More than 100 years after it was founded, Black beauty brand Madam C.J. Walker is relaunching with new products and a brand overhaul that includes a new name: Madam by Madam C.J. Walker. The brand, created in the early 1900s by Black entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Madam C.J. Walker, is supporting the overhaul with a campaign that mixes the brand’s traditional focus on quality with an appeal to the diverse needs of a younger customer.

The brand, acquired by Unilever under Sundial Brands five years ago, is targeting Gen Z consumers with the new ads. Agencies involved in the campaign include Black-owned The Kitchen Table, and Black-owned Team Epiphany.

The campaign promotes 11 new products, which focus on scalp care and hair growth. While seeking to appeal to new audiences, the brand is also pointing towards its heritage—and there is plenty of history behind the brand. It began when Sarah Breedlove, who changed her name to Madam C.J. Walker, founded a beauty company in 1910. Walker, who had been a farmworker and laundrywoman, was inspired to start her business after trying to find remedies for her own scalp problems.   

According to Walker’s great-great granddaughter and brand spokesperson A’Lelia Bundles, Walker’s reputation when she founded her company was based on high-quality products and hair health. She was also an activist, donating time and money to causes such as anti-lynching legislation, according to a website created by Bundles. Her story inspired a Netflix series called “Self Made,” which debuted in 2020 and stared Octavia Spencer, Tiffany Haddish, Carmen Ejogo.

The brand today is showing that it is staying true to these roots. “We wanted to honor that legacy and also have a remix on it,” said Cara Sabin, CEO of Sundial Brands, which includes Madam C.J. Walker, along with SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage and Nyakio.

According to Sabin, the brand is going after consumers who value quality but also are interested in experimenting with their hair.

The campaign includes a spot showing women rocking a variety of hairstyles, from flicking their braids around to touching their new curls—“Let’s stop asking: did you change your hair?” says a voiceover. “And no—you know you can’t touch it.” Sabin called these questions “a wink to our consumer, because we know that often she gets asked that question.” 

The spot brings in the brand’s history by switching to shots of women reading a book bearing an image of Madam C.J. Walker. “We’re locking down the legacy,” says the voiceover.

The brand sees the Gen Z consumer as more diverse and more willing to experiment with their hair, said Sabin, partly because of social media offering more opportunities for learning. The pandemic has also prompted consumers to become more involved with their haircare.

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Wil Shelton, CEO of Wil Power Integrated Marketing, which specializes in marketing ethnic personal care products, said one challenge is navigating how Unilever’s acquisition of Sundial Brands might have changed consumer perceptions. Acquisitions can cause people to think that the brand has changed, said Shelton, even when this isn’t the case. As a result, the brand should focus on transparency and letting customers know that they “still have the same mission, the same authenticity,” said Shelton, who isn't affiliated with the brand.

The acquisition could also continue to prompt conversations among consumers about the pros and cons of supporting Black-led versus Black-owned companies, said Shelton. When big conglomerates acquire a Black-owned brand, consumers can “feel like you’re diluting the brand’s authenticity,” he said.

Unilever has a history with moves towards racial justice, but the company has also dealt with some controversy after releasing an ad for Dove in 2017 that was criticized as racist because it showed a Black woman taking off a brown shirt to reveal a white woman.

Sundial Brands was also perceived by some as moving away from its African-American base after producing a commercial in 2017 for Shea Moisture that showed white women using its haircare products.

The new campaign is digital-only, which is what Sundial usually focuses on, and includes spots on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, as well as specific partnerships with Black-owned media such as Afropunk. The products will only be sold at Walmart, which partnered with Sundial brands for the campaign. 

The Walmart partnership has the potential to put these products in close “proximity to where their consumers are,” said Shelton.

This campaign will be the brand’s biggest campaign, said Sabin; it hasn’t had a campaign since Sundial Brands was acquired by Unilever in 2017. “It really just feels like a brand new launch,” said Sabin.

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