The new Speed hair dryer from GHD is more than a personal care gadget, the hair styling appliance maker explains. It is the result of five years of research at the firm’s laboratories in Cambridge, and is designed to deliver lustrous locks faster.
This is due to a key innovation – a central stream of hot air with an outer ring or ‘halo’ of cooler flow.
But the dryer is not just the latest example of Britain’s global lead in hair technology. It represents a gamble on demand for expensive beauty products of every sort remaining strong in a tough economic climate.
It’s a bet also placed by FTSE 100 titan Unilever, which is doubling down on its skincare and make-up ranges having sold off its food division to US giant McCormick.
The firm is offloading famous brands such as Marmite and Hellmann’s mayonnaise to focus on the likes of Dove skin creams and TRESemmé hair products. This appears to be informed by predictions that people will still be willing to splash cash on looking good while cutting back on groceries.
The trend has often been dubbed the ‘lipstick effect’ – a term used to describe when consumers prioritise smaller luxury treats such as make-up and haircare over pricier indulgences during times of economic stress.
‘Lipstick effect’: Women are set to cut back on groceries to look good, says GHD boss Jeroen Temmerman
But even when it comes to products such as high-tech hair tools, which can cost the same as a European mini-break, bosses still think demand will stay hot.
Jeroen Temmerman, boss of GHD, describes his sector of the beauty industry as ‘resilient’ as a result of this trend, even as artificial intelligence (AI) searches make it easier for customers to subject potential purchases to even more scrutiny than before on efficacy and value for money.
The Halo, in which Temmerman takes an almost paternal pride, costs £299. This is modest, however, in a sector where the combined styler-dryers from rival Dyson can set you back £579.
Temmerman says: ‘Looking good and having nice hair is something people just don’t want to cut back on. In this industry, there can be good years and there are years when it’s not so good, but the future is enormous.’
Confident: Jeroen Temmerman describes his sector of the beauty industry as ‘resilient’
The GHD boss is not alone in his belief that people are likely to keep spending on things that make them look good while reducing spend in other areas. The global hair tech market, based on gadgets that curl, dry, straighten and volumise, creating ‘beachy’ waves and big bouncy blow dries, is forecast to grow from £11 billion today to £17 billion by 2034.
Last week, analysts at Bank of America noted that demand for beauty products was continuing to accelerate across global markets. This was supported by a rebound in demand from China and strong sales in Korea, known for its booming skincare sector.
This bodes well for the likes of GHD, founded by three Yorkshire entrepreneurs 25 years ago and which burst on to the scene with straightening tongs which promised every day would be a ‘good hair day’. The pledge, made when straight hair was the height of fashion, gave the firm its name.
Today, GHD, which sells its products in the UK, US and Asia, is part of Wella, which in turn is owned by US private equity giant KKR. It has two key rivals: Dyson and SharkNinja. Like GHD, they carry out their research in Britain but make their goods elsewhere.
Temmerman views innovation as vital, saying: ‘We invest in research because, as a great British brand that travels the world, research is a key part of our reputation everywhere. Our Cambridge labs are the very essence of our company.’
He also argues that information is key to sustaining the firm’s success, as GHD products are used in about 20,000 salons across Europe.
The input of hairdressers is ‘our biggest inferential network’ Temmerman says, with this feedback fed into the creation of new products. It’s also key to what he calls the ‘consideration phase’, when a potential customer is assessing the product before buying.
The process is being radically changed by AI, which makes it possible to scrutinise every aspect of a product before purchase.
In the UK, GHD tools are available in Boots, John Lewis and hairdressers. But, whatever channel they buy through, people now devote even more time than before to the study of online ratings, reviews, YouTube videos and Instagram reels, all of which can be synthesised into neat summaries generated by AI chatbots.
Such is the importance of this process that beauty, luxury goods and other companies are now monitoring how AI systems rank the ‘desirability’ of their products.
And this formerly unquantifiable quality is fast becoming a crucial performance metric.
Temmerman will be hoping the Halo’s streamlined design and science will ensure top desirability. But if times become even more challenging, GHD will be hoping consumers still want every day to be a good hair day.
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