are driving consumers into your chair … to keep your business strong.”
The corporation is pivoting its media investments away from pure product storytelling and toward pushing new clients to local Aveda salons for services, Wolf said.
“This campaign has driven a 300% increase in traffic to Find an Aveda Salon locator," he said, "and a 200% year-over-year increase in Google searches for ‘find an Aveda salon near me.’
"And we have only just begun."
2. Allen Ruiz Put Luis Gonzalez on Instagram the Day They Met
Longtime creative partners Allen Ruiz and Luis Gonzalez talked in depth about the power of collaboration before splashing out their eye-popping, black-and-yellow-themed collection, CAUTION, which showcased editorial color on trending cuts.
“When you find the right person to collaborate with, a dumb idea all of a sudden becomes really great,” Ruiz said.
Gonzalez, who said collaboration "pushes you to be better," recalled the first time the two stylists worked together in November of 2012.
“Allen and I met behind the scenes at a photoshoot in Redlands, CA,” Gonzalez said, “and Allen had me sign up for this little app that we all know now called Instagram."
Gonzalez almost named his new account simply @luisgonzalez, but Ruiz convinced him to call it @luisgonzalezhaircolor. “If you scroll down my feed, the first picture that I have is actually Allen’s and my first selfie.”
Ruiz recalls the interaction was more profound than either could have imagined at the time. “Collaboration is about not knowing who you’re going to be working with, so you really have to get out there and push yourself.”
3. More Retail & Backbar are En Route to Salons
Wolf calls the company’s new half-liter “just right” retail product size, available only at Aveda-affiliated salons, a strategic move to keep clients buying their hair care at their salons.
“The amount provided in a 500ml half-liter ensures that your guests have the right amount of product to last between salon visits, so they don’t need to replenish anywhere but your salon,” Wolf says, “and the suggested retail price per milliliter is the best value your guests can find anywhere.”
The biggest reaction, however, came when Wolf announced the company was expanding its backbar program “to ensure that you have all the products you need to serve your clients every time.”
"I knew you'd like that one," the former stylist laughed as the crowd erupted in cheers.
4. New Blowout Product Fueled a Bunch of Looks Onstage
Launching a product isn’t exactly new for Aveda, but its latest rollout — the upcoming Abundant Blowout styling spray — had a larger-than-usual stage presence at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Shane Wolf’s opening segment featured the former hairstylist working on a model’s giant bouffant hairstyle, asking the audience, “Is it big enough for you?” with three runway walks featuring her hair growing more and more voluminous with each pass. “We’re manifesting abundance here!”
(Wolf later revealed the inspiration for his model’s abundant blowout was Dolly Parton’s 1974 style for her Jolene album cover.)
Global Styling Educator Bea Carmichael devoted a styling demo to the product, describing its blind testing process in which an array of stylists were given the spray without any context and told to just play with it and give their feedback to developers.
“We said we are moving away from silhouettes — now we want movement in the hair. When your client steps off the sidewalk and her hair gives a bounce. That’s what we want.”
Carmichael says the product “feels naked” in hairstyles and that it’s designed to keep hairs from touching each other, “creating airiness and movement.”
5. The Aveda Experience Center in China is Actually Really Different
Last month, Aveda cut the ribbon on its first new-concept flagship salon in Shanghai’s affluent, pedestrian-only Xintiandi district.
The two-story, stand-alone building is designed to take the visitor through a journey of science, retail, salon services, and experiences that tingle all five senses.
Downstairs, customers can get an in-depth hair and scalp analysis, pass through aromatherapy zones and soundscapes, engage in sensory rituals, and get hands-on with products. The upstairs salon features niceties including private rooms and temperature-controlled treatment beds.
Retail areas employ strategic navigation to maximize basket building, impulse buys, and cross-selling.
Elements of the flagship’s design are intended to be incorporated into salons throughout the Aveda network, says Wolf, who presented the design team with an Excellence in Execution Award during Congress. “This is not just a salon or store, it is Aveda at its very best.”
Another major distinction: the flagship’s salon payroll structure differs from the traditional W-2, commission-based model currently used by most Aveda salons. The Shanghai salon uses a hybrid employment model with independent stylists renting stations, which Global Styling Educator Bea Carmichael believes is a sign of things to come.
“We need to adapt and flow and move with change,” she says, “and I think we’ll see a lot of business models we’ve not seen before, just because people need flexible working situations.”