Blowin' Away the Competition: Revlon's Review Reign

This volumizer wins on review volume

The Insight

The crowded hair styling tools category of dryers, irons, and wands spans everything from upmarket offerings from T3 and Dyson to mass-market offerings from Conair and Remington. However, no brand has more clearly dominated the consumer conversation over the last 5 years than Revlon, specifically with its Salon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer.

Supremely affordable at ~$40, its fans often rave that it produces similar results to hair dryers that are ten times more expensive. Unsurprisingly, the product has a glowing organic average star rating of 4.2 stars. What is surprising is how it is thoroughly dominating the battle for review volume, garnering 35.7% of all organic written reviews of the top 64 most popular hair styling tools.

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The Takeaway

One of the most common questions I receive from brand managers is: “How can I get more reviews for my product?” Taking a cue from Revlon’s success here are 3 lessons:

1. Iterating on your product to exceed your customers’ expectations: early last year, Revlon introduced a smaller, lighter v2.0 Plus version that also has an additional heat setting - all in response to customer feedback on v.1.0
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2. Winning on expert and influencer reviews and testimonials; in addition, Revlon’s One-Step Dryer topped gift buying guides year after year, which in turn led to Q1 seasonal peaks in review volume.
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3. Sampling or coupon campaigns can be a productive way to garner the initial set of reviews for a newly launched product. However, it is not necessary when strong product-market fit exists - case in point, Revlon’s One-Step Hair Dryer has negligible promotional reviews.

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