15. HOLISTIC OR SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

HOLISTIC MARKETING

L’Oréal’s recent achievements include

A return to plants:

L'Oreal is mostly referred as a technological Company (Green Tech Firm) rather than a cosmetic manufacturer. Last year they boosted the sourcing of plant based materials for its products up to 55% and the scientists filed for 600 patents. Its Matrix Biolage Product line involves the research of botany and hence emphasizes on green chemistry.

Reconstructed biological tissue (RBT) : 

The developed version of "artificial skin" has helped L'Oreal to get rid of controversies regarding animal testing. The Company's Biologists are helping different hospitals in the processes of skin grafting for burn victims by providing them artificially manufactured skin tissue.In order to make animal testing obsolete, L'Oreal has collaborated with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by finding new research methods.

Waste. Never mind recycling: 

L'Oreal works for recycling of waste products. Half of the company's cardboard for packaging its products comes from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sources. The company has reduced its water consumption and transportable waste by almost one-fourth since last ten years.

CLEAN ENERGY 

L’Oréal has invested in renewable to reduce fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions. This has been done from methane gas in Belgium to Renewable sources in Mexico.  They also have installed solar installations at plants in countries like China, India and New Jersey.

A holistic approach in Brazil

Brazil (L’Oréal’s third largest Market)has become a hub where the company’s CSR initiatives are worth mentioning. In addition to training its employees on business ethics and improving its management’s diversity, the company also recruits at lesser known universities and outside of Brazil’s two largest cities, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Simultaneously its Brazilian operations have reduced its carbon emissions by more than half, they reduced energy consumption by 38 percent, and decreased water consumption and landfill waste.L’Oréal’s sustainability report is more than just a great layout and alluring pictures. 

THE MATRIX PHILOSOPHY

Matrix strives to convert Professional Passion into profession and lead the industry in education. 

Matrix has the largest network of professional hair care education in India. It has more than 36 education studios that cover almost all main towns. A full fledged team of Trained Educators work with Matrix today, which is aimed at providing quality education to thousands of hairdressers all around the country, and helping the country to increase its education level and literacy.

NELROY DICKSON
GENERAL MANAGER EDUCATION
MATRIX INDIA

"I feel proud and inspired to see the skilled Matrix Education team that we have today. Matrix, as your education partner, ensures that all your team members are educated, developed and motivated all throughout."

14. ANALYZING BUSINESS MARKETS

ANALYZING BUSINESS MARKETS

The Business Market chosen by L'Oreal is for cosmetic products which already have a huge Market and is constantly growing at a rapid rate with consumers having contrasting working attitudes and styles. Companies are producing goods according to the local requirement in accordance to the wants of the customers and consumers.The success of Brand L'Oreal lies in the fact that the company achieved success in reaching out to the customers of different countries of the world, across different income ranges and cultural patterns.

 It also succeeded in giving the customers the appropriate product.

The strategies of L’Oreal being varied enough it could not restrict itself in a single country. L’Oreal sold its product on the basis of customer demand and country want. So they did not keep the product identical across the globe. It built ample number of brands or mammoth brands entrenched to the restricted culture and which appealed to a variety of segment of the universal Market instead of generalising the brand and edible in innumerable culture. 

L’Oreal aimed at  being a local product in every international Market. The brand extension of L’Oreal came in the same sector or the same segment of market. L’Oreal's goal was to grow its expertise in the segment it is conscious of rather than enter a completely new sector of market.

B2C and B2B MARKETING STRATEGIES 

L'Oreal Professional in UK and Ireland follows both B2B and B2C Marketing Strategy in the professional hair and beauty salon industry. But in India it has a completely B2B marketing strategy where it sells its products to the professional salons and not directly to the end consumers. To enhance its B2B strategies when L'Oreal first approached ECommerce partners their website was totally bland, poorly branded and very difficult to use. The main goals of L'Oreal were the following :

• To promote the brand among B2B audiences
• To drive relevant traffic
• To improve communications between the company and its business customers (stakeholders specifically)
• To launch a number of targeted marketing initiatives.

The services provided by ECommerce Partners to L'Oreal includes ECommerce Consulting , User Interface Design , Graphic Design , Content and Brand Websites and Methodology (WRS- Website Requirement Specifications).

The following websites help in B2B marketing :

www.matrix-india.in/

www.matrix.com/

biolage.matrix.com/

www.matrixhaircare.co.uk/

and many more B2C websites include

www.matrix.com/find-a-salon

www.sallybeauty.com

www.amazon.com/

www.alibaba.com

‘L’Oreal-because you are worth it’, gives a kind of a satisfaction to the consumer. It gives the customer the belief that the product worth a lot and hence they are worth and thus validates to them being as worthy as the product though most of planning and thinking is only a virtual belief.

