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New Nail Art: Salon Secrets™ Nail Art Starter Kit by KISS Hala Abu Shanab
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NEW NAIL ART: SALON SECRETS™ NAIL ART STARTER KIT BY KISS
Introduction
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History of Kiss
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Kiss’ Main Products
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Kiss’ Target Customers
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Kiss’ Positioning
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Kiss’ Resonance
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Kiss’ Elements
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Kiss’ Associations
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Kiss’ Personality
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Kiss’ Presence on Social Media
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Kiss’ Equity and Value
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Nail Art and Social Media
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Conclusion
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New Nail Art: Salon Secrets™ Nail Art Starter Kit by KISS The art of decorating nails is over five millennia old. The earliest existing records show that people during the 3000BC in China used to apply enamel on their fingers. After having the enamel on the nails, it was allowed to sit for some hours resulting in a pink finish. Elsewhere in Egypt, women used to decorate their nails with different colors each of which was used to identify the social class that one belonged. Deep shades of red were associated with the high classes while the lower class women used pales shades. A dye extracted from the henna plant used by the Indians during the same time through the emphasis on social class colors was not as strong as in Egypt. In Inca civilization, images of birds like eagles were painted on the fingertips (Forde. n.d). Modern nail art started in the 19th century with manicure innovations being witnessed in 1830 upon the development of the orange wood sticks in Europe. By late 19th century, nail art had been fully commercialized with a broad array of nail art and related businesses and salons were popping out in the United States. Color revolution in nail art was triggered by the demand for a wide range of colors by car lovers upon the inception of the automobile industry. Many nail coloring variations emerged, with "moon manicure" being the most popular at that time. More changes gradually developed and in the mid-20th century, it had become evident that the nail art industry had presented lucrative opportunities both to hobbyists and business persons (Forde, n.d). The art was rapidly evolving and becoming a subculture. It was now a creative and artistic art, with huge following among the youths and fashion enthusiasts. Rock stars, goths, and punks were the earliest cultures to popularize the art. Since then, hundreds of trends have been emerging every other year with the inclusion of acrylic enhancements, crystals, symbols, airbrushing, and gel nail. The world of fashion today cannot be complete without nail art.
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Modern technology has entered the industry, and the results are amazing. Digital printing of sophisticated patterns, reflective metal finishes, and heat activations are some of the trends that have been created through the use of modern technology. Several firms have seen great success in the nail art business. The business is broad with some specializing in providing the service of painting the nails, provision of the nail art accessories both for home and business use, and nail art courses among others. The competition in the industry is currently stiff and only those with strong brands and efficient marketing systems succeed (Forde, n.d). One such firm is Kiss. The current paper will extensively examine the Kiss Nail Art brand and analyze its brand management strategies that have enabled it to become one of the world's largest firms in the professional quality nail products' manufacture and distribution.
History of Kiss Kiss is a private company founded in 1989 in the United States. It deals with the supply of nail products to a broad range of customers. It was formed during a time when the beauty industry was already peaking as a lucrative business. Movies, magazines, televisions shows, and other media had popularized the trend of nail art to become an integral part of fashion. The
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creators of Kiss identified a gap in the market since many nail art services were being offered in manicure and pedicure shops, with a deficiency of high-quality products. They, hence, conceived the idea of starting a company that would offer the service to the growing market. The firm's products became very popular within a short period and the demand was increasing rapidly. Their products were widely available including in shopping malls like the Walgreens and Walmart. Their target on home-based nail art enthusiasts enabled them to compete effectively in the industry (Kiss, n.d). Kiss develops kits, which are relatively easy to use and all-inclusive. Some of the products offered include nail jewelry, nail care, manicure and pedicure tools. Users of the products can now achieve salon results at the comfort of their homes. Innovation and experience are some of the greatest values that have helped the company reach international standards in a field, which many did not take seriously before the current revolution of beauty and fashion. Kiss has always been up to date regarding the trends in the market and has unique strategies that make it avoid losing its customers to the competitors as a result of brand obsoleteness. It, thus, introduces new products now and those, which match the seismically changing needs of the nail art consumers. Some time ago, there was an untapped area of the nail art that had been neglected, or perhaps unknown- the nail care market. Armed with an accurate analysis and perfect timing, the firm introduced the all-inclusive kit, which could be easily used by any nail artist with ease. Currently, the products of Kiss can be found in over 90 countries in the world with retailers like Sephora France, Boots UK, London Drugs, and AS Watson Hong Kong (Kiss, n.d).
