Fifteen years after helping launch the brand, Propaganda returns to Cloud Nine with a new positioning built around hair health, inclusivity and a quiet power, redefining what beauty looks like in a saturated styling market.
In a beauty sector still dominated by glossy high-heat imagery and airbrushed perfection, Cloud Nine is taking a different approach. The hair styling brand has unveiled a new visual identity and strategic repositioning, created by Leeds-based consultancy Propaganda, that puts real people and real hair at the heart of its message.
The relaunch marks something of a homecoming. Propaganda was instrumental in helping create Cloud Nine back in 2009 and has now returned to lead a comprehensive transformation of the brand, spanning strategy, design, digital, social, and retail.
The brief was clear: make Cloud Nine a genuine alternative in a sector that has long felt stuck in its ways. While styling tools have evolved technologically, brand messaging has lagged behind, still hooked on nightclub glamour, aggressive heat styling, and a narrow vision of beauty.
Today’s consumers are shifting priorities, though, with a growing number cutting back on heat styling to protect their hair’s health. They’re looking for ease, care, and products that fit into everyday routines without compromising results. It’s that unmet need that Cloud Nine and Propaganda saw an opportunity to own.
At the core of the rebrand is a new strategic proposition: Strength + Kindness. It’s a simple phrase that reframes the brand’s purpose, recognising that powerful styling tools don’t have to come at the expense of hair health.
Through its detailed Brand Discovery process, Propaganda gathered insight from consumers, retailers, salons and Cloud Nine’s international team. What emerged was a clear desire for tools that support personal style while being gentler, more intuitive, and better aligned with how people actually live.
“Having been there at the start of Cloud Nine, it’s really exciting to be back helping to launch a new era for the brand,” said Laura Kynaston, managing director at Propaganda. “With this new brand, Cloud Nine is stepping up to meet beauty consumers where they are and is poised to completely shake up the sector.”
Cloud Nine’s products already offered a compelling point of difference. Unlike one-temperature-fits-all tools, their straighteners offer 11 variable heat settings and a patented Revive Mode, which uses 8,000 harmonic vibrations per minute to minimise damage. Their use of Sericite® plates, a natural mineral for enhanced smoothness and shine, adds to the focus on hair-first innovation.
The new brand simply brings that message into focus, presenting Cloud Nine as the quiet disruptor it has long been.
The creative execution of the rebrand spans a complete overhaul of the visual identity, tone of voice, digital channels, and point-of-sale experience.
The refreshed website and social platforms reflect a softer, more confident tone, while still celebrating the technical performance of the products. Gone is the over-styled aesthetic of traditional beauty campaigns. In its place: a more natural, effortless look that promotes real hairstyles for real people.
Retail display systems and trade communications have also been updated, with targeted campaigns rolling out across both consumer and professional channels.
Importantly, the relaunch campaign pays tribute to the brand’s roots and one of its pioneering figures. Susan Powls, honorary chair of Cloud Nine and one of the brand’s original founders, played a central role in building the ceramic styling category in the early 2000s. She famously coined the phrase “good hair day”, which went on to inspire the name of a now-ubiquitous competitor.
Her legacy and Cloud Nine’s early reputation for innovation still underpin the brand’s ambitions today.
For Martin Rae, Cloud Nine’s founder, the rebrand represents a long-awaited moment of clarity. “Cloud Nine has always had the product to rival the category leader, and now we have the brand to match,” he said. “Strength + Kindness gives consumers a real choice, with a brand that puts hair health first.”
He credits the Propaganda team with helping to articulate and express that vision. “We couldn’t be more pleased with Propaganda, from the deep insight they’ve given us to the creative and strategic rigour they have delivered.”
While the rebrand might feel like a fresh start, it’s actually a return to the founding principles that made Cloud Nine the success that it’s become… innovation, sector disruption, and a refusal to follow the herd.
With a refined proposition and renewed confidence, the brand is setting its sights on international growth and a bigger share of a market ready for something new.
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