.

Matrix was launched in February 2013 in India by L'Oreal as they were facing a tough competition from mainly Hindustan Unilever (HUL) as they launched Tresemme in 2012. Thus L'Oreal launched Matrix by analyzing the Business Market as its share in hair care products was at stake. Brand Matrix proved to be a great success. Even Matrix Biolage was launched as a competition for Tresemme Naturals.

13. BRANDING

BRANDING

Branding is the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies or differentiates one product from the other products.

                                    

The above logo portrays a very professional brand and indeed Matrix belongs to the professional range products of L'Oreal Pvt Ltd.The combination of the colour red and white with such a technical font style makes it look very professional. Majority of the L'Oreal brands have the combination of red and white as their logo which even reflects a symbol of exclusivity as well as luxury.

Also the name MATRIX suggests a professional item as it means a set of conditions around which a system grows.

The above logo of Matrix Biolage depicts effectively that this is also a product for professional use but the image of a green leaf indicates the presence of natural or organic ingredients in the product. The colour green also indicates youth and lost lastingness. Thus the branding of Matrix Biolage Deep Smoothing Serum portrays the attributes of the product.

The meaning of Biolage refers to something related to Biology or Botany i.e. plants and hence briefly mentions the presence of natural ingredients in its products.

Even its tagline suggests that it is for the hairdressers to live their dreams. Hence Matrix as a brand has encompassed a very effective branding technique.

12. SEGMENTATION , TARGETING AND POSITIONING

L'OREAL'S 5 STEP APPROACH IN INDIA

Understand the needs of Indian Customers

Launch product ranges specific to their needs

Increase Distribution Channels

Effective Pricing Strategies

Reduce additional customer costs

L'Oreal caters to customers of all income levels and distribution channels.

Analyzing the Indian consumers L'Oreal has developed a dual price strategy. It has made its hair care range more affordable simultaneously the skin care segment continues to be a premium segment. The company provides affordable luxury to people who demand excellence. 

  SEGMENTATION 

The brand Matrix has two range of products targeted at two sets of customers. The core range (for mid income group people) and the exclusive range (for the higher income group people). This brand mainly focuses on Mass Segmentation through Target segmentation (or even niche segmentation). Its variety of products target different sects of people in different countries across the globe. The segmentation is based on geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral differentiation. The Matrix Biolage Deep smoothing Serum mainly segments the society by income group first, then the gender , and finally by quality of hair (sometimes even age).

TARGETING 

The Matrix Biolage Deep Smoothing Serum being an affordable product targets the beauty conscious female population of the society who spend most of their valuable time in the professional beauty salons. This product also targets working ladies who do not get enough time to take care of their hair. Matrix mainly launches products which give innovative solution to problems of the customers. Even the first shampoo plus oil product "Garnier Fructis" was launched by L'Oreal. Matrix is a product which has organic innovation.

POSITIONING 

The positioning of a product has great impact on the company as well as the brand itself. The positioning of my product (i.e. particularly in beauty salons) serves the purpose of attracting its target audience efficiently and effectively.Its impression in the minds of the customers matters a lot. The positioning of the different brands in L'Oreal are the following :

•  Kérastase is positioned as an exclusive brand for the most demanding customers. 
• The second most expensive brand is Redken. 
• Third place is represented by the L'Oréal Professionnel brand. 
• Fourth place belongs to Biolage product line, which, although a part of the portfolio of Matrix, has a different positioning than other products of this umbrella brand. 
• The fifth place is represented by Matrix,which is an affordable brand for most hairdressing salons. 

11. SALES MANAGEMENT

SALES MANAGEMENT

The sales promotion is focused on merchadising, i.e. direct presentation of 

goods in premises of wholesales, and on providing samples to hairdressers. 
Matrix also organizes training programs and events for hairdressers. The biggest event of this kind is the Matrix Global Academy in New York, designed for hairdressers from around the world. 

Personal selling through sales representatives plays an irreplaceable role in the communications mix of Matrix. The task of the sales representatives is to present and explain the advantages of Matrix products. 


The website of Matrix is aimed at professional hairdressers.The pages mainly contain offers of training courses and advises about the application of products to various types of hair, about hair coloring and styling, etc. The pages also contain a set of professional hair care and colour videos, Matrix CRAFT TV. Matrix is established in social networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. 

