L’Officiel’s Jay Joshi goes face-to-face with L’Oréal’s Head of Digital and Media Christophe Eymery, on Make-Up Genius and changing face of beauty in the digital age.
“Beauty for all is not about standardisation of beauty but more about universalisation of beauty: helping each individual define their own beauty, then providing them with the relevant products to achieve it.” – Christophe Eymery, Head of Digital and Media L’Oréal ANZ
‘O- As the number one beauty company in the world, besides inconceivable pressures to be innovative, what has been the driving force behind L’Oréal’s overall digitalisation?
CE- L’Oréal has a tradition of leveraging media to connect with consumers and educate them on beauty. L’Oréal was amongst the first to use commercial radio post WWII to encourage people to wash at a time when commercial media was limited and radio the main channel.
Further down the track, L’Oréal contributed to the launch of Marie Claire in the magazine space and Canal+ in the subscription TV space in Europe. Today consumers are mainly on digital media so our ambition is to better understand that space and create meaningful connections with consumers in their medium of choice.
‘O- The digitalisation or so-called recent digital facelift of L’Oréal’s business/organisational model has been quite a topic of discussion, was this revision of digital strategy a corporate organised process?
CE- Definitely the digital revolution had to start with people. L’Oréal is well known for its training program on beauty expertise like makeup, skincare, hair and fragrances. We now also have dedicated corporate training on digital to grow those skills amongst all staff.
In parallel to an overall upskilling of all employees, L’Oreal digital agenda is driven by high level experts across the business. In Australia, Lyndall Campher, our Media Director is well versed in all media aspects and can address holistically our media mix, including digital.
We also benefit from the drive of Marco Ruschioni who leads our CRM initiatives, mapping out our customer journeys with the brands. Finally, Emma Williamson oversees all social media across the business alongside with the call centre so we can have a consistent conversation with consumers in all touch points. This corporate team provides digital directions for the business and can rely on the operational support at the product division level of 7 digital marketing specialists who work in a very integrated way with the broader marketing teams.
‘O- How has the relationship between L’Oréal and its consumer changed in recent years and how do you strike a balance between corporate driven and consumer driven initiatives?
CE- L’Oréal is a Group representing 25 brands in Australia managed within four different product divisions that are designed to service specific customers. The Consumer Product Division is servicing the large retailers (supermarkets, pharmacies…) with a strong portfolio of brands such as L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline, Garnier, Essie and NYX. The Luxe division with brands such as Lancome, YSL, Giorgio Armani, Kiehl’s etc services the department stores and the exclusive retail outlets. The Professional Product Division services the Hair salons with L’Oréal Professionnel, Kerastase, Redken Matrix… Finally the Active Cosmetic Division services the pharmacies with LaRochePosay.
At the Group level, we set the digital agenda to define which platforms to be used for CRM, Media buying, marketing dashboards, social listening and management etc… We also set the overall strategy and ambition for the Group.
At the divisional level, each brand defines its own digital ecosystem in line with the Group approach but tailored with their unique needs and targeted audiences. Each brand defines its digital content and media plan fully integrated to the broader traditional marketing and media mix.
‘O- Can you please give an overview on this phrase ‘Reinventing Beauty in the digital age’ and how it pertains to L’Oréal’s latest digital feats?
CE- L’Oréal leads the beauty industry by covering all the beauty market segments. This is in line with the global ambition of delivering beauty for all.
Beauty for all is not about standardisation of beauty but more about universalisation of beauty: helping each individual define their own beauty then providing them with the relevant products to achieve it. The challenge is that we end up with a very large offering of beauty products. In Australia, we offer more than 4,500 different products across our 25 brands. This can be quite difficult for a consumer to navigate the complexity of that offering.
So to truly deliver on beauty for all, we realised that we have to not only manufacture all the relevant products but also to build and deliver new beauty service to assist consumers in their journey to define beauty for themselves.
Makeup Genius is our best example to date of a ground breaking beauty service enabling women to discover, try, learn how to and eventually purchase a selection of 130 L’Oréal Paris beauty products. This mobile application that can be downloaded on both iOS and Android devices use augmented reality to provide a convincing and useful experience to help women assess which product is right for them.
“It is a form of Beauty Advisor in your pocket.”
‘O- 14 Million downloads and counting for the Make Up Genius app – how did L’Oréal get the ball rolling?
CE- Makeup Genius has been extremely well received by Australian consumers. Per capita, Australia ranks number one in terms of downloads amongst the 30 countries where the mobile application was launched across the world.
We have been mainly focused on creating a local story for the press and the key media influencers to drive those downloads: the app is fully localised to match the Australian range of L’Oréal Paris, unique looks have been created by Elsa Morgan,L’Oréal Paris official Australian makeup artist… We have gone broader than the beauty press as this new service can appeal to fashion but also technology and corporate business media publications.
‘O- What was the main driving force for creating Make Up Genius?
CE- The ambition is really to make it easier for consumers to discover new makeup, try it, learn how to use it and ultimately buy it.
Makeup is the beauty category where it is almost impossible to sample contrary to skincare and fragrances for example.
However trial is often key to trigger purchase in beauty so we wanted to overcome the physical challenge of not being able to offer trial in mass distribution by leveraging technology and be as close as possible in replicating this experience.
‘O- How does it work?
CE-When you first open the application, it scans your face, identifying more than 100 spots. Once you will start applying mascara or lipstick and move around to check yourself out on mobile as if you were in front of a mirror, the algorithm will calculate your movements to reposition the makeup on the right spots on your face so you truly have the illusion of being in front of a mirror.
The application is also factoring more than 200 skin types so whatever your skin the colour of the makeup will look what it should look like.
We asked two L’Oréal executives to take us through cognitive walkthrough for Makeup Genius. Here are Alyssa Ramage – Digital and CRM Associate, L’Oréal and Kara Tinker – Senior Recruitment Consultant MakeUp Genius Looks.
Alyssa has the look for a fashion night out, the Colour Riche Le Kajal Eyeliner enhances her all natural gold complexion achieved by L’Oréal Paris Glam Bronze Duo Bronzer in 102 Brunette Harmony, plus the dewy lips from L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Lip Colour in 235 Nude celebrates the arrival of spring in Australia.
Kara is sporting everyday office look, versatile enough for a date or a family dinner. The combination of Super Gel Liner & Colour Riche Ombre Pure Eyeshadow creates a perfect length lashes, with subtle touch of Glam Bronze Duo to accentuate those cheekbones. For Kara minimal makeup is the key for everyday look, so splurge a little on lips with Glam Matte Gloss.
‘O- How can the app be used?
CE- Use it in store as you can scan the barcodes of L’Oréal Paris makeup products to virtually try them on.
But more generally speaking, also have fun with it: try to use at a party with friends and you will see that they will love playing with it!
It is both a useful, pratical tool but also a very playful benefit that we should not be ashamed to encourage too as a business.
‘O- What were the major challenges faced while implementing digital initiatives for Makeup Genius?
CE- It is complex to build an application and then roll it out to 30 markets.
It is an upfront very costly exercise with no certainty that it will work so you need a certain leap of faith and appetite to take risk at the top level to make it happen.
Today the success of it gives more confidence to the business that we are going in the right direction.
‘O- Some of the high end brands are mirroring Make Up Genius’s face/body recognition technology, what would be the next step to stay ahead in this competitive market?
CE- The application is like a smartphone device: it needs constant upgrades to leverage new technologies. For example the new enhanced camera on iPhone 6S will enable to track more spots on the user’s face to power the app algorithm, making it even more accurate and real.
We are not dealing with a finished products. It is meant to be evolving over time based on tech changes but also on users’ feedback which is critical to stay at the top of our game.
Also Makeup Genius is just the beginning,L’Oréal is on a journey to deliver more and more beauty services to consumers as this is part of a bigger grand ambition.
‘O- Is it true that L’Oréal might install in-store virtual screens using similar technologies but with more complex algorithms and services?
CE- We are exploring opportunities with our main retail partners but this needs to be looked at on a case by case basis, balancing the cost versus benefits for consumers in the retail environment.
Digital at Point of Sale is a rising trend. However it needs to be done in a very informed way not to distract the attention of determined shoppers but more to blend in in their shopping journey.
Download MakeUp Genius: Android or Apple
For more information visit L’Oréal and Makeup Genius
Interview with Christophe Eymery by Jay Joshi
L’Oréal Australia & NZ Head Office
Creative Direction: Jay Joshi
Photographer: Aishveena Thakur
Makeup Genius Models: Alyssa Ramage and Kara Tinker
