Bowl Cut Brands and Bad Hair Days

In the '90s, during my time in primary school, a curious trend swept the playgrounds – the Mushroom haircut.

I can almost hear you feverishly conducting a Google image search, hoping to stumble upon a snapshot of a tween donning a fungi-shaped hair helmet in all its overly 2-in-1 Shampoo'd glory.

Later on, this style even morphed into the territory of undercuts, but that, dear reader, is beside the point.

Not everyone had their hair styled by Tarnielle at Ocean Wavez Salon. Some kids, like Lee Tomper (whose name we've altered to safeguard his identity), had the privilege of sporting this stylish cut on a budget, courtesy of his resourceful Mum.

You might be wondering how Mrs Tomper transformed from part-time dental receptionists into a schoolyard stylist. The answer is quite simple: a bowl.

The process was straightforward—position the bowl, conduct a quick visual check (optional), and start snipping in an anti-clockwise direction. Voilà! Money saved. But the real question: did it really resemble the Mushroom cut? That's up for debate with Lee and the 3S class photo from 1991.

So, what does this nostalgic reflection on 90s boys hairstyles have to do with branding?

In the unpredictable realm of marketing, the temptation to go the DIY route and sculpt your brand's "bouffant" yourself is undeniable. After all, how hard can it be, right?

But just as you wouldn't entrust your mum with the task of trimming your locks, you shouldn't leave your brand's image to the whims of chance and templates.

However, in today's world, many of us do just that. We either turn to the Just Cuts of creativity (Canva) or rely on Uncle's best mate's daughter's boyfriend, who 'knows how to TikTok,' to craft our brand.

It leads us to ponder whether there's still a demand and a niche for skilled creative brand agencies, acting as the strategic scissorhands of marketing, armed with creativity, experience, and a toolkit of applied theory and skills.

You could always spot the Bowl-cut kids by their distinctive features: harsh lines, a lack of taper, and sometimes, a noticeable indentation where the bowl's pouring spout would have been. Brands are starting to resemble that, in a way.

There are so many great tools available to help marketing teams execute on their brand vision consistently and creatively each day. However, these tools are just combs in the larger grooming process (if we may stretch the hairdresser metaphor a bit further). Without the expertise of a stylist to lay the groundwork and regular appointments to keep the look tight, your brand is always on the brink of a bad hair day.