Hair loss is something no one wants to deal with, yet when it does happen, finding a trustworthy brand can be difficult. KISS Branding worked with DENSE to create a packaging system that reflects an uplifting and confident aura. The white packaging paired with black type and a yellow cap mirror the brand’s assured attitude, allowing consumers to trust the brand fully.
Hair loss in men, a taboo subject, off the cards as a conversation for many and if at all brought up usually sugar coated in toxic banter. The media fuels this with exposing headlines off celebrities, footballers and royals, analysing each follicle on their head. By the age of 35, two thirds of men will suffer from hair loss. That’s 2.6 billion men globally with hair anxiety. Early signs can be noticed as soon as your 18th Birthday. Dense Hair Experts decided to do something about it. Founders Ash Hashmi & Mo Ahmed experienced hundreds of devastated men coming into their hair loss clinics for expensive hair transplants. Many unaware of preventative treatments that could have been used to maintain their existing hair for longer.
Seeing the direct mental impact on men, Ash & Mo decided to launch their own hair loss prevention range. DENSE® is on a mission to give men an early chance to keep a full head of hair for longer. Working with a range of experts, the Dense Founders created a convenient, affordable, and effective preventive styling range; a world first. Having trialled and tested their offering, they turned to Poonam Saini & Matt Kilb, directors of KISS branding to help develop their hair care startup. KISS re-modelled the brand across all aspects including audience, insight, brand positioning, visual identity, and messaging, right through to the creation of their distinctive packaging exploding the brand out into digital, social, point of sale and merchandise materials.
Dense Co-founder Ash says ‘We know hair is everything to men. It’s their crown, a powerful source of confidence, so why not protect something you love? We wanted to work with an agency who could offer a fresh perspective and create something that will engage younger men. Part of the brief was to create a brand that helped break down the stigma around hair loss and encourage men to use their products everyday and feel confident doing so’ Poonam Saini, co-founder of Kiss Branding says: ‘Hair is such a integral part of health in south asian culture so I was keen to work on a brand that genuinely helps men feel confident and maintain the hair for longer periods of time. As women we have a lot more we can play with to empower ourselves but for men it’s a lot harder. For many, hair is their sex appeal, good hair means a good day’.
The launch offers a world-first hair styling range from wax to salt spray with active ingredients that work to prevent hair loss.The new bottle structure captures the thick Dense D shape creating a tactile semiotic of confidence and the surface grooves on the side of the bottles capture the density the brand offers on the first touch. Across the brand, the use of friendly ‘hair mentor’ illustrations helps reassure and inform customers on how to use the products. The use of yellow and blue bring optimism mirroring a bright sunny day, creating a positive association between products and use. Whereas the Mono-styled typography helps to bring in scientific know-how.
‘In a market full of pharmaceuticals groups offering serums with harmful toxins to tablets with undesirable side effects which create the ‘hair loss trap’. It was really important we established Dense as the ‘Hair Experts’. We kept the name Dense as it felt strong, rememberable and ownable in the market’ but reinforced our expertise in our communication. Poonam Saini, co-founder of Kiss Branding says: ‘We created a brand that captures a positive outlook on hair maintenance and is a brand that is accessible, backed by science but not too gloomy or too jokey.
A lot of the men we interviewed talked about their confidence being intertwined into their hair, a form of hair power so we want to capture the positivity that good hair gives’ ‘It was important our visual communication felt uplifting and confident, so we’ve used real male customers in our product shoots and imagery that feels empowering and captures situations men can feel good in’. As part of breaking down stigma and supporting men’s mental health, Dense has also established the Clubhouse platform where real men, customers and celebrities share their stories on hair, hair confidence and mental health. Dense is available online as well as through several selected barbershops led by the Dense hair ambassadors.
