Blow Dryers and Blockbusters Connect Cinema To Consumers

Wil Shelton
Wil Shelton

Blow Dryers and Blockbusters Connect Cinema To Consumers

Wil Shelton, President and CEO of Wil Power Integrated Marketing, has learned how to use his network of over 100,000 African American-based hair salons and barbershops to spread awareness of many global brands around the country.

According to Shelton, “The barbershop is one of the most influential places in the country.” The former salon owner noticed that many people, while receiving salon and/or barber services, often discuss and make recommendations for things happening in the media. “It’s almost every day that I would hear someone say, ‘Hey did you all hear about that new movie coming out…’ or ‘I’ve been thinking about picking up that new record, what do you all think…’ and before you know it, consumers are making buying decisions based on conversations had in a barbershop. I felt like, ‘this is gold!’ “ It was from this revelation that Shelton’s company, Wil Power Integrated Marketing (WPIM), was birthed.

WPIM has now been in business for over 20 years and includes a ground team in over 40 markets. Within WPIM, they have a network of over 100,000 hair salons and barbershops in multicultural and urban communities where he hosts events and distributes brand paraphernalia.

Some of its current and former clients include Paramount Studios, 20th Century FOX, RCA, AT&T, Columbia Records, Lions Gate, Empire on FOX, TV Land, Comedy Central and more.

As a result of his extensive and diverse reach, he is able to curate a targeted strategy based on the needs of the client. “Because we service so many types of salons and barbershop, we have been able to hyper focus our campaigns to better suit the needs of the client. For instance, we are able to target facilities where more women or men are the clientele and even target based on age demographic. Some clients may only focus on certain regions and others focus on a much larger scale as a whole. Either way, we are able to scale and guarantee visibility for a host of major brands.”

Shelton also sees this as dual opportunity for salon owners to boost their visibility within their communities. Salon owners receive the marketing materials from the companies for free, via WPIM, and some salon owners have truly maximized on these opportunities.

As a result of these initiatives salon owners have hosted movie screenings, premiere parties, giveaways, and more that have increased community brand awareness and, in some cases, their overall revenue generation and client base.

Through the events alone, several hundreds of people have been in attendance, with celebrity sightings, games and more. Shelton feels, “The African American community is not hard to reach; however, it’s important that companies reach us where we are,” he said.

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