JANUARY 2016www.endeavourmagazine.com

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L’Oreal IndiaMore Than Skin Deep

L’Oréal is a household name around the world and is stretching its impressive reach further afield every year. With dramatic growth recorded in South Asia, Endeavour Magazine decided to take a look at the impact that the company is having in India.First making a splash in India in 1994, L’Oréal proved its international status and took its first strides into a new locale. Though it enjoyed a steady growth pattern, it wasn’t until 2003 that things really began to take off. In January 2013, L’Oréal reported enormous growth patterns within the Indian region that demonstrated an average growth rate in excess of 30% over a 10-year period. Now that is no small smudge on the face of the cosmetics industry!

WRITTEN BY AMY TOCKNELL

MORE THAN SKIN DEEP

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With impressive growth figures and stockists en masse in place, it can hardly come as a surprise that L’Oréal is the third most successful cosmetics brand within the

Indian market, accounting for an 8% share in built-up urban areas. Translating to approximately €198 million of sales in 2011, an 8% share really is nothing to sniff at, especially given how competitive and saturated the beauty industry is.

Despite showing impressive rates of growth at every opportunity, L’Oréal is keen to optimise their approach to the Indian market in a more focused, yet diverse way. The marketing team for L’Oréal revealed that this included launching, “…several brands covering various product categories, including: mass consumer brands Garnier, L’Oréal Paris and Maybelline New York; luxury brands Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent, Kiehl’s, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani and Diesel; professional brands like L’Oréal Professionnel, Matrix, Kérastase and Kéraskin Esthetics for salons and pharmacy brands Vichy and La Roche-Posay.”

Apparently, nobody told L’Oréal that you can’t please all of the people, all of the time and they have set out to do exactly that and are managing it with undeniable success, but what is the secret to their speedy rise to popularity in India?

It’s thought that the success of the group can be attributed by its inherent ability to observe the demands of individual markets, where beauty standards and traditions are set by longstanding traditions, before adapting to meet the specific needs of the people adhering to those traditions. A clever technique indeed and it helps L’Oréal to really connect with its consumers. For example,

L’OREAL INDIA

Having had a presence in India for over 20 years now, L’Oréal is still considered to be something of a spring chicken when it comes to the lucrative South Asian cosmetics market, but despite this perception, it has proved itself to be far more mature than its years. By demonstrating and annual average of 30.2% growth, it has become recognised as the fastest growing beauty company, being marketed through a staggering 750,000 points of sale throughout the country.

in India, there is a huge variation in the standards of living, meaning that while some women might be able to afford luxury brands for everyday use, others will be able to only buy budget versions. With an understanding of this in place, L’Oréal in India is able to offer Garnier Fructis shampoo, a hugely popular brand worldwide, in sachets that cost just 1.5 rupees, the equivalent of €0.02.

It’s not greed that fuels this considerate approach to beauty product supply, however, as though market share is obviously a large consideration for any corporate group, so too must the well being of its customers. L’Oréal takes this duty of care enormously seriously, as you would hope any major player in the beauty industry would. The question is: how can they sell top quality products for such a low price?

By producing items locally and using raw materials that are on hand and easy to come by, lower prices can be enjoyed by consumers, while L’Oréal benefits from a hoard of new and loyal buyers. With such huge potential identified in India, L’Oréal made a brave decision in 2011, when it created a new research and innovation centre in Mumbai. Fully equipped with evaluation and formulation laboratories, the centre proved to be a turning point for really breaking the Indian market wide open and the group hasn’t looked back since.

It’s not all business with L’Oréal though, as they have a staunch Corporate Social Responsibility programme in place, as well as a desire to embrace sustainable materials and invest in the future of the beauty trade. With this in mind, the group has invested significantly in a number of initiatives.

Following the centennial celebration of the company, L’Oréal was proud to launch the “Beautiful Beginnings” programme within India, that allowed women who had been unable to continue wit their education to receive four months of hairdressing and beauty training, thus setting them up for a career. An impressive 75% of attendees are now in work, either at salons or having opened their own.

Launched in 2008, the “Care” initiative from L’Oréal looks to support four different elements; education, environment, health & hygiene and safety. Fully finding the completion of two well-stocked classrooms, the initiative gained L’Oréal a ‘Citizen of the World Award’ in 2010.

Last, but not least, L’Oréal is seeking to reduce CO2 emissions, as well as transportable waste and water wastage within India and their Pune facility is one of the finest in terms of sustainability and environmental responsibility. Add to this some 970 square metres of solar panels and you really start to get a feel for what a difference the company is trying to make.

While it would be enough for some companies to be enjoying a fortuitous market share in a competitive industry, L’Oréal is demonstrating a long-term desire to be a part of the Indian commerce structure. By offering affordable products, a wide range of brands and numerous programmes that all seek to benefit the consumer base as well as local communities and the country as a whole, it seems that beauty really isn’t just skin deep. It is found in the heart and soul of a company as well.

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