Way disrupted the haircare market by rejecting the industry norm of scientific, ingredient-focused marketing. Instead, they adopted a relatable, humorous tone that addressed the emotional reasons for a purchase, speaking to customers like a friend rather than a lab coat, which created a powerful brand connection.
When a new dry shampoo had a quality issue and began exploding, Way avoided a PR disaster by owning it with humor. They created a #FoamParty hashtag, reposted customer photos, and filmed themselves reading "mean reviews." This transparent, humorous approach built significant brand trust and loyalty out of a crisis.
To ensure brand consistency at scale, Way created internal "culture codes" on which employees are bonused. Codes like "we keep it real in a way that feels kind" directly reflect the brand's candid public persona. This operationalizes culture and turns every employee into an authentic brand ambassador.
To maintain an intimate customer connection while scaling, Way's leadership team intentionally pursues unscalable marketing efforts. They balance mass campaigns with high-touch, manual activities like creating small superfan communities, believing the most authentic brand relationships are built through non-scalable actions.
Way's top-selling product was developed and marketed entirely by leveraging community feedback. They used humorous, user-generated scent descriptions from the comments section (e.g., "smells like you got upgraded to the pineapple suite") as their official ad copy, proving the power of crowdsourced marketing.
Way's early, significant investment in creating complex, perfume-quality fragrances for its hair products was a strategic risk. This unique fragrance DNA became the core "through line" that gave them permission to expand into new categories like body care and perfume, driving brand loyalty and growth.
Way's future CEO joined the scrappy startup not for the haircare, but because founder Jen Atkin had a brand vision that transcended the category, drawing inspiration from Range Rover and New Balance. This shows that a powerful, category-agnostic brand identity is a primary tool for attracting key early-stage talent.
Way's CEO observes that while they once focused on a consistent brand aesthetic, today's social media algorithms favor inconsistency. They now operate like an in-house content machine, creating a mix of expensive, polished campaigns alongside "unpolished, rogue" lo-fi content tailored to each platform's unique culture.