Beautiful People. Beautiful Brands.

Coming right off an exhausting – but stimulating – trip to the America’s Beauty Show in Chicago last weekend, I was overwhelmed by this little slice of celebrity, fashion, and pent-up energy that was released in one big extravaganza at the McCormick Convention Center. It was an enormously successful show, with attendance that surpassed the expectations of many – a good sign the market is likely on the verge of an upswing.

I was impressed when I heard that the legendary hairdresser and businessman, Vidal Sassoon himself, probably one of the most famous and historic names of the beauty industry, was signing autographs on the showroom floor. Sure enough, seated at a table, there he was, row upon row of eager fans in front of him, their hands outstretched, holding scraps of paper for signatures. But it occurred to me, for many people, his name probably conjures up images, not of a smiling face, and his recreations of classic bob haircuts, but the infamous logo on plastic shampoo and hair conditioner packaging that was relentlessly advertised on prime-time television with the unforgettable phrase, “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.” The jingle rings on in my ears to this day. So prominent was the brand name in my sheltered suburban world of household beauty products, bestowed on me by my two older sisters in the early eighties, that I can say for myself at least that I probably didn’t realize Vidal Sassoon was actually the name of a human being until I hit my early twenties.

That night after the beauty show, curiosity got the best of me, and I became caught up in a Google feast of Vidal’s life history. I quickly discovered he had agreed to sell the rights to his name for commercial use in the early sixties, and later Procter & Gamble began applying beaucoup bucks and an immensely successful marketing campaign to the haircare products that later became synonymous with the stylist. At one point in 2003, Vidal wished he could disassociate himself from the product line after becoming dissatisfied with how the company began diverting its attention to other product lines and diminishing the impression of quality he felt his name deserved.

This got me thinking. How does a person’s name become so strongly associated with a product or company that it is no longer associated with the person? There are thousands of examples of this, not only in the beauty market but in countless other industries. Think Oscar Mayer, Ford, and Schwinn. Advertising campaigns have built up brands like these so effectively that the names associated with them have taken on a life of their own.

I can only dream of the idea of Chamerlik… ah, I won’t even go there. I should be happy when people spell my name right. For now, I dream, and collect my autographs and select my bottles of shampoo. At age 83, Vidal and the brand that bears his name may have had their family squabbles, but now appear to be getting along quite well.