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INSTITUT  FOR  ERHVERVSKOMMUNIKATION  Department  of  Business  Communication  

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SP93844, ES93698

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Christina Elisabeth Søgaard Jensen

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98,962

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Abstract With the world becoming increasingly diverse, global companies need to adapt to different cultures if they want to gain bigger market shares and win over new consumers. L’Oréal Paris, being the biggest beauty brand in the world, has identified this need and thus implemented a universalisation strategy, which is like globalization but allows for cultural differences. Thus, one can argue they are following a glocalization strategy. The purpose of this thesis is to look into L’Oréal’s claim of attuning to the different needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. It will look into this from a consumer perspective, through the use of in-depth interviews with a total of fifteen participants from Denmark, America and Japan. The cultural diversity of those three countries enables the report to identify whether L’Oréal has mastered glocalization in those areas. It is important to note that the selected target group for the in-depth interviews is limited to young female students between the ages of 18-24, and hence this report solely gives a slight insight into their glocalization efforts. The analysis is divided into six main sections based on four branding theories. The first section, based on customer analysis by David. A. Aaker, enables the report to identify unmet needs between the consumers and L’Oréal Paris, and is furthermore crucial as the report revolves around the perceptions of the consumers and it is therefore necessary to understand their specific needs. The subsequent four sections are based on the main assets of the Brand Equity model by Aaker, namely: brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand associations. Those sections make it possible to look into the efforts of L’Oréal Paris in creating a strong brand, and more importantly allow the report to utilize those criteria to see whether the consumers are convinced by their efforts. The last section combines the image-identity gap presented by Aaker and the brand gap theory by Marty Neumeier, in order to identify both external and internal gaps. This permits the report to pinpoint the source of the problems with their glocalization strategy. Due to taking a social constructionist point of view, the report does not present clear-cut conclusions to the findings, but instead looks at possible interesting patterns and presents valid points of considerations for L’Oréal Paris. Hereunder, the largest brand gap and image-identity gaps are present in Japan, due to L’Oréal Paris’s inability to adapt their creative output to the needs of the Japanese participants and due to the fact that the participants identify themselves as being excluded from the target group. The two gaps were also significant in Denmark, and here the problem lied in the large clash in beauty ideals where L’Oréal Paris’s creative output gave the image of being fake, where the consumers were unanimous in their preference of natural beauty. Once again, the participants felt excluded from the target group. When it came to the needs of the American participants, the creative output was best aligned with L’Oréal Paris’s strategy, and thus the brand gap was minor. Additionally, the image-identity gap was best aligned, since they included themselves in the perceived target group. Nonetheless, they identified the brand culture as being more directed toward Americans and Europeans, thus a more western ideal. This identified culture was also made by both the Danish and the Japanese, which shows a sense of consistency in the image of L’Oréal Paris. However, this consistency contradicts their glocalization strategy which aims at diversification. Overall, it is made clear that consumers are extremely diverse not only due to cultural differences, but based on personal, economic and geographic factors. Thus, the aim of glocalization is very ambitious and it remains unclear as to whether it is possible, and whether it is even ideal.

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Table of Contents 1. Introduction (S&E)  .........................................................................................................................................................  5  

1.2Problem statement (S&E)  ......................................................................................................................................  6  1.3 Theory of science (S&E)  .......................................................................................................................................  6  1.4 Theoretical framework (S&E)  .............................................................................................................................  7  1.5Methodological approach (S&E)  .........................................................................................................................  9  

1.5.1 Customer Analysis  ........................................................................................................................................  10  1.5.2 Brand Equity Model  .....................