Supercuts targets haters with a coupon that raises the price of a haircut

Supercuts is launching a comic campaign that leans into negative sentiment around the brand in the market—and includes a kind of reverse coupon for people who feel better paying more for a haircut. The 90-second spot below—running largely in social and paid digital, with :30 and :15 cutdowns—stars John Davi, chief digital officer at Regis Corp., parent company of Supercuts. He reads online comments trolling the brand—e.g., “Supercuts is cheap because you pay with your dignity”—then introduces the Real Dumb Coupon, which adds $50 to the price of a Supercuts haircut, for those who equate paying less with getting a lower-quality cut. This Liquid Death-meets-Cards Against Humanity approach is designed to be more edgy than other recent Supercuts marketing efforts, Davi told Ad Age in an interview. “Everybody knows Supercuts. We’re lucky that we have such brand equity and visibility,” Davi said. “But people who don’t go to Supercuts think it’s a bargain-basement chop shop. When the reality is, it’s not.” There’s a stark gap between the negative views of non-customers and the often glowing reviews of customers, Davi said. He said customers give the chain, on average, 4.8 out of 5 stars on Google, but that positivity often doesn’t travel via word of mouth, particularly among men, who make up 65% of Supercuts customers—but who tend not to discuss their choice of salon with others. Ad Age Creativity Bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day Read more here Rather than ignore the haters, Supercuts chose to lean into the negative perception—and hopefully change it by having fun with it. “The brand has been straight down the middle for a long time, so presenting anything comedic or self-aware is pretty unique,” said Davi. “What we loved about the coupon is, it’s a stupid idea but it’s undergirded by a truth, which is that a good cohort of non-Supercuts guests think $65 or $75 is what they should be paying for a haircut every four, five, six weeks.” “People commenting online about how cheap Supercuts is … an opportunity in our eyes,” said Matt Burgess, chief creative officer at Rise and Shine and Partners, which developed the campaign. “So for them, the team created this reverse/dumb/vanity coupon. Problem solved.” A category in flux The campaign arrives as the hair salon industry is still dealing with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, which changed people’s personal grooming habits. “People went longer [between haircuts] and got used to longer hair,” said Davi. “When you’re on Zoom, as opposed to in person, you feel like you can tamp down your hair with some product and survive a few more weeks.” Other people have been cutting their own hair at home, “which might pass but it’s probably not sustainable,” said Davi. Many Supercuts locations have shuttered of late. There were 1,949 Supercuts salons open at the end of June, down from 2,282 two years earlier, according to Regis Corp. The chain’s ad spend has also been falling, from $10.4 million in 2022 to $3.2 million in 2023, per data from Vivvix. When locations close, it affects the ad budget, as the vast majority (all but three) of Supercuts stores are franchises that contribute to the chain’s advertising fund. Regis said advertising fund expenses fell by $6 million during fiscal year 2024, primarily because of the decreased salon count. (The company also uses marketing funds to recruit and train its stylists.) Another wrinkle in the category is that while many consider Supercuts’ price point disconcertingly low, others think it’s too high. Thus, Supercuts can feel stuck in the middle—too pricey for some and not pricey enough for others. A-List & Creativity Awards Enter for a chance to be recognized as the best in advertising Submit your entry here “There are plenty of people who think a haircut should cost about the price of a burrito,” said Davi. “We think we’re in the right spot—two and a half burritos. Not one burrito, not seven burritos.” Experimenting with the creative Given the pressures on the business, it may come as no surprise that Supercuts is getting edgier in its creative, hoping to do more with less. “We’re experimenting with what’s going to stand out,” said Davi. “It’s hard to just go out there and say, ‘Hey, we give a great haircut for a pretty good price.’ Nobody cares. This is something where people will hopefully care about the funny video, at least. There’s something slightly more hook-worthy there.” Davi said the brand shared the concept with franchisees ahead of time but not the creative. “We’re going to find out what they think,” he said. “This is one of those concepts where you’re not going to really get it until you see it.” Supercuts also launched a loyalty program in September called Supercuts Rewards, where members get early access to promotions and earn points toward free haircuts. “These are small things designed to say, ‘Get your butts back to Supercuts and do it on a regular basis,’ as opposed to whatever you got used to in 2020 and 2021,” said Davi. But job one is to improve the brand’s perception among non-guests. “We’d love to flip the script,” said Davi. “When people think about a bad haircut, Supercuts is the brand that comes to mind. That’s actually pretty cool—it’s good to have that awareness. But I’d like to see people rethink that and say, OK, maybe I can spend $30 or $40 less than I currently do. Or if I’m one of those single burrito people, maybe I’ll trade up and spend two and a half burritos’ worth.” See all of Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 honorees here

Supercuts targets haters with a coupon that raises the price of a haircut

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