• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, May 14, 2012

Per every Web penetration report you’ve ever seen, ever wonder about those 1% of consumers who aren't online? Those are hairstylists (!), half-joked Sarah Liang Kress, Director of Interactive Marketing at L’Oreal USA, during an afternoon keynote at OMMA Mobile. “Hairstylists are late [Web] adopters,” she said -- or, at least, they were when personal computers dominated Web access. Now that mobile has overtaken PCs, hairstylists -- and, likely, other professionals without any need for a desk -- are catching up. “They’re early adopters when it comes to mobile, because the one device they have is their smartphone,” according to Kress. Not surprisingly, L’Oreal saw a huge opportunity to reach these style influencers via mobile.  A resulting app -- which the beauty brand developed to be high-touch and complimentary to the salon experience – has been a big success, according to Kress.