The team of professional beauty industry veterans Tony Beckerman, founder of Cutting Edge Resources, and Teri Donnelly, an experienced brand developer, joined forces in 2012 to launch Atar Gold. With Beckerman’s product innovation skills and Donnelly’s understanding of consumer trends and marketing, they have thoughtfully introduced their company to the market.They launched the line, first, with their Atar Gold Fragrance Serum, an alcohol, oil and phthalate-free fragrance in a silky base called Velvesilk, with suspended 24K gold and human pheromones. MODERN SALON asked Donnelly to provide some backstory on the brand.
MS: What is the brand story of Atar Gold?
TD: Atar Gold is a ‘luxury-green’ brand inspired by Ancient Egypt, the birthplace of attars – the essence of plants, woods, and flowers –and the transformative powers of pure gold, also known as alchemy. Hence our brand name, Atar Gold, with a tagline, ‘transform the way you look and feel.’ Our innovative formulas combine the secrets of science with the purest of nature, what we call phyto-technology.
MS: What did you see missing in the market that you felt this would answer?
TD: In a time where the distribution landscape is rapidly changing with ecommerce, large acquisitions of established brands, and the continued reality that diversion is not going away, the consumer can get most professional brands down the ‘salon aisle.’ We felt there was an opportunity to start a high-end, boutique brand that would live in both retail and professional channels without hurting the brand’s integrity. This would allow us to build relationships with our distribution partners into high-end retail stores, to gain consumer awareness with fragrance, body care, and cosmetics, while staying exclusive with professional hair care.
MS: You launched Atar Gold Fragrance Serum ahead of other products – why?
TD: We are carefully crafting Atar Gold as a global brand targeted to the green consumer, one of the fastest growing segments in personal care. First, with our natural fragrance serum, a new innovation to set the brand in a prestigious retail category. It features a ‘green fragrance.’ Next, we’re building the brand concept with best-in-care Phyto-Lux Hair Care Essentials with a proprietary complex of pure Colloidal Gold, plant stem-cells, Moringa Oil and Egyptian Blue Lotus to capture the largest retail category selling in salons and the luxury green consumer. Our visionary plan will include a styling line extension for Phyto-Lux Hair Care Essentials, Velvesilk Body Care, and a skincare line with natural cosmetics.
MS: How are you distributed?
TD: We have built a global ecommerce business exclusively through www.atargold.com that allows the consumer to purchase our products around the world. We also have a Salon Direct approach to top salons that are signing up with us as a wholesale account online. We screen each salon so that it meets our profile and we see they are committed to professional-only salon retail. Each account is password protected and the store is not visible to consumers. We are also seeking boutique, brand-driven distribution to partner with us to reach top salons with a unique point of difference.
MS: How do you plan to reach the hairdresser and the salon?
TD: Fortunately, we have built years of credibility with hairdressers around the world with art and education. We have a large social media following and a strong sampling program that allows salons to try before they buy. The important thing is that we have a pulse on what makes salons and stylists more successful. We are committed to maintaining that credibility every step of the way.
For questions and enquiries, Donnelly can be reached at 888.514.2827 tdonnelly@atargold.com
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