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- IN THE PRESS -
Steve Goddard has witnessed a lot during his
decades-long career in the professional hair
care industry. He’s relied on that knowledge
to create PRAVANA, a hair color company
celebrating its 10th anniversary
IN LIVING COLOR
Demand for hair color is providing a lift for salons,
too. Hair color sales rose 3.6% last year to reach $783
million and accounted for nearly 26% of salon hair care
product category sales, according to Cyrus Bulsara,
CEO, Professional Consultants & Resources, Plano,
TX. Overall, the professional hair care sales rose 2.8%
to $3.03 billion, representing one of the lowest growth
rates in recent years, according to Bulsara. The total US
salon hair care market, including products and services,
reached $65 billion last year, with hair care services
accounting for 87% of sales, followed by salon retail/
“It’s always been a vibrant market and it
take-home, 8% and service/back-bar, 4%. “The market
follows societal demographics,” noted
is growing due to Boomers coloring their gray and
Goddard. “The Baby Boomers are gray and
tattooed-Millennials wanting vibrant color,” observed
as a result the market has exploded. It is an
Goddard. “The fastest-growing colors for us are vivid
affluent population that embraces color.”
shades like purple and lime green.” Not exactly the sort
Even better, this gray market for hair color works in
of tones that make one wonder, “Does she or doesn’t
she?” Goddard has a long history in hair color, having
concert with a youth culture marked by tattoos and
a desire to express itself with vibrant hair color. The
started as a stylist, before moving on to Redken to
result is that PRAVANA is posting double-digit growth manage a product evaluation salon and work closely with
year after year, which has enabled the company to top
chemists. He was promoted to senior VP-marketing and
advertising and created several key styling products for
$45 million in sales.
Redken before being recruited by Revlon for senior VP
After 30 years in the hair salon industry, it should come
as no surprise to learn that PRAVANA founder and
CEO Steve Goddard has enjoyed a colorful career.
During that time, hair color has become the norm, not
the exception, with 75% of women today using some sort
of hair color. Even 11% of men dye their hair, according
to industry analysts. And when they want it done right,
they go to a salon. And when they want it to look its
best, more and more of them are trusting PRAVANA,
which derives 75% of its sales from color.
distributors selling directly to salon professionals.
Goddard noted that 30 years ago most salons were
independent and commission-based. Now, the industry
is marked by booth rentals by individual stylists. As
a result, instead of several hundred dollars worth of
product to a group of hairstylists, sales reps are taking
$15 orders. “It’s become a nightmare to sell to them and
collect from them,” asserted Goddard. “A salon may
have 20 stylists, but they work their own hours and come
in when they want.” To reach these entrepreneurial free
spirits, Goddard uses a variety of methods. When he
was at Sebastian International, the idea of putting info
on CDs was considered to be on the cutting edge of
technology. Today, PRAVANA uses apps, websites, text
messages and social media. “When the internet got up
and running in the 1990s, we all saw the opportunity
to connect with stylists,” recalled Goddard. “But salons
don’t have computers! If they do, they use it for booking
purposes. Nobody is searching the web during the day.”
That’s why PRAVANA has optimized its website for
mobile use and employed text marketing campaigns
in new product development at Colomer. He continued too. For example, PRAVANA 180 is a free, educational
to climb the ladder at Rusk and Wella and ultimately, to website featuring as many as six videos that are refreshed
monthly. The site also contains information on new
president of Sebastian International.
product launches and tips to build business. PRAVANA
“I had a marvelous career, but I had gotten
even offers an online, five-module ChromaSilk Color
myself promoted into an area that I didn’t
Certification program that takes 2.5 hours to complete
like,” Goddard recalled. “I like new product
and is aimed at “any salon professional looking to master
development, not managerial duties that require
their hair color craft,” according to the company. “It’s
flying to Germany every 90 days.”
been a great tool that meets the needs of the independent
stylist,” noted Goddard. “Rather than trying to get them
To get back to what he loves doing, Goddard didn’t look
in one place, we invite them, 24/7, to take the program
for another company, he created one and as a result,
and learn about our products.”
Pravana is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The name,
from Sanskrit, means “The Source of All Things.”
Gentle, Yet Durable
The Times They Are A-Changin’
It’s not just hair tones that have changed dramatically in
the past decade, so has the way marketers and product
formulators interact with their customers. According
to Goddard, one of the greatest changes that has
taken place in the hair salon business is distribution
consolidation. Back in 1987, he recalled, Redken had
100 US distributors. Today, there are only two major
players, Beauty Systems Group and SalonCentric,
followed by about 30 second-tier distributors.
“Changes in distribution have been the most impactful
and strenuous event in our business,” asserted Goddard.
The other big change has been the emergence of
And there’s lots to learn about PRAVANA’s product
line, where the emphasis is on gentleness and durability.
Goddard and others in the salon industry subscribe to
Leonard Lauder’s Lipstick Index theory, but rather than
choosing a new color cosmetic, a cashstrapped consumer
opts for long-lasting hair color to make herself feel better.
“The last recession hit salons hard and a lot of them were
forced to close. It changed how people timed their visits
to salons,” recalled Goddard. “So, durability and retaining
the vibrancy of color is key. It affects how we formulate
color, how we use it and how we sell it.” For example,
PRAVANA relies on a silk amino acid to carry color into
the cortex. The technology enables the company to use less
ammonia, which in turn, doesn’t swell the hair as much so
the color lasts longer. Taking care of hair outside the salon
has changed too. Color-friendly sulfate- and sulfite-free
formulas are common, and formulators say they stay clear
of parabens and propylene glycol, too. “We’re formulating
care products that will preserve the integrity of hair color,”
noted Goddard. PRAVANA’s ChromaSilk and VIVIDS
hair color lines meet the needs of an increasingly colorconscious consumer. To attract even more of them, this
month PRAVANA is introducing ChromaSilk NEONS
in five “shockingly electric” colors. Shades include NEON
Pink, NEON Orange, NEON Yellow, NEON Green and
NEON Blue. And while the jury may still be out on the
idea of neon blue-haired, old ladies, Goddard insists that
the 70s are the new 60s. He noted that during the past 15
years, older women and more than a few men, have seen
how a good cut and the right color can enhance their
lives. “I have an 84 year-old mother-in-law with a perm
and a progressive cut. At some point, we all say ‘enough
with the color,’ but that time is being extended,” explained
Goddard. “Especially as people push retirement into the
future and want to look more vibrant.”
oil, which is rich in selenium and other nutrients to add
elasticity and suppleness to hair. All of these materials
are obtained from the Amazon rainforest; and one of
Goddard’s business partners in Rio purchased 25,000
acres in the Amazon and partnered with the Brazilian
government to operate sustainably. The packaging is
sustainable too, thanks to an ingredient that attracts
landfill microbes. The result is that the NEVO bottle
begins to break down in 250 days and completely
disappears in two years, according to Goddard. “I am
very proud of NEVO,” he added So proud, in fact, that
PRAVANA’s chemists are reformulating the existing
care and styling lines to have the same vegan- and
gluten-free specifications and are packaged, of course,
in biodegradable packaging. A line like NEVO helps
keep Goddard optimistic about the future. “One
advantage we have is that we can turn on a dime. We
have no layers of management, I don’t have to talk to a
board that can take years to get approval,” he explained.
“Here, I talk the marketing team, we do research and we
make it happen with our own manufacturing. That puts
us in a great position now and in the future.” Looking
What’s New?
Goddard is most proud of his newest line, NEVO, back over his career, the 63-year-old Goddard realizes
which is 100% vegan, 100% gluten-free and packaged in he’s been blessed.
100% biodegradable bottles. A portion of NEVO’s sales,
“I started as a hair dresser. I never thought I
5%, is dedicated to City of Hope, a cancer research,
would become president of a company. When I
treatment and education organization. NEVO formulas
look back, I think about what’s really important
contain exotic ingredients such as Mulateiro extract,
and what do I need to do?” explained Goddard.
an antioxidant that helps eliminate free radicals and
“If I can create a company that is giving and
protect hair color; Babassu oil, which contains 70%
caring, that is exciting.”
lipids to keep hair smooth and shiny; and Brazilian Nut