Rohto’s personalized shampoo Constella realizes co-creation between stylists and users
As personalized shampoo currently goes through a boom, Constella is offering an experience of “co-creation” where both the user and hairstylist go on a journey together to make the user’s optimal shampoo. Driving this process is an originally-developed, AI-driven questionnaire program, and service for beauty salons designed to help them newly expand and improve the way they manage their businesses.
In October 2019, Rohto Pharmaceutical released its in-house venture, through a company, Anomaly Inc., a haircare subscription service exclusively for beauty salons.
Japan has already seen the emergence of a number of personalized haircare brands, but Constella is taking a completely different approach to entering the market.
The biggest difference is how the formulating of the prescription, and even the online questionnaire, aren't done just by users themselves but always in cooperation with hairstylists. The story created around the brand likens this process to a “journey”, and inspiration has been drawn from the Paulo Coelho novel “The Alchemist” where the protagonist matures through various encounters they have along a journey to fulfill their dream.
The brand name is also inspired by the story. It originates from the word “constellation” and is an homage to the novella “The Little Prince” too. Indeed, go to the brand’s website and you’re met with a vast starry sky which, if you gaze at intently, reveals stars twinkling and shooting stars streaking across the screen. Basically, the first view of the website is completely absent of any product imagery.
An AI-driven questionnaire program that learns what prescription suits the user
Constella’s treatment shampoos are made up of three different components: a base formula prescribed as per the required functions; an “INFUSION” which is an active ingredient; and perfumes. They’ve also built their original counseling software system “OVNI” that allows for detailed communications based on the clinic’s questionnaire, diagnoses, and the prescription process.
Constella counseling is available at partnering salons. First, the user answers around 30 questions on a tablet about their scalp, hair quality, the status of their hair, and their lifestyle habits. Next, an algorithm calculates the optimal prescription out of possible 9,600 patterns while also incorporating the stylist’s professional diagnosis. As the amount of data accumulated, the AI takes note of the differences between the data from the user’s questionnaire results and the data from the stylist’s diagnosis, and it also analyzes the difference between the user’s current hair and the hair they want to aim for.
The user doesn’t need to purchase the product right there and then; they’re given the option to order it online later after taking the time to ponder it over. Once purchased, the base formula (called “THE BASE”) and the formula that includes the perfumes selected by the user (“THE INFUSION”) are sent to them. Before usage, the user must mix THE BASE and THE INFUSION to complete their own custom-made shampoo. It’s a system whereby continually repeating this process of the questionnaire, diagnosis, and prescription formation, the user gradually gets a shampoo that has evolved to meet their needs better than ever.
In the future, they plan to try accumulating other different types of data to paint a better picture of each user by picking up the keywords that come out of their discussions and counseling sessions with the stylists and verifying the reactions they have to those keywords through voice and image technology, and finally analyze all of this big data using AI. Through doing this, they can further deepen the relationship between stylists and users and broaden the possibilities for the salon to develop all-new services.
The AI used in this system has been designed and developed by a startup made up of data scientists, Ingenta Inc. Rohto teamed up with them to establish the company Anomaly Inc. which is currently running Constella.
Assisting salons’ businesses by allowing zero inventory
Constella has been released at a time when Japan’s beauty salon market is seeing sluggish growth. According to data from Yano Research Institute, the size of the hairdressing market in Japan is around US$18 billion and sales of goods make up no more than 7% of that, which is around US$1.2 billion. The market’s growth rate is mostly flat. On the other hand, the number of beauty salons continues to increase every year.
While there’s a saturation of salons in competition with each other, the use of Constella is anticipated as a tool for helping salons distinguish themselves from competitors and stabilize their businesses.
Constella uses a subscription model with a US$82 monthly fee (excluding tax), and as product delivery is done directly by Anomaly, stores don’t have to worry about delivery work or inventory risks and can receive part of the sales as profit. The longer users continue to use Constella shampoo, the more fixed revenue the salon can continually make.
It will be worth seeing if this business model, which caters to both salons and end-users through dealing in products personalized via careful and thorough communications and a long-term perspective, rather than short-term sales goals, pioneers a new trend in the haircare industry.
Text: Ching Li Tor
Original text (Japanese): Lina Ono
