Inside Rogaine's push to position itself as a solution for men and women alike

Some brands are synonymous with their product category: Kleenex for tissue, Band-Aid for bandages, Sharpie for permanent markers.

For hair-loss prevention, Rogaine is that brand.

But even with the kind of name recognition that most marketers dream about, advertising and marketing strategies still evolve with the times and for new target audiences. For Rogaine, that means reinventing how the brand goes to market, and recognizing changing views about hair loss for new generations means different messages that will hit home.

“There’s a massive shift in the way consumers in general perceive hair loss as a problem—as a beauty problem—but also how they interact, therefore, with products,” Salim Mokhtari, global head of Rogaine, told Marketing Brew, adding that a broad democratization of offerings, as well as an expansion of scalp- and hair-health products overall, has aided the changing views. “We’re seeing [sentiment change] from being, ‘A problem that I deal with by myself, and I don’t really know what to do,’ to ‘I own the outcome of my hair health as an important step of my beauty [routine].’”

Enter the “Summer of Gains,” a marketing platform Rogaine rolled out this summer to pitch proactive hair-loss prevention in a positive light to women and men who may be incorporating hair-loss prevention as a part of their overall beauty regimens.

In late August, which is also National Hair Loss Awareness Month, Rogaine hosted an experiential pop-up in New York City, dubbed the Gain Lounge, that aimed to educate and entertain attendees.

“Moving the conversation from being very lonely, shy, and ashamed to putting the conversation around gaining confidence, embracing yourself is a core fundamental shift,” Mokhtari said. “The whole point of calling it ‘Summer of Gains’ is really shifting the conversation from Rogaine and from hair loss to gaining more.”

Rogaine’s marketing strategy also includes working with creators, including dermatologists, on social media, where younger consumers who may be experiencing hair loss are spending time. The approach feels more “community-based,” he said, with the strategy coming down to showing up on social “truthfully, authentically.”

Growing market

Hair-loss prevention is estimated to be a $3.14 billion business this year, according to Mordor Intelligence data, which also predicts that by 2031 it will be a $4.45 billion category.

The conversation around hair loss has changed from an insecurity for many men to deal with to a beauty obstacle to overcome, and creators on social media have built large followings documenting their hair regrowth journeys or even their trips to Turkey to get hair transplants. That changing conversation means some people are starting to take action to prevent hair loss earlier. That has seemed to benefit Rogaine: The brand has roughly 150,000 more consumers than it did last year, Mokhtari said.

The changing conversation around hair loss has also expanded the typical target consumer for Rogaine and other hair-loss-prevention brands. Many women also experience female pattern hair loss, but the typical target demographic in the past had been men. Now, brands are also going after women consumers, aiming to become a regular part of their larger beauty routines.

When it comes to Rogaine’s business, about half of consumers that are using medicated treatments are women, Mokhtari told us, adding that women are “highly engaged,” as “losing hair can have an even bigger emotional impact.”

The importance of showing up for women is not lost on the company.

“Rogaine is not a man’s brand…It’s a both-gender brand,” he said. “We take it as a responsibility to design products that can be used by men that fit their actual routine…but also designing products [that are] equally good, equally breakthrough for women to be able to fit in their routines.”

The rise of GLP-1s may also be contributing to the growth in the hair-loss-prevention category. Hair loss can be a common side effect of the drugs, CNBC reported, providing another potential opportunity for brands in the business of hair-loss prevention.

As the market expands and the conversation continues to change, Rogaine’s marketers view their role as having “a responsibility to educate,” Mokhtari said. “We have a responsibility to showcase what’s actually working, and drive that conversation with a lot of openness, authenticity, and proximity.”