ASEEM KAUSHIK
BUSINESS MANAGER
MATRIX INDIA

"Matrix is young and hip. It's the best technology at an affordable price "

10. PROMOTION

PROMOTION

Matrix Biolage mainly promoted their products through digital media and social networking sites. Some of the remarkable and unique campaigns performed by Matrix are discussed below :

MATRIX LOVE BIOLAGE :

                                    

                                    The teaming up of Matrix with Ammon Carver who is known to be the best stylist in New York as well as a writer (whose editorial work appear in such high profile publications like Vogue , Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Modern Salon, American Salon) helped in the enhancement of brand value for Matrix Biolage. Digital Variant created a Matrix/Ammon Carver Promotional video to spread awareness about the product line of Matrix Biolage through Facebook app.

                                    As the Facebook users visited the Matrix Biolage Fan page they were directed to the app through App Tab. The app displayed the famous video which featured Ammon Carver using the exclusive range of Matrix Biolage products. The viewers could comment on their walls to create impression of the brand and spread awareness and they could even avail free samples from various L’Oreal Professional beauty salons all over the world.

                                    The campaign was a huge success as it resulted in the jump in number of fans by 10,000 in just 24 hours. By this time they distributed over 5,000 samples of product.

MATRIX HOLIDAY STYLE-OFF :

                                   

                        

                                  L’Oreal Matrix Professional Hair Care brand launched another unique holiday-themed digital promotion. They gathered customer email addresses and insights, such as hair type, to future marketing endeavours. This campaign was created through Offerpop’s Quiz product asking participants to vote for the best of five holiday hairstyles for a chance to win Biolage products. They promoted this throughout its marketing channels – website, mobile app, email, media relations, Twitter and Instagram.

                                    This particular campaign resulted in nearly 13,000 consumer votes in over two months. The brand acquired nearly 7,000 new Facebook fans and more than 9,500 email opt-ins.

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

(IMC)

The communication is based on the typical red color which attracts attention.

As Matrix products are available in hairdressing salons only, communication takes primarily the form of push strategy and is targeted at hairdressers. Marginally, it is focused on the end-consumers, particularly through PR and advertising campaings. Advertising takes the form of advertisements in fashion magazines and journals for professional stylists, such as Us Weekly or InStyle. 

PR is built up in life styles magazines as Elle and Cosmopolitan. Matrix 

emphasizes its leading position on the U.S. market, as well as overall company values such as protection of the environment or diversity. The IMC of this company is functioned by the people holding the following designations :

• Content Manager - The people holding this position function to increase, in line with the objectives for each brand, enhance the awareness of a brand and its products by developing online and offline communication. They are particularly responsible for supporting the launch of new products and for making the best of the brand strategy through events, partnerships with ambassadors, sponsorship, etc.

• International Digital Manager - He defines and deploys an international 360-degree strategy in line with the brand positioning and objectives. His main work is to produce content to adapt the approach to the needs of the Market, define and design online campaigns that are interactive and creative to coincide with product launches.

• Country Digital Manager - His job is to define and implement at local level the integrated strategy defined internationally, applying it in effective interactive digital campaigns that are tailored to the needs of your Market.

• Community Manager -  His main function is to promote the positioning of the brand for which he is responsible through the social media by setting up and running consumer communities. He has to provide the communities with relevant content and involve consumers in a long-term relationship through discussions on topics related to the brand.

• Social Media Manager - His job is to define and deploy the international social media strategy in line with the brand positioning and objectives, producing content that will enable the country to adopt the best approach to social media and run communities according to the needs of their Markets.

These are the main people in the company who contribute to the IMC plans of L'Oreal Paris and Matrix Biolage as a Brand.

  

                                                 

                                                            

9. DISTRIBUTION

DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

L'Oreal is the leader in the Global Cosmetics Industry. L'Oreal is broadly classified into mass sales division, professional products division, luxury products division and active cosmetics division. Matrix falls under the Professional products division of L'Oreal Paris Pvt Ltd. The Matrix Products are usually designed for small and medium sized hair dressing salons that desire to use affordable professional products. 

 The Matrix products are mainly distributed through well-established hairdressing wholesalers. It offers its distributes  a business model that allows them to be involved and participate in sales.

The distributor not only functions in storage, shipment and sale of Matrix products, but also in providing information, organizing training events and gaining new clients through its network of sales representatives. Matrix pays 75-85% of salaries to these network of sales representatives. 

Matrix products are intended exclusively for hairdresser. Selling products to final consumers directly was prohibited initially. For this reason, there were no official online sales channel. But recently in order to increase their brand value as well as market share they are selling their products through various online sales channels such as Amazon, Alibaba etc.