Locking down national attention for a long-ignored market

As BIGfish’s first ProBono client, Coils to Locs engaged with us to create awareness of its solution to a medical disparity and its founding story and vision.
Coils to Locs is addressing a major disparity - Black women do not have access to medical wigs that match their pre-cancer hairstyles. Driven to bring change to cancer survivor’s recovery founders Dianne and Pamela formed Coils to Locs.
Coils to Locs is on a mission to provide access to a variety of ethnically inspired wigs that can be purchased through healthcare reimbursement at cancer center hospitals. Coils to Locs is a supplier of coily, curly synthetic wig styles for black women (or any woman with textured hair) experiencing hair loss due to a medical diagnosis.
For more information on Coils to Locs, visit: coilstolocs.com
Over the course of 10 months, BIGfish conducted tailored outreach with creative storylines in an effort to increase awareness of Coils to Locs’ story and the business. BIGfish worked to position Coils to Locs as the only medical wig resource for women of color who want coily-curly synthetic wig styles available through cancer centers and covered by health insurance.
As a result of BIGfish’s creative approach to public relations strategy and ongoing outreach, Coils to Locs has raised attention to this important medical disparity and continues to expand its business nationally. Coils to Locs and its founders Dianne Austin and Pamela Shaddock are becoming the leading expert source on medical related hair solutions for women of color.
Hoda & Jenna
, Sisters aim to make wigs more inclusive for cancer survivors
, TODAY Show
"After experiencing hair loss during her battle with cancer, Dianne Austin struggled to find a wig with coily, curly hair similar to her own. This realization led her to launch Coils to Locs, a company helping to bring high quality wigs for women with textured hair to medical centers across the country."
Kaitlin Sullivan
, Closing the Gap in Breast Cancer Support for Black Women
, Everyday Health
"In less than a year, Coils to Locs has established partnerships with six hospitals in Massachusetts, Georgia, and Texas. Their aim is to make sure all women are represented among the prescription-eligible wigs available to them through cancer care centers, though the organization caters to Black women who have lost their hair for any reason."
Julia Sklar
, Black women entrepreneurs sell the medical wigs other companies won’t
, Boston Globe
"When Austin first started scoping out her business, she spoke with people involved in all parts of the hair loss journey: patients, hospital boutique managers, and physicians. She recalls meeting one retail manager who said she’d been looking for curly and kinky wigs for her customers for 10 years. American medical wig manufacturers simply haven’t been catering to the demand. That’s where businesses like these come in.‘Cancer does not discriminate,’ says Austin. So why should wigs?"
BIGfish Communications
283 Newbury Street Boston, MA 02115 USA