ell told Inside Retail. “Participating in the sale season allows Straand to be even more accessible, especially in the current economic climate,” she added. Straand’s strategy for the holiday season’s key sales event is all about rewarding its loyal customers who are looking for their favourite product top-ups at a discount and reaching new customers who are curious to add a new product to their rotation.  A flawless brand campaign  As any marketing manager would tell you, and Quinnell concurs, planning for discounts at the scale of Black Friday and Cyber Monday takes meticulous preparation and touches all sides of the business. “From procuring extra inventory, detailed logistics planning, social media strategies, website optimisations and oodles of content generation – right through to the granular details like upweighted customer service resourcing and more… it truly takes a village,” explained Quinnell. “More importantly, Straand has made a huge change with our discount offering this year,” she added. This Black Friday Straand is launching its first ‘ugly sale’ where products that have superficial damage will be up for grabs at a fraction of the retail cost. “We’re all about zero wastage and have decided to discount our ‘imperfectly perfect’ stock with our ugly sale rather than a traditional bulk discount offering we often see for Black Friday sales,” shared Quinnell. “Real beauty isn’t perfect and neither are we.”  Both hair and brand growth  Straand is also using its Black Friday sale as an opportunity to cement its brand’s visual identity and mission to accelerate sustainability in the beauty industry – but it refuses to use black. “We’ve stayed true to our fun, playful and colourful persona right through all of our campaign content – something that’s uncommon for e-commerce brands,” Quinnell stated. “This approach is key to maintaining Straand’s brand identity, which is all about being bold, playful, and embracing imperfection,” she continued. But more than just cementing its ownership over the colour orange in the consumer’s mind, Straand is using its ‘ugly sale’ to amplify its point of view on beauty not equating to perfection. “We’re embracing flaws and serious discounts this year, as we believe that a slight scratch, typo, or packaging flaw doesn’t mean a product should be wasted,” Quinnell said. “A large portion of wastage in the beauty industry comes from packaging flaws – something we are actively working to reduce,” she continued. Part of this strategy is influenced by the growth Straand has witnessed in wellness and beauty space for holiday gifting. “These key sale events are also crucial for customer acquisition,” concluded Quinnell. “This period allows for new entry points, particularly for those who have not yet trialled products to test and try without a significant buy-in.”