, and African-Americans account for almost 90% of the overall dollars spent in the ethnic hair and beauty aids category, according to Nielsen. “The launch of products like Pattern is signaling to black and brown and multiracial women and girls that they are truly being seen and finally celebrated,” says Cheryl Grace, a consumer engagement exec at Nielsen.
Yet when Ross took her pitch to the first marketing agency, the meeting ended in tears. The executive “looked at me and said, ‘I don’t understand why anyone would want hair products from you. And there’s so many hair products in the world, why do you think these don’t exist?’” It was the first time she was asked that. “It was a good question,” Ross says. “It forced me to start finding answers.”
In order to turn Pattern into the product she was always looking for—“a brand that actually felt like it was made by somebody who was in the community,” she says—Ross took full control of her marketing strategy, which consisted of a mobile-only campaign. A big part of that campaign was inviting 35 beauty editors to watch her take a shower and wash her hair using her products in real-time.
Shaun Neff, Pattern’s brand development partner, remembers being impressed by the way Ross asserted her vision on shoots—where she insisted the photographer be a person of color—and in meetings. “I was just sitting back and hearing her talk, hearing her address the market opportunity, hearing her own hair experience, hearing about what she dealt with down to figuring out the humidity level so she’d know what she’s doing with her hair for the day,” he says.
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