The man, the myth, the legend; we’ve only gone and pinned down Andrew Dale, CEO of Unite Hair for an exclusive interview! Dale shares his journey on how he built the incredible brand of products and why they are loved by so many…
How did you earn your position as CEO?
By starting the company! I’m not just CEO, I’m the founder and majority shareholder. I started Unite 19 years ago in my garage. We’re now in a 65, 000 sq. ft building, shipping to 30 countries.
How did you discover Unite?
It all started from the age of 16 when I learnt the hairdressing trade at Vidal Sassoon London. At the age of 21 I was asked to go to America and work for the brand from the States. I first thought about products when I was on stage for Vidal Sassoon at Long Beach Hair Show. Across the hallway I could see a massive classroom. Being the arrogant ‘Vidal hairdresser’ I thought “who can possible have a bigger room than us?” It was Paul Mitchell! And that’s when I looked at what they did.
I then discovered another huge auditorium for Sebastian – this was worlds away from Vidal Sassoon and it seemed that the thing that set them apart was hair products. After working for a few brands and running four salons, I decided salon work was no longer for me. I found a couple of chemists to work on hair products, brain-stormed some brand names with an old school friend and that’s when Unite was born.
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Why Unite?
The name Unite was perfect as I wanted my brand to reflect ‘hairdressers uniting together to make a better place.’ Unite is also a great word for our slogans and ad campaigns.
How did you create products that perform so brilliantly?
Working as a hairdresser for a long time allowed me to see what clients need and why they want it. The Unite line is broken down into systems: for curly hair you’d use Boing, to get more volume you’d choose Boosta etc. Systems work for what the client needs. With skincare you buy into a system so why is it different for your hair? Clients like a system and I’ve believed in that since day one.
I really hate the word ‘selling’ and prefer to use ‘caring’ – hairdressers helping their clients and being there for them and their hair needs.
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Who are you appealing to?
Anyone with hair! The end consumer is anyone wanting great healthy hair. There is only one thing a hairdresser needs to ask: “Is healthy hair and scalp important to you?” How many will say no? Plus they will feel their hairdresser cares about how they look.
We have a huge demographic and target audience. A wide age range of 18 – 55 year olds. More precisely our audience is mid 20’s to late 40’s and funnily enough most drive an audi. Our clients want to take care of themselves with a quality, premium product at an affordable price.
On that note, we don’t just release products for the sake of it. Each product has a minimum of 6 months testing before release, most of the time it goes up to a year. We thrive off products that actually work.
What’s your favourite product?
7Seconds Detangler without a doubt. Anyone can use it no matter what their hair type. Personally I use Conundrum on my hair (when I’m not using Go247)
Learn more by visiting Lacey’s Distribution.
For more news from Unite click HERE
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