Bounce Style Lounge -The Unisex Hair Salon

Marketing can be best understood by students like us, only when the product or service we research upon is connected to us more closely. Keeping this in mind I chose to study the personal care industry – which includes hair salons and spas.                      

These days personal care and grooming is a matter of interest not only to girls alone but also to the guys. So my first visit was to one of the best unisex hair salon and spa in the city – Bounce Style Lounge , at Ispahani Centre , Nungambakkam. Before visiting the place I had done substantial research on the internet regarding the salon and its origin. It was only after that I understood that Bounce was owned by Vikram Mohan, the famous hair stylist who gave the path breaking Ghajini hairstyle to Suriya. Understanding the stature of the hair I fixed an appointment with the manager of the hair salon 1 day before in order to ensure my visit was an informed one without causing inconvenience to either the staff or clients in the salon.

It was the first time I visited a hair salon with an eye of a marketing student. Surprisingly the new perspective made me see and understand many things which I would have not given a thought otherwise. So let’s get started with some of my first impressions:

Location:

The Ispahani mall , is centrally located in Nungamakkam road , and consists of retail stores , “big brands” and corporate offices. Surprisingly the mall was not flocked by people. Soon I realized the mass puller retail shops like pantaloons, shoppers stop, Westside, lifestyle were not there in the mall. Prevalent brand outlets in the mall were : Swarovski, High Design , David Jones, Bose , which are definitely not the kind of shops the mass consumers would flock to. Thus I formed my first impression of the mall...It was made to cater to the needs of the richer crowd who want to have a peaceful,  hassle free  shopping experience. It goes without saying the target customers in the hair salon would also be the richer crowd. When I interacted with the manager she said that celebrity clients prefer this place largely owing to the inconspicuous location of the salon, which is at the right corner of 1^st floor , not directly visible from the entrance.

Layout of the shop:                                                         

The shop had a glass door at the entrance and    the entire view of the hair cutting section was visible from outside. Right at the entrance on the right side was the counter where a pleasant looking extremely stylish receptionist was sitting. When I enquired for Farida , the manager with whom I had fixed an appointment ,she asked me to wait in the lounge for a while. While I was sitting I gazed around the place.

Right behind the reception counter the hair products were displayed. The way the products were displayed was interesting. There were 4 brands of hair product : Wella , L ‘ oroeal , Schwarzkopf , Sp. There were no mixing of brands. Each brand specific products were kept together comprising of shampoo, conditioner, serum, hair mask, mousse , hair treatment products . Such an arrangement ensured customers did not get confused and at the same time complementary product sale were pushed by keeping related products together.

Bounce was the first unisex salon which was opened in Chennai in 2004.Thus although it had the first mover advantage Bounce had to create the market for unisex salon in Chennai. They were responsible for bringing the concept of transparent salon to Chennai. It being a unisex parlour people had various kinds of apprehensions as to what really happened inside. So this concept of having the entire hair cut area enclosed in glass walls caters to assuring customers about the transparency of services provided here. However there is a separate section in the 1^st floor to offer privacy to few clients who prefer it. Skin care section is also at the 1^st floor and separate rooms are provided for such services.

Towards the left of the entrance , where customers waited while in queue, were all the accolades Bounce had won over the years. The certificates and awards spoke for the quality of services offered by Bounce. Thus needless to say it was a strategy towards building brand image and credibility.


Overall look and feel of the hair salon was very international and classy. Minimal furniture, mostly in black and white. One wall had a big poster of an international model flaunting her hair . Sufficient space to walk around. English music in the background , a big lcd television set at F TV channel : all of these added a pleasant , sophisticated touch to the salon.

I was pretty impressed with the look and feel of the salon. This inspired me to explore more on their business hierarchy and customer satisfaction strategies which I will be talking in my next blog.

See you till then!

Joyeeta Mukherjee

FT13428