Matrix general manager hugo boisvert talks brand tactics

With 16 years’ experience within L’Oréal Professional Products Division in countries around the world, Hugo Boisvert arrived in the UK at the end of 2011 with all the right credentials to create a new vision for the Matrix brand. What was your impression of Matrix in the UK and Ireland when you took over as general manager? When I arrived the brand was a bit stagnant, but in very good shape. The education side of the business was excellent, however the look and feel of the brand had not been adapted for the UK market. It was a US brand with US visuals. UK hairdressing is fashion-forward, with hairdressers who have a knowledge of cutting and trends. The visuals were not in line with this. My job was to introduce a vision for the brand in the UK – the foundations were already there. What can UK hairdressers learn from the US roots of  the brand? The UK is probably the most advanced country when it comes to trends, cutting and colouring – the craft of hairdressing. When it comes to fashion there is no other place like London and the UK. The British are always being different, always pushing boundaries. However, the UK is behind in terms of business and retail, client service and treatments. In the US, it’s exactly the opposite. We can learn a lot from other countries, and at the same time there are lots of good things from the UK that we are bringing into the brand. We have a fantastic pool of knowledge. There is constant communication with other general managers to talk about what’s happening with styling and trends. How did you communicate your plans for the brand to your distributors? We got together all the Matrix distributors in November 2011 and told them we were going to go from ‘good’ to ‘great’. Good is the enemy of great. It is too easy to be good and not change things. To be great you have to embrace change. It was vital to put all our distributors in one place with top people from L’Oréal UK and tell them we were serious, that it was not just me moving the brand forward, that the whole of L’Oréal UK was behind them. What have been the brand’s major achievements since you took over as general manager? The key achievements have been growth and acceleration. Matrix as a brand has seen 7% growth against a market growth of 1%. We’ve added 1,000 salons to our network, taking the total to more than 14,000. The UK has the biggest number of international Matrix artists – including Paul Falltrick, Hooker & Young and Jamie Stevens. Even the US does not have this many international artists. In 2012 members of the UK artistic team won more awards than in any other year. Last year was the brand’s best since 2005. How have you ensured this success continues through 2013? We are making a major investment in education, making sure we offer our salons unlimited, free education. Hairdressers can’t afford to pay for it and they don’t want to have to travel – they want it free and on their doorstep. We have hundreds of educators across the country, which allows us to offer regional ‘happy hours’ where hairdressers can come along and experience Matrix. We use many of our distributors’ premises as locations, which can actively encourage sales within the cash and carry. With this approach to education we have achieved an unprecedented reach, from 3,500 people in 2010 to 18,000 people in 2013. This is vital as we are a democratic brand; we are not just for the top salons, we are for every salon. What other methods have you used to spread the Matrix message to the masses? We made a massive commitment to this despite the recession. Matrix Live was a major roadshow across the UK and Ireland. Twelve artists reached 2,000 hairdressers, 25% of whom were new to Matrix. Matrix Imagine was another initiative that saw local Matrix artists and distributors hold smaller events to share their experience of the brand with non-Matrix salons in the region. Of those attending, 35% converted to Matrix, representing £300,000 of new business. We also took 170 top UK salons over to Turkey at the end of last year for the Matrix World Tour. You mentioned retail was a weakness for UK salons, how will you help salons increase their retail sales? The secret to unlocking the potential in retailing is in the consultation. Hairdressers have amazing people skills, but they miss a trick with the consultation. They have a captive audience that they often waste by not talking about the client’s needs and expectations, and not always asking the right questions. Matrix has put together a simple programme, which is having amazing results. The MOT programme involves a one-minute meeting every day between the salon owner and the staff to talk about how they have performed with their consultation. Every day for 21 days a Matrix sales consultant calls the owner to check they have spent one minute with their team. By the end of 21 days, one in three clients will be leaving with a product. And what is your vision for the future? Within five years we want to help salons double their turnover and we want to be in 17,000 salons. The biggest opportunity in the UK is retail, as a nation we are definitely underdeveloped. We want to grow our retail sales by 10 times the market during 2013. We want to go from ‘great’ to ‘brilliant’.