Olaplex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:OLPX) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Page 4 of 4

Javier Escalante: And just a follow-up. This is very helpful. And just a follow-up to Lauren’s question. At some point in time, the declines were attributed to some sort of misinformation in social media. And your assessment suggests that, that misinformation actually wasn’t the factor. So if it is not misinformation and if it is not the brand perception in the consumer side, what in the business model didn’t work, you feel? Is it that you were asking too much to the stylist in terms of pushing and defend the brand what exactly then? Because it’s not misinformation, the brand equity is okay. So what happened then?

Amanda Baldwin: Yes. I would say that certainly, the misinformation impacted the business at a moment in time. I think that we believe that, that is not the core issue at this juncture, but it certainly has an impact. What I would say in terms of the difference between what is underlying brand health versus brand salience and sort of cultural relevance is the distinction that I would draw there. So Again, the foundation is very strong. This is a product that many, many people are very loyal to and have great results from in order to continue to grow and be top of mind within this industry. It’s very important to be out there speaking about your brands, launching new products, being in the right cultural moments. I spoke a little bit about something that we did in first quarter, which was certainly something we’re very excited about was being a part of the award season and red carpet and things like that, that put you a top of mind of the consumer.

I think that our category is competitive, beauty is competitive. So you can have really strong underlying brand health that doesn’t mean you can be quiet with the consumer. And I think that’s really the distinction that we’re speaking about and what we’re very focused on in the marketing organization right now.

Operator: And our final question today comes from Susan Anderson with Canaccord Genuity. Please state your question.

Susan Anderson: Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. You talked a bit about some new product launches coming out this year to help drive sales. Just wondering if you could give some color on kind of what these products will be or what category they’ll be in? And then also, when we think about the rollout, should we expect a full retail door launch or certain retailers? I guess, just trying to get an idea of the magnitude there?

Amanda Baldwin: All fair questions, but unfortunately, I won’t be able to give detail on that for competitive reasons. But what I would say is that there are multiple products coming that we believe are certainly at the level of innovation that I believe that this brand has the capability of delivering and will continue to deliver going forward. So probably that’s all I can say at this point, but innovation is certainly the lifeblood of this brand.

Susan Anderson: Okay. Great. And then maybe just one more on the professional channel, which seems like continues to be challenged and a lot of your peers are saying the same, I guess, maybe if you could just talk about the — is it the competition in that channel? Is it still just lackluster consumer spending? And I guess is it still coming from both the front of the store and the back bar, and then just any thoughts going forward on kind of how to compete in that channel and get it back to growth.

Amanda Baldwin: I think the macro consumer trends around salon is twofold. I would say, one is that there certainly are more time between visits that are happening within this long channel. And secondly, is that there are more places to purchase product in front of the salon. So I think those things are — again, they are macro trends that are not unique to us. Again, I don’t think that, that means that the PRO is not incredibly important to us and actually supporting them as they have been part of this brand since the very beginning. It’s something that remains incredibly important to us, but thinking about that macro context and what’s the appropriate strategy within that is something that certainly is how we’re focused on that channel.

Operator: I’ll now hand the floor back over to Amanda Baldwin for closing comments.

Amanda Baldwin: Thank you, everyone, for joining us today and appreciate all the questions. We really very much appreciate your interest in Olaplex, if you have anything additional, I hope you will reach out, and we look forward to speaking with everyone soon.

Operator: This concludes today’s call. All parties may disconnect. Have a good day.

Follow Olaplex Holdings Inc.

Page 4 of 4