Style Update: Marc Anthony hair care gets a new look

01-Mar-2021 - Last updated on 01-Mar-2021 at 18:44 GMT

photo courtesy of the brand

In recent weeks, the 25-year-old hair brand announced new brand positioning, an updated brand name, and new packaging as well as a Strategic Review Process, which could lead to the sale of company assets.

In conjunction with the repositioning, the Marc Anthony brand has launched a new marketing campaign called Make Hair Play.

Marc Anthony, previously known as Marc Anthony True Professional, thinks of consumers as micro-influencers. “The Marc Anthony consumer is a hair enthusiast who likes to share her beauty knowledge with peers,” explains Kimberly Konstant, Vice President of Marketing, Brand and Innovation at MAV Beauty Brands, in last week’s press release about the brand update.

But she explains that, particularly in the wake of COVID-19, consumers should not take hair care and styling too seriously: “At Marc Anthony, we believe that hair doesn't have to be boring, and it definitely doesn't have to be complicated,” Konstant tells the press.

“Hair,” she says, “can be a source of enjoyment and entertainment. Our goal is to inject that personality back into the haircare category and empower consumers to get back to a time when they had fun and played with their hair.”

Besides the shortened name and the Make Hair Play campaign, the brand also has new packaging. But the products and formulations remain unchanged.

MAV Beauty Brands Board of Directors initiated a Strategic Review

News of the Marc Anthony brand update comes just days after MAV Beauty Brands announced preliminary Q4 financials and the launch of a Strategic Review Process. (MAV Beauty Brands is Anthony’s larger company that owns his eponymous brand as well as Cake Beauty and The Mane Choice. Read more about that company’s leadership and the acquisition of those brands here on CosmeticsDesign.com.)

Later this month MAV will share audited results for both Q4 and all of 2020. According to preliminary financial information, the company’s net revenue for Q4 is somewhere between $22.5m, and $24.5m; and “operations were largely resilient,” says Tim Bunch, Chief Executive Officer of MAV Beauty Brands, in a February press release.

But sales were notably impacted by the pandemic. Bunch points to a “category-wide decrease in haircare sales” in part because of “temporary disruptions in our third-party warehousing and manufacturing operations.”

He and the team at MAV are preparing for future uncertainty: “COVID-19 still presents risks in 2021 so we continue to monitor and adjust to the market, including taking active steps to minimize operational disruptions and increase inventory of core products to ensure supply sufficiency,” Bunch tells the press.

And a Strategic Review Process is underway at MAV. The process is meant to “identify, review and evaluate potential strategic alternatives that may be available to the Company, including without limitation, the sale of all or substantially all of the Company's securities and/or its assets,” according to the press release. Of course, it’s possible that the review will not result in any strategic shifts; and if no transactions take place as a result of the review, it’s likely that no findings will be announced. Time will tell.