Kiss’ Main Products:
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Kiss offers a broad spectrum of products under several brands to meet the diverse needs of its customers. The first name that the company started with was simply the Kiss Products. The line has grown extensively to include products like eyelashes, nail care, nail jewelry, manicure and pedicure tools, hair care, and cosmetics. So far, the hair appliances manufactured by Kiss are available in over 3000 stores in the United States alone. The hair products under Kiss were introduced in the year 2006. They boast efficient distribution channels, which have triggered the success of the goods to enviable levels. Duane Reade and Walmart became retailers of Kiss' hair styling products in 2011. The firm introduced the brand "i ENVY," to offer eyelashes of professional quality to the consumers and practitioners in the field of eye beauty. The lashes are made from human hair and individually crafted. Kiss developed Broadway Nails to cater for the demand of the artificial nails and the nail accessories. Nail consumers who are in their entry or intermediate level can enjoy nail transformation through the latest trends and styles offered by the firm. The pricing and quality of the products are relatively competitive, and the customers can get the value for their money. Another subsidiary, imPress, widens the scope of Broadway Nails by offering a new touch of revolutionary nail polish to the most dynamic customers in the market. Red by Kiss is another brand that promises to deliver superior hair styling tools with the highest industry standards in a reliable and performance-oriented way (imPress, n.d). Another brand, Kiss New York, is marketed as a more-than-makeup innovation. It aims to capture the culture, diversity, luxury, and energy of the people of New York in its products so as to enfold the style of every woman. Its products include skin nourishments and advanced formulae projects with the opulence and confidence that the city woman is meant to have. They focus on enhancement of style and beauty while remaining within the budget. Ruby Kisses put
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into consideration the growing makeup and beauty trends and the pop culture while offering quality products.
Kiss’ Target Customers Kiss targets a broad array of customers in the larger market of beauty and fashion. The primary customers of Kiss products are women, particularly those who are very conscious about fashion and pop culture trends. Their different products are targeted on different tastes of the consumers. Broadway Nails and imPress target the fashion-savvy young woman who puts her appearances on the front page of her lifestyle. Red by Kiss targets the growing demand for highquality hair styling products among the professionals and consumers who are moistly the younger women with a zeal for refined elegance (Kiss, n.d). So far, Kiss New York is the only all-encompassing brand in the company. It focuses on the different cultures and preferences of the city woman. Thus, it has a relatively wider range of products in the market to cater for these diversities. Ruby Kisses focus on the female pop culture enthusiasts.
Kiss’ Positioning Chiefly, bringing the salon home is the positioning strategy of Kiss. The brands are also positioned uniquely in the market to eye different needs of the consumers. Broadway Nails positioning strategy is delivery of innovative products and the right value and price. I-Envy tells the consumers to enjoy the look of bat-worthy eyes for with their lashes; the eyes will have "it". Red is positioned as a brand, which assures performance and reliability. Ruby Kisses tells the customers to themselves some love, embrace individuality, and be undeniable "oneself" (Kiss, n.d).
Kiss’ Resonance
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The brand resonance of Kiss includes the features that consistently emphasize its uniqueness. These include innovativeness, excellent quality, right value and the right price, and aesthetic appeal. They distinguish the products of the company from those of any other competitor hence making it easy for them to enjoy dominance in the market (Kiss, n.d).
Kiss’ Elements The company has several brands all of which are trademarked. They include i-Envy®, Kiss®, imPress®, Broadway Nails®, Kiss® New York, Red by Kiss®, and Ruby Kisses®. The names of the brands in their logos are white, placed inside absolutely black boxes perhaps to achieve a unique appeal to the customers (Kiss, n.d). On their websites, the brand slogan, "Bring the salon Home" and the brand name is written in red.
Kiss’ Associations Brand associations are very crucial in brand management and may include prices, advertisements, customer contact, word of mouth, quality of the product, and big entity/celebrity association, among others. Kiss associations are based on all these concepts and others. Most of the products are associated with pop stars and Hollywood actors. Their pricing is premium, and the quality of their products is high. Their main distribution channels are malls and fashion/beauty shops (Kiss, n.d).
Kiss’ Personality The brand personality of Kiss involves those traits, which the consumers are looking for. It is primarily based on sophistication including attributes like prestige, pretense, elegance, and flair. Charm and dressing for success are also features associated with the Kiss brand. It is a brand for those who wish to stand out of the crowd through a distinctive style (Burmann & Zeplin, 2005).
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Kiss’ Presence on Social Media Kiss has a huge following on social networks. It has pages on Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, and a YouTube channel among others. Its Facebook page has over 800000 followers and is used for announcement of new products, promotions, among other marketing strategies (Kiss, n.d). On Instagram, it has over forty thousand followers who can see photos and short clips of their wide array of products on their feed and make interactions. Kiss has thirtyseven thousand followers on Twitter and thousands of subscriptions on YouTube. The firm uses its social media pages to network with the customers and to react to their feedback, hence, improving on their products based on the preferences of the customers (Smith & Zook, 2011).
Kiss’ Equity and Value Kiss has been able to dominate the nail art industry for quite some time since its inception in 1989 in the United States. Its aggressive business strategies have made them a global success, with operations in over 90 countries and relationships with retailers like Sephora France, Boots UK, London Drugs, and AS Watson Hong Kong (Kiss, n.d). The company is not publicly traded. Thus, it is hard to establish its equity and value. However, it is relatively doing well compared to its competitors.
Nail Art and Social Media The nail art industry, in general, has taken the social media by storm. Like as is the case with most of the fashion subcategories, nail art is mainly a visual concept. Most of those in the industry have shifted from the traditional ways of advertising into the Internet based platforms, which seem to have a significant following. There is a substantial audience growth in the social media with very many prospective consumers subscribing to the social networks daily. The social media also is characterized by a significantly high content engagement which implies that
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getting and maintain customers is relatively easier than in the traditional forms of advertisement. Most of the firms in the nail art sector have very efficient content creators who perfectly match the needs of the customers, and their visual appeal is undeniably enviable. Most shoppers of nail products are teenagers and young adults who prefer visually appealing engagement with the products that they would wish to purchase thus triggering the firms to parallel the demands (Evans 2012).
Instagram is the leading site for nail art content. Countless videos and images on the use of the nail products and services appear on the platform daily with many followers getting engaged by the sellers. Most of the content created is meant for marketing, education, and entertainment and thus, create a pool of very interested customers who are willing to try the products. Pinterest, too, is a growing social media platform, which is majorly visual just like Instagram. Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and Facebook are also prevalent among the nail artists.
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In the nail business, the power of the social media cannot be underestimated, and nail art is among the five most tags in Instagram and Pinterest. Moreover, online shopping is the new cool, especially for the fashion items. The trend has thus led to the integration of shopping tools to the social media groups of the marketers to allow the customers do their shopping after viewing the ads of their interest (Evans 2012).
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Conclusion Overall, the paper has established that the brand management strategies of Kiss have propelled it to an enviable success globally since it was founded. It has been able to become one of the world’s largest firms in the professional quality nail products’ manufacture and distribution. The brand aims to continue expanding its market reach and also developing new goods and services to widen its scope. To achieve this, it will have to put more efforts on research and development, and take advantage of the rapidly growing information technology.
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References Burmann, C., & Zeplin, S. (2005). Building brand commitment: A behavioral approach to internal brand management. The Journal of Brand Management, 12(4) Evans, D. (2012). Social Media Marketing: An hour a day. John Wiley & Sons. Forde, K. (n.d). History of Nail Art. Retrieved from http://fashionhistory.lovetoknow.com/alphabetical-index-fashion-clothing-history/history-nail-art "ImPress." (n.d). Retrieved from http://impressmanicure.com/design-nail.php “Kiss." (n.d). Bring the Salon Home. Retrieved from http://www.kissusa.com/ Smith, P. R., & Zook, Z. (2011). Marketing communications: integrating offline and online with social media. Kogan Page Ltd.