CAFormer global marketing executive Matt Berman and Perspective: Branding collaborate on the social phenomenon of the BOLT BARBERS brand, the largest and most authentic barbershop brand and social space in Los Angeles, and soon the rest of the country.

Berman built a successful marketing and management career with big consumer goods companies like Procter & Gamble, Coty, and Royal Numico. However the gap between his career and his career fulfillment widened. Berman was aware of a changing trend in mens roles, especially in grooming habits. Working in a highly competitive industry that focused on retail, Berman saw barbershops become antiquated, and salons getting filled by uncomfortable men who frequented such places because they had to, not because they wanted to.

Bermans retail expertise allowed him to see a niche opportunity in the marketplace. He also realized it was time to stop ignoring the intrinsic desire he had had since his early corporate days at P&G to open a barbershop and start a product line. He chose Los Angeles for his flagship location.

I didnt want to do something corporate and I definitely didnt want a salon, explained Berman. An extension of his own social circle, thebarbershop was a place he could always go just to hang out and be himself, without the often constraining definitions of role carried from home and work. I wanted a throwback to that sense of community thats sorely lacking in a mans world today, Berman continued. Barbershops did that, but I wanted to take it further and create a social space that a regular guy 7 to 70 could kick back and relax in.

CA-based Perspective: Branding came under the attention of Berman (now known locally as Mohawk Matt for the hairstyle he sports).

Matt came to us for fresh eyes on the BOLT BARBERS strategy since weve worked on previous projects together through Numico, said Perspective: Brandings Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Simon Thorneycroft. He was impressed with the driving belief Cal Walters and I use on all our projects: is the brand Visible, Visceral, and Memorable. Our work stands out and still remains identifiable.

While a barbershop at heart, Bermans challenge to Thorneycroft and Walters was that the brand not consist of typical barbershop iconography. In a visually trendy city like Los Angeles, Perspective: Branding knew that the BOLT identity would disappear into the mire of the thousands of independent retailers, tattoo shops and graphics-heavy spaces if it didnt stand out.

The concept creation (and now tag line) of Social Beasts breaks through the clutter. Thinking of men as social primates social and curious- led us to the design of the clipper chimps logo. The idea of Shear, Shave and Shine as chimps not only reinforces the core tool of the barber, the customer, and the service, but of Mohawk Matts personality.

The brand experience is already making waves in the Los Angeles community. An impressive number of attendees attended the Grand Opening, and interest in the brand-exclusive line of grooming products has already caught the attention of key retail leaders. Following Perspective: Brandings Visible, Visceral and Memorable testing belief, BOLT BARBERS re-evaluates the barbershop proposition.

Berman, Thorneycroft and Walters all agree the design and brand of BOLT passes with flying colors.

Like it or loathe it, it will create an emotional reaction, laughed Berman. Hell yeah its memorable; people already say oh, the one with the three chimps. Simon kept telling me that the one with just abarberpole didnt quite cut it.

Were about building memorable brands through simple yet powerful ideas, said Thorneycroft when asked to sum up his teams secret to BOLT BARBERS success.

Our work isnt just on the shelves anymore, he continues. Its in the space you buy the products themselves. Its in peoples minds. Its pretty amazing to see an idea materialize like that.

Berman agrees with Thorneycrofts sentiments and Perspective: Brandings success on his brand identity.

Theyve literally unraveled the barbershop experience and rebuilt it from a different mindset, said Berman. Floyd would turn over in his grave if he saw what shenanigans Perspective: Branding was up to in turning the barbering industry upside down.

With the first of many BOLT shops having opened, other locations in LA, NY and London scheduled and products on the shelves mid-December, Perspective: Branding is poised to saturate the retail market with various high-profile projects throughout 2010.

For more information, visit www.perspectivebranding.com

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