Hairbond vs Slick Gorilla: More Value in the Product. Less Noise Around It.
Why Hairbond chose professional trust, premium formulas and long-term value over powders, supermarkets and social media algorithms.
Slick Gorilla deserves respect.
It has built a recognisable British hair brand, helped take styling powder into the mainstream and used modern retail and social media effectively.
Its best-selling styling powder promises instant volume, texture and a matte finish. The brand has also expanded into Boots, giving it broad access to mass-market customers.
That is smart business.
But Hairbond and Slick Gorilla were built on two very different ideas.
This is not merely a comparison between two products.
It is a comparison between two ways of building a brand.
Paid visibility versus earned reputation
Slick Gorilla is highly visible online, across social media and through major retailers.
That visibility matters.
Amazon and social platforms reward brands that capture attention quickly. Hair powder is almost designed for short-form video.
Shake it.
Style it.
Show the result.
Scroll.
The algorithm is delighted.
Hairbond has grown differently.
Much of our reputation has been earned organically through barbers, hairdressers, footballers, retailers, customers and recommendations.
We did not build Hairbond by constantly paying to stand at the front of the queue.
We built it by creating products people wanted to use again.
Advertising can win the first sale.
The product has to win the second.
More value in the jar
Hairbond has always chosen to invest heavily in the product itself.
Our formulas are expensive to manufacture.
Our packaging is designed to feel premium.
Our fragrances are distinctive.
Every part of the experience matters.
We would rather put more value into the jar than more noise around it.
Marketing still matters. But marketing should reveal the quality of a product, not compensate for the lack of it.
Hairbond packaging was designed to create pride.
The fragrances were designed to create memory.
The formulas were designed to deliver professional performance.
A men’s hair product should not feel like something bought from the plumbing aisle.
It should feel considered.
It should feel personal.
It should make the person using it feel more confident.
Why Hairbond refused to make another powder
Hair-styling powder became one of the biggest trends in men’s hair.
People asked Hairbond to make another powder for around ten years.
Commercially, the easy decision was obvious.
Follow the market.
Fill another bottle.
Film somebody shaking it onto a haircut.
Let TikTok do the rest.
But I had already worked with hair powders.
I also have asthma.
The more I considered the possibility of customers or professionals accidentally inhaling fine airborne powder, the less comfortable I became about returning to the category.
Hair products are used close to the eyes, nose and mouth. In a busy barbershop, they may be applied repeatedly throughout the day.
I did not want Hairbond to make another powder simply because powders were selling.
So I dug in.
That decision may have cost us short-term sales.
I can live with that.
A brand needs to know what it believes.
Otherwise, it is not a brand.
It is a vending machine.
We developed Super Fibre instead
Rather than following the powder trend, Hairbond developed a different answer.
Hairbond Super Professional Hair Fibre.
Super Fibre creates an ultra-dry finish with serious texture, volume and control.
It provides many of the results people seek from styling powder, but through a workable fibre formula.
It can be applied with control.
It can be worked properly through the hair.
It does not rely on shaking a cloud of powder around somebody’s face.
The formula also contains keratin.
Super Fibre was not created to imitate powder.
It was developed as an alternative that we believe performs even better.
Powder can create fast dryness and texture.
Super Fibre delivers dryness, texture, control and workability in one professional formula.
We would say that, of course.
But at least we spent time developing a genuine alternative rather than putting powder into another black bottle and teaching it to dance on TikTok.
Boots versus the professional shelf
Slick Gorilla is sold through Boots, including its powder, creams, clay, sea salt spray and hairspray. That gives the brand convenience, scale and wider mass-market reach. (Boots)
Hairbond made a different choice.
Years ago, we had opportunities to move into supermarkets and larger mass-market retailers.
We turned them down.
Not because we lacked ambition.
Because we wanted to protect Hairbond’s professional position.
Hairbond was built behind the chair. We wanted it recommended by people who understand hair, not simply stacked beside toothpaste, deodorant and meal deals.
A barber or hairdresser does more than hand over a jar.
They understand the hair’s thickness, texture and condition.
They know whether the customer needs volume, control, movement or something strong enough to survive British weather and poor decision-making.
That expertise has value.
When a professional recommends Hairbond, they should have the opportunity to retail it and earn a proper margin.
We did not want barbershops and salons doing the education while supermarkets collected the money.
Slick Gorilla chose broader reach.
Hairbond chose professional relationships.
Mass retail creates volume.
Professional recommendation creates trust.
We made our choice years ago.
We still believe it was the right one.
Hairbond is not chasing TikTok
Slick Gorilla understands social media.
That is one of its strengths.
Hairbond is less concerned about pleasing TikTok.
Platforms change.
Algorithms change.
Trends explode and disappear before most people have worked out why they were watching them.
Hair education lasts longer.
We would rather explain why one product suits fine hair, another suits thick hair and another performs better on longer styles.
We would rather help a barber make the correct recommendation than chase half a million distracted views from people who have already scrolled away.
That approach is slower.
It is also more valuable.
Hairbond does not want to win the algorithm.
We want to earn the customer.
Education over entertainment
Modern brands are told to post constantly.
Follow every trend.
Use the popular sound.
Copy the video that worked for somebody else last Tuesday.
Hairbond prefers education.
We want customers to understand what they are buying.
We want professionals to understand what they are recommending.
That is why the Hairbond Journal matters.
It is not simply a conveyor belt of product adverts.
It is where we talk about barbering, hairdressing, haircuts, confidence, professional retail, football, culture and the future of the industry.
Some brands are built to capture attention.
Hairbond is built to create understanding.
Attention disappears quickly.
Understanding creates trust.
The real difference
Slick Gorilla is a successful British brand.
It has embraced styling powder, mass retail and modern social media with impressive commercial discipline.
Hairbond is different.
Hairbond was founded in 2008 from behind the chair.
It was built around professional formulas, distinctive fragrances, beautiful packaging and the belief that men’s hair products should make people feel more confident.
We will not launch something simply because it is trending.
We will not return to powder while I remain uncomfortable about accidental inhalation.
We will not let advertising define our reputation.
We will not let TikTok decide what Hairbond becomes.
We will continue investing in the formula.
We will continue investing in the packaging.
We will continue investing in the experience.
Slick Gorilla knows how to capture attention.
Hairbond wants to deserve it.
We educate rather than chase.
We develop rather than copy.
We protect the professional rather than rush towards the supermarket shelf.
We put more value into the product and less noise around it.
Because algorithms disappear.
Advertising budgets run out.
Trends move on.
A genuinely good product remains.
That is Hairbond.
Discover Hairbond at hairbond.com.
Professional barbers, hairdressers and retailers can visit partners.hairbond.com.