In a recent marketing campaign, Suave, the classic drugstore hair brand, went undercover as a luxury, premium hair care line (Evaus, Suave spelled backwards”> to test theory if expensive beauty brands work better than inexpensive beauty brands. The brand specifically targeted millennial beauty influencers to give them an opportunity to try this new line of hair products. According to Suave, 7 out of 10 women think expensive brands work better than inexpensive brands.
Data shows that millennial women, in particular, are looking for quality and value. In fact, 92% of millennial women agree that they would buy a lower priced hair care product as long as quality was not sacrificed*. “The truth is, many millennials are still playing financial catch-up and they don’t want to overspend. Products and services that are high quality and with an affordable price tag are the perfect hybrid for them,” says Farnoosh Tarobi, a millennial finance expert.
In the video Suave shot for the campaign, the influencers shared their opinions on the new hair line, saying things like, “these were game-changing,” “I instantly fell in love with these products,” and “they left my hair so strong and healthy.” Once the brand revealed to the women they were, in fact, using Suave the whole time they were shocked by the results that a drugstore brand could offer high-quality results.
In my experience, a pretty bottle doesn’t always equal quality product. I recently had the chance to try out a celebrity line of hair products that not only had sleek packaging, but it represented an actress who I love. I was disappointed that despite top-notch marketing which is what initially got my attention, the product itself was lackluster for my curls. I remember when I bought it at Ulta, I spent an upwards of $60 for three products and left feeling like there was no way this wouldn’t be worth all my hard-earned money. This is one of the reasons I’ve always been an advocate for trying out sample sizes that I can purchase at a drug store or Target so there is less of a risk of wasting my money.
The other issue is that drug store brands get a bad rap since the idea that “you get what you pay for,” is often applied to matching price with quality. Just like my $60 splurge giving me the false notion of a quality investment, customers perceive paying less for a product to give them bad results. Suave takes this idea and flips it by makes consumers question how they spend their money and what influences their purchase. Here’s my question to you- Do you buy based on packaging?
We want to hear YOUR take. Would you have fallen for this Suave experiment? Sound off in the comments.
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