There was excitement among the tens of thousands of the hairstylists in Ogun State Chapter of the National Association of Hairdressers & Cosmetologists- NASHCO as ORS, Olive Oil hair brand campaign activation themed “Get Noticed, Get Confident” berthed in Sango-Ota, a commercial suburb of the state.

 

The brand activation, which coincided with NASHCO election and inauguration of the new executive witnessed huge number in attendance that also have the opportunity to sample the ORS range of products.

 

Speaking on the project, the Marketing Manager for ORS West Africa Adejoke Akindolie said that besides the project being the brand’s corporate social responsibility – CSR, the campaign themed “Get noticed, Get confident’ is based on the importance, women attach to their hair and overall appearance.

 

“Our aim is to educate women to celebrate individual beauty, through their hair. When a woman owns her individual beauty, she becomes confident and this is reflected in her daily achievement. This is also our corporate social responsibility to the society by training these hairstylists across the nation, “Akindolie said.

 

She said, presently, the brand is undergoing a tour across the country to ensure that hairstylists are trained on product knowledge. “We are doing a tour across the country to pass on product knowledge to hairstylists across the nation, so that they have a better understanding of the ORS brand, how to use the product to get effective result in their respective salons,” she said.

 

On the importance of Ogun state to the brand, the marketing manager, ORS West Africa said that “In fact, every state in Nigeria is important to us. But Ogun State is pivotal to the success of the ORS brand because due to the proximity to Lagos, whatever education or styling events that we organize, filters down, to Ogun state before we go to other states in the nation.

 

While describing the product acceptability, quality and usage among the hairstylists and consumers, Adejoke Akindolie said “ORS has been in the country for over a decade and one thing that consumers can attest to, is the products quality.  We do not joke with quality,” adding that “We ensure that each product batch goes through a rigorous evaluation before we release to the market, we go to salons to test it with the end users, because without their approval we can’t release these products into the market,” she said.

 

According to her, “Once they have given us the assurance that the product has passed the mark then we release each product batch into the market, currently we have done about 1000  salons’ evaluation across Nigeria and this, we will continue to do to maintain quality and efficacy of the product.”

 

On acceptability she said, “Consumers love the brand, they always affirmed that the ORS brand is gentle on the scalp. We are not just a relaxer company; we have products that are made for both women who have natural hair and women who also have relaxed hair. So, we are pleasing everybody.”

 

On the number of hairstylists to be trained in Ogun state, the marketing manager said “ Today, we are training one thousand stylists in Ogun state NASHCO chapter.”

 

Speaking further on the activation tour, Rosemary Ogundele, Senior Educator for ORS “We activated Ogbomosho on Monday and we are in Sango-Ota today. From Sango-Ota, we will proceed to other locations within the South West and Eastern parts of the country.

 

The brand also used the medium to launch three new products into the market- ORS Black Castor Oil Range, Vatika Afro Naturall, Long and Lasting. According to Ogundele, each of these product range, attend to the needs of women with ‘Protective Hairstyles and Natural Hair’.

 

“For consumers with Natural hair, Vatika Afro Naturals is perfect while ORS Black Castor Oil Range is suitable for consumers, desiring to provide moisture, prevent breakage while they have braids, weaves or wigs installed. And for Long and Lasting product, it is meant forconsumers who desire product efficacy without necessarily breaking the bank to achieve it,” she said

 

The ORS brand advocate and owner of LoladeBeauty Salon, Alhaja Lola Oladejo, believed that ORS range of brands have lived up to its campaign and brand promises. She said, “Every salon across Nigeria believe in ORS and customers make specific request for the brand.”

 

Another stylist, who benefited from the ORS training, Fatimah Adejo thanked the brand for the opportunity it gave to hairdressers to learn how to use their products. “No matter how good a product is, if you don’t know how to apply and use it on customers, such product is considered unfit for people’s hairs.”

 

Adejo however, urged ORS to continue this education and extend it to other part of the country so that Nigerian stylists can compete favourably with others wherever they find themselves.”