Wil Shelton never set out to be a marketing guru when he obtained his license in cosmetology, but 25 years later, the executive sits from a powerful perch when it comes to connecting global brands with the African American consumer.
Shelton’s agency, Wil Power Integrated Marketing, which recently moved headquarters from Cypress just over the county line to La Mirada, maintains a network of more than 100,000 Black barbershops and salons throughout the nation. He links them to his client base of companies, such as AT&T and Universal Pictures, looking to reach an African American audience through experiential, lifestyle and integrated marketing.
Shelton’s specialized focus has helped bring in national work, such as a pair of current projects that includes working with Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) as a consultant on the marketing for its upcoming “Coming 2 America” movie, in addition to helping spread information on new COVID-19 treatments.
“I had my salon for 10 years and while I was doing hair behind the chair, I found out I was a marketer disguised as a hair stylist,” Shelton said.
“I started realizing how much influence, how much word of mouth and how captive and receptive an audience the African American consumer was because whenever a client left my shop, they’d say ‘I’m going to go buy that album’ or ‘I’m going to go see that movie.’”
It didn’t take long after that epiphany for Shelton to mobilize, writing to movie studios and record companies.
“I let them know this was a blind spot for them and these were tremendous trendsetters in their communities. And they could really market their product within these venues,” he said.
Within 30 days of sending out those letters, free CDs to play inside his shop and complementary advances to movie screenings began coming in, signaling the start of Shelton’s integrated marketing firm.
Growing Pull
Twenty-five years later, he continues to work with global businesses to help them better understand and market to the communities he works with, pointing out many large companies have historically failed to realize the spending power of the Black community and ultimately miss the mark on reaching them.
“They just didn’t understand that the Black barbershops and hair salons are like the ecosystem that makes the Black community flourish,” Shelton said of what many brands were missing from their strategies for Black consumers.
“They didn’t understand the strong, powerful endorsement that they yield. They only looked at traditional marketing like television, billboards and radio when it came to reaching this audience. It was just something that they didn’t understand, and I believe even hairstylists and barbers didn’t even understand.”
By the numbers, African Americans’ spending power totaled $1.4 trillion across a population of 48.2 million in 2019, according to figures released last year from a Nielsen Holdings (NYSE: NLSN) report. That figure is expected to grow to $1.8 trillion among a population of 68.5 million by 2024.
As Shelton had already realized when he was behind the chair at his own salon, the locations served as more than just a place for haircuts.
“Hair salons and barbershops are like a culture within a culture,” he went on to say. “Even if you go as far back as the 1960s, hair salons and barbershops were deeply involved in civil rights movements. They had meetings where they turned [salons and barbershops] into town halls.”
Those places have evolved over the decades, but their influences have hardly waned.
“They’re the reason why Biden won the presidency. They’re the reason why a lot of those elections last year turned out the way they did,” Shelton said.
The entrepreneur said he did some political consulting last year as he was called upon by a few companies to help with strategies.
Adapting to Change
Last year was certainly a difficult one for Shelton’s network of barbershops and salons, but he noted plenty of innovation, too.
“I told them to throw out the old playbook because it didn’t matter anymore and to start playing the long game because you’re dealing with the new abnormal that was upon us. I started preaching about finding opportunities in the crisis and told salon owners and barbershop owners ‘Don’t be paralyzed by this,’” he said.
He pointed to the fact that many stylists command social media followers of anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 with strong engagement, making them influencers in their own right with plenty of reach, as marketing strategies turned to social media and some began selling products, kits and even consultations online last year.
Shelton said one Atlanta salon owner he works with leveraged digital so much so that when the salon reopened, the business had a waiting list that ranged anywhere from 200 to 400 people.
While the salon was closed, the owner began selling hair product kits online, helping generate $50,000 in product sales.
“They had to look at it as a moment of redefining and restructuring,” he said. “As far as my brand [Wil Power], we’ve gone from brick-and-mortar to click-and-order. Everybody’s ordering online now, so I was able to help generate more sales and promote more products on social media. We started setting up more digital campaigns.”
The business began picking up in October and hasn’t stopped its trajectory, Shelton said.
“I’ve seen a huge uptick in companies reaching out to me in the last 60 days because their marketing efforts have been so impacted,” Shelton said.
“They’re looking for nontraditional ways to reach the African American consumer because they know I can take them from the balcony to the orchestra seats with their target consumer. [Black consumers] have such an outsized influence that companies are using them as a priority consumer and they’re redefining cultural norms. I think that’s where things are headed.”
Taking a Stand
It’s a fine line though, Shelton said, reflecting on last year and the brands that aimed to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Shelton said he asks brands to look closer at what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.
“What I tell them is, ‘Is your solidarity solid? Does your stance line up? How many Black executives do you have in C-suite positions?’ Because, now, a lot of African Americans are looking under the hood. They’re doing a CT scan to see if it’s good under the hood,” he said.
“So I tell brands, look, African Americans respond more favorably to brands that support their community causes and they like to see positive images in their advertising. They want their products to be accessible in their communities.”
With respect to social media alone, Nielsen’s 2020 report found 58% of African Americans expect the brands they buy from to take a stand on social issues.
Ultimately, Shelton said he’s optimistic about the shifts that began taking place last year and believe those changes have long-term staying power.
“It’s one of those things you have to see unfold over time, but I do believe there was a turning point last year, where these brands recognized the institutionalized issues they have as far as race goes and diversity and inclusion,” he said. “They really understand now that if they invite African American executives not just to the party but ask them to dance when they’re at the party, they will see significant gains. They’ll see that they built a better relationship with that consumer.”
