L’Oreal moves into programmatic media buying
"L’Oreal is a company worth watching not just in the beauty industry but among global businesses across the board. “The beauty giant, with global sales of $25 billion, ranks as the third largest global marketing spender with $5.9 billion,” noted a recent Ad Age article informed by statistics from the publication’s Datacenter.
Accordingly, L’Oreal’s marketing and advertising moves can set the tone and influence consumer expectations. “New digital practices have inherently transformed the relationship that consumers enjoy with their brands,” wrote L’Oreal in a statement to the media just over a year ago.
Vision
Lubomira Rochet, chief digital officer at L’Oreal, came to the company with experience in service design. She most previously worked as executive director of the Valtech digital consultancy she founded. That company strives to make “it intuitive for [consumers] to consume products and services when, where and how they desire,” according to the site. Her knowledge is guiding the company’s strategy on this move to programmatic.
The overarching goal here is about serving the consumer effectively with the benefit of digital tools and tech. Which technology to use, whether to outsource some part of it or create an in-house programmatic media buying division, “all comes after having a well-crafted consumer engagement strategy,” Rochet told Ad Age.
Possibility
“Digital expertise will shape the iconic brands and companies of the 21st century,” Jean-Paul Agon, chairman and CEO of L’Oréal, observed.
Programmatic media buying makes use of big data to target consumers in delightfully nuanced ways. Automated technology takes over decision-making about media buying. It automates purchasing and placement, and maximizes the benefit and reach of media-like advertising and marketing content.
Ads, shopping opportunities and more are targeted and tailored to a single individual, if desired. It takes audience segmentation to a whole new dimension.
This all makes sense under Rochet’s objective to "accelerate L'Oreal's digital transformation regarding consumer experience, service-based innovation, customer service and technology platforms," as Agon, described it when Rochet took over the role.
