Off With a Bang

Geoffrey Nelson and Rick Kornbluth introduce the world to Bangstyle.

At a distributor meeting held before 2011 Cosmoprof, Rick Kornbluth, president and CEO of Cutter and Stiles (an umbrella company that also includes Kevin Murphy), announced the launch of Bangstyle.com, a new, hip website to introduce stylists around the country to the Bangstyle movement.

To launch the movement, Cutter and Stiles hired Geoffrey Nelson, the owner of a live action, mixed-media company, who created Chevrolet’s Heartbeat of America and NBC’s Must-See TV campaigns, as well as worked on movies and shows, such as Home Improvement, Private Parts, Seabiscuit and Pleasantville.

Intended to create awareness and a demand for the brand, the site is launching approximately nine months in advance of the Bangstyle line of professional beauty products. “This brand will be bigger than the 12 products, it will be a lifestyle,” announced Nelson. “It’s a mass brand that won’t rely on the old sales model of information traveling from the company to the salon to the stylist to the consumer. Instead, the consumer will be exposed to the brand in their own environment, then they will come into the salon to seek it out.”

Like the brand, the website is designed to be fresh, happening and independent, and will incorporate imagery and news from the worlds of Indie art, music, film and photography—topics of interest to many stylists. In addition, the site will cover Bangstyle news and events, offer downloadable playlists to participating salons, and include a community section that allows stylists to post their work.

The website compliments a guerilla-style, street marketing campaign in which the Bangstyle logo is incorporated into existing graffiti in cities around the country, and pop-up Bangstyle salons will participate in music festivals and events. “Our pop-up salons will feel like an Apple Store, but not so white,” says Nelson.

“Our goal is to post 15 new stories a day and attract 500,000 to 1 million visitors before the product line launches,” says Nelson. “We intend on introducing the world to itself.”

 

Examples of the graffiti marketing campaign for Bangstyle.

An advanced look at the product packaging for Bangstyle. Product won't be released until Spring 2012.