ULLA HAIR®
Peckham
Campaign
2026
Project introduction
Taking ULLA
outside the studio
ULLA had already developed a strong product led visual identity, but I wanted to build a bigger world around the brand. Much of our existing content focused closely on the hair itself, with tutorials, close ups and founder led content forming a large part of how the product was being shown.
For this campaign, I wanted to pull the camera back. I wanted to show the full ULLA girl, introduce movement and environment, create more opportunities for people outside of the brand to interact with the product and place ULLA within a setting that felt familiar to the community it was built for.
ULLA HAIR®
Blowout24
Creative Strategy Campaign Concept Creative Direction
Peckham, London
Photography Video Social Content Paid Creative
The challenge
What did ULLA
need next?
The campaign started with a simple question: what was missing from the way ULLA was currently showing up?
The product already had a visual identity. The next step was to create a wider content world around it and produce creative that could work harder across the brand.
Social proof
Most of the product messaging was coming directly from ULLA. I wanted to create opportunities for people outside of the brand to notice, question and respond to the hair, allowing conversations around the product to become part of the content itself.
The full look
Our existing content leaned heavily towards close ups of the hair. I wanted wider frames, full body styling, walking shots and movement. The aim was to show Blowout24 as part of an entire look rather than always isolating the product.
Paid creative
ULLA had recently set up the Meta Pixel, so I also needed to start building a stronger bank of creative that could eventually be tested with warm audiences. The campaign therefore needed to produce more than beautiful imagery. It needed multiple formats, hooks and scenarios that could be adapted for paid content.
A stronger brand world
I wanted ULLA to have a stronger sense of place. Rather than using another neutral studio, I wanted to position the brand within a Black British community setting where hair, shopping, conversation and everyday life already intersect.
ULLA beyond me
A lot of ULLA's content had featured me as the founder. Bringing another woman into the visual world of the brand allowed ULLA to develop an identity that could exist beyond my own image and gave us a much wider content library to work with.
Five creative problems to solve.
Campaign objectives
So what did the campaign need to do?
Create belief
Create moments where interest in the hair could come from people outside of the brand.
Show the whole ULLA girl
Introduce full body imagery, styling, movement and environment into the content library.
Create content that can travel
Produce photography and video that could work across organic social, paid creative and the wider ULLA brand.
Build the world
Give ULLA a stronger visual context beyond the product itself.
Expand the face of the brand
Show ULLA on someone other than the founder and continue building a recognisable ULLA girl.
Why Peckham
Why Peckham?
I did not want the location to feel like a backdrop that could have been anywhere. Rye Lane already contains so much of the world I wanted the campaign to speak to. Hair shops sit alongside fruit markets, people are shopping, talking, getting their hair done and moving through their everyday routines.
That gave ULLA something a studio could not. Context.
The big idea
ULLA in
Peckham
The creative idea was to follow the ULLA girl through an ordinary day around Rye Lane and turn the things happening around her into campaign moments.
She is not standing against a backdrop showing us her hair. She is shopping. Sitting outside the market. Fixing her hair. Walking down the street. Going into the hair shop. Talking to people. The product exists naturally within her day.
Less hair advert.
More world around the hair.
The ULLA girl
Who is the
ULLA girl?
She is put together without looking overly styled. Her hair is important, but it is part of her look rather than the only thing happening in the frame.
She moves naturally through the city. She shops. She sits outside. She checks her hair. She talks to people. She gets stopped in the street. She feels like someone you could genuinely pass on Rye Lane.
Moodboard
Building the world
Before planning individual shots, I built the visual world of the campaign. The research centred around fruit markets, hair shops, shopping, street conversations, everyday hair moments and the textures of Rye Lane.
The references were not intended to be recreated frame for frame. They established the environment, behaviour and energy I wanted the final campaign to carry.
Cinematography
How should it feel?
I wanted the campaign to feel observed rather than overly polished. Film texture was prioritised over a clean digital finish, with grain, soft highlights, deep skin tones and natural movement helping the imagery feel lived in.
Turning the strategy into ideas
Every idea
had a job.
Once the campaign goals were clear, I developed a series of content concepts within the same Rye Lane world. Each one was designed to solve a different part of the brief.
Aunty Shop
The hair shop was an obvious part of the ULLA world. Instead of simply using it as a location, I wanted to build a story inside it. The concept follows the familiar experience of sitting in a hair shop while different styles are suggested before eventually landing on the ULLA unit. It places the product directly inside a setting already associated with Black hair and beauty.
Sitting Outside
I wanted to deliberately move away from the close framing that had dominated much of ULLA's existing content. The model sits outside the fruit market doing ordinary things while fully styled. The wider frame allows the hair, outfit, environment and attitude to work together, showing Blowout24 as part of a complete look.
The Ghana Must Go bag
The Ghana Must Go bag was used as an eye catching prop within the campaign. Its colour and scale made it visually strong, while its familiarity helped it feel connected to the Peckham setting and the wider community around the campaign. It supported the styling and gave the model something natural to sit beside and interact with at the market.
Taking the conversation to the street
Rather than keeping every conversation about hair inside ULLA's own channels, I wanted to take some of those questions directly to people on the street. The interview concept explored natural hair routines, misconceptions around natural hair, the time women spend getting their hair done and attitudes towards half wigs. It allowed the campaign to move from simply showing the ULLA girl to creating conversation around the problem space the product exists within.
Pre production
Bringing the
idea together
Once the strategy and campaign world were established, I translated them into the practical pieces needed to execute the shoot.
That included location planning, talent direction, styling, hair and makeup references, props, video references, shot concepts and a model brief that brought the full day together.
From plan to Peckham
Then we made
it real.
The shoot moved between the hair shop, market and surrounding streets, with photography and video being captured around the same creative world.
The references gave us a direction, but the environment was allowed to influence the final work. That was important. I wanted the campaign to feel like it belonged on Rye Lane rather than looking like a studio concept placed on top of it.
Final campaign
ULLA HAIR®
Peckham Campaign
The final campaign brought together the product, styling, location and everyday moments that shaped the original idea.
My role
My role
As ULLA's founder, I led the campaign from the initial brand need through to creative development and execution.
Creative Strategy
Identified gaps in the existing content and defined what the campaign needed to achieve.
Campaign Concept
Developed the Rye Lane campaign world and the individual creative concepts within it.
Creative Direction
Defined the visual direction, locations, styling, props, talent direction and overall campaign feel.
Pre Production
Created the moodboard, cinematography references, talent brief, content concepts and shoot direction.
On Set Direction
Worked with the creative team to translate the planned campaign into photography and video across the locations.
Campaign Rollout
Developed the content with organic, paid and wider brand applications in mind.
Reflection
What this
project changed
This campaign marked a shift in how I approached ULLA creatively. Instead of starting with the question of what content we needed to post, I started with what the brand needed and worked backwards into the creative.
That changed the role of the shoot. It was no longer simply about producing more assets. Each concept had a reason to exist, from creating wider lifestyle imagery to building social proof and giving ULLA a stronger sense of place.
It is the approach I want to continue developing across ULLA and within my wider work in creative strategy.