3 branding lessons learnt from SheaMoisture by Afrikinky Naturals

Photocredit Debbin Photography

SheaMoisture - a US-based personal care company which focuses on hair released a recent advert which promoted the company's products featuring an African-American woman, and women with blonde hair and red hair led to an online backlash More via Madame Noire

Here's what every brand should know and learn from this:

1. Don’t compromise authenticity for profit.

Social media; Youtube, instagram and facebook have made it very easy for black women to launch their own products not only to use them at home but to start selling easily on the social media platform. I am sure Shea Moisture is looking ahead and wants to expend their customer base. 

As you look to expand your customer base, remember the stay authentic, you might lose your original fans in the process.

"Shea Moisture had to diversify their market for financial gain" but AA black women spend 80% more on Beauty. 

Remember your brand uniqueness and stay true to it.

From Shea Moisture: "We are different - and we should know better".

Shea Moisture centered white women in a black woman space and that is so hurtful. Yall not getting my coins. Them white women can have yall

— busan babe™ (@melaninbarbie) April 24, 2017

Photocredit Nikeli Photography

2. Listen to your customers and don't feel too big to apologize!  

SheaMoisture was very quick to respond and apologize to their customers via its Facebook and Instagram pages. The response from them read  "We really f-ed this one up. Please know that our intention was not - and would never be - to disrespect our community, and as such, we are pulling this piece immediately because it does not represent what we intended to communicate.

"We are different - and we should know better. Thank you all, as always, for the honest and candid feedback. We hear you. We're listening."

This apology however isn’t sitting well with SheaMoisture’s fans especially black women who are the reason Shea Moisture has grown so much; A Twitter user threatened to take down the brand: "Black women built SheaMoisture…Black women will take it right on down too." 

A Facebook user continued: "I'll take my dollars elsewhere and I'll advise all my friends and family to do the same. Have fun with your new base."

3. Be clear and consistent on your social media messaging 

The entire Ad seems to be focused on them expanding their entrepreneur base due to the fact that the natural industry has truly changed people are heading to YouTube and learning how to make products like DIY whipped  shea butter and DIY black soap shampoo and aren't necessarily rushing to Shea moisture for products. Shea moisture should be authentic in their messaging whilst also balancing their profitability in the long run. A brand could have been easily created to support their new clientele base and they maintained the brand as is for their black woman base .

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#BornKinkyDealwithit: Africans Gone Natural's Campaign

This month WCA had a quick chat with Africans Gone Natural on their latest campaign #BornKinkyDealwithit  

In speaking to the co-founders of the organization Cynthia Amo and Olivia Frempong. They both share  that On October 1st, AfricansGoneNatural  Inc, launched our #BornKinkyDealWithIt campaign in light of events that took place over the summer in South Africa, where girls were banned from attending school due to rocking their natural hair.  The founder notes "Prior to this incident, our main mission from day one in May 2015 has been to help bring awareness, acceptance, education and empowerment in regards to Natural hair to women and girls worldwide.  With this recent event, we felt it was time to move this initiative forward with full force."  

We asked the ladies of the organization to share the top three reasons we should all be paying close attention to the campaign and here is what they had to say about the campaign: 

#BKDWI Empowers girls and women to embrace their God given hair!

AGN: At AfricansGoneNatural, our whole motive was to help young girls and women learn to embrace their God given hair. We live in a society that has developed its own social "norms" and we identified the need to spread awareness to the fact that natural hair is and should be accepted in all aspects of society. For many years, women of African descent amounted to straightening their hair with relaxers and so when the boom of natural hair women occurred, there was negative feedback. Slowly the number of women desiring to have hair return to its natural state has increased, and it is our passion in helping women embrace this. When the case in South Africa occurred it affected us personally as it spoke volumes to confirm the very reason why we do what we do to help enlighten women with the need to come to terms that it is okay to accept the way your hair grows on your head.

#BKDWI Educates people on the treatment and maintenance of their hair

AGN: Along with the desire to enlighten people with the acceptance of natural hair it's also our mission to help educate people on how to care for, treat and maintain their natural hair. We provide support daily through our various media streams with hair care and maintenance tips as well as do it yourself recipes in an effort to help inform people on how to maintain their natural mane. This serves as a way to encourage and unite the natural hair community by bringing natural hair divas together.

#BKDWI Invokes a mindset and cultural paradigm shift on the issue of hair

AGN:Last but not least our mission at AfricansGoneNatural is to help people worldwide internalize that there is more "Beyond the Kink." Natural hair is only one of the most empowering things that a young girl or woman can possess. Our goal at AFRIKINKY is to help women embrace their natural hair and in term apply their fierceness to other aspects of their lives such as fitness, business, education and spiritual. Our goal is to inevitably incorporate all areas of their lives to empower and excel them to be the very best that they can be, to thrive in this society to help make an impact. We hope that through our #BORNKINKYDEALWITHIT campaign, we can help initiate this movement and help made a change in this world.

We wish the campaign well and we hope you all stay connected with the movement. You can follow more on the campaign @Africansgonenatural via Instagram. 
Images Courtesy of @Africangonenaturals www.africangonenaturals.com. 

AFRIKINKY NATION: AFRICANS GONE NATURAL LAUNCHES IT'S ONLINE PORTAL!

We are head over heels excited for the launch of African Gone Naturals website which went live today! 

AfricansGoneNatural, Inc. is a natural hair movement with the desire to help empower women of African descent from all over Africa and worldwide to embrace their God-given “natural” hair. The platform not only seeks to inspire all African women to feel confident and sexy, their goal is to encourage women in all stages of their hair journey to go, or return natural.

Head over to the website and experience the #Afrikinky movement! The community which boasts with over 20K instragram followers has galvanized a strong following of African female naturals both in Africa and in the diaspora. The platform shares pictures of other African women with natural hair, and provides educational and practical lifestyle tips for #afrikinkydivas to ultimately find their style and purpose.

The company boasts that "Natural is the new niche, and it is our goal to help African women embrace their crown in style because it is exotic, gorgeous, bold and beautiful. We hope that you would join us on this journey to help make a difference, and to help you, be the best you."

Check out their website at www.africansgonenatural.com and get all the #afrikinky love you need for your beautiful crown of hair.