Shea Moisture is an all natural hair care product that caters to African Americans, but is not limited to other races. It's history lineages all the way back to 1912. The CEO and Founder of Shea moisture Richelieu Dennis is the grandson of the creator of Shea Moistures' signature Shea butter and African black soap. The overview can be found on their Facebook page. It explains a little bit about their history.
It states, "Sofi Tucker began selling shea nuts at the village market in Bonthe, Sierra Leone in 1912. By age 19, the widowed mother of four was selling her shea butter and African black soap all over the countryside. Sofi Tucker was our grandmother, and SheaMoisture is her legacy. We proudly create culturally-authentic, time-tested skin and hair care remedies from family recipes using all-natural and fair trade ingredients.
SheaMoisture products don't contain Parabens, Sulfates, Phthalates, Mineral Oil, Petrolatum, DEA, PABA, Synthetic Fragrance or Artificial Color. Our company does not participate in animal testing. All products are tested by family members and friends."
This product has branched out to create more than just hair care products. They've evolved into a multi-million dollar brand that has developed body lotions and scrubs, waxing products, and face masks. Shea Moisture is currently sold, in retail stores such as Walgreens, Walmart, and Target, as well as on all of there partnered websites.
As a "natural" women, we do a lot of experimenting with our hair. Our go to source for trial and error videos is Youtube. Shea moisture entered mainstream society as a "word of mouth" success via Youtube. Shea Moisture started out as a street vended product in Harlem, New York. Consumers began reviewing the product and posting their feedback online. Bloggers such as KinkyKurlyQueen purchases products and gives her opinion on the whether it is something other consumers should invest in.
Although product reviews are a main factor in how Shea Moisture has gained notoriety, Shea Moisture also has a page of its own on Youtube explaining it's product and the history. The page simply entitled, Shea Moisture, has all of it's appearances on television, celebrities who endorse the product and recent awards and magazines articles on this product. It also has demonstrations by world renowned hair stylist. This creates brand credibility.
With all the exposure that Shea Moisture receives, it still has a lot of competition that is also exposed through social media. There are a lot of comparisons of Shea Moisture with other products such as Miss Jessie's, Carol's Daughter, and many others. These are usually debated in black haircare forums.
This product has also branched out into other streams of social media. They've created pages on Twitter to provide continuous brand awareness. There strategy has been to follow popular natural celebrities like India Irie, Corrine Bailey Rae, Marsha Ambrosius, and Kimberly Elise. This form of media allows the brand representatives to connect with consumers personally. Shea Moisture tweets about events that they host, as well as reach out to consumers and supporters who attend. They host events like the Shea Moistures: Editors' Meet & Greet. They will also attach links to articles their products are featured in such as Madame Noire. Often, they retweet and shout out their fans and supporters, and have made it a priority to respond to any concerns or questions consumers have.
In conclusion, I see this product continuing to thrive in the social media realm. I see them catching on with Vine, Pinterest, and Tumblr. I believe their competition will also step up as well. Products like Miss Jessie will also follow the social media trend. This is why it's important that not only they continue to have a great product, but they need to have a good social media following. Also, the more interactive the social media outlet, the better it will be for the brand. Like I said earlier, the easy access that twitter allows consumers to have with the product and creators, helps build brand loyalty. All of the links to their social media locations can be found on the Shea Moisture website.
What did they do?
How to do it yourself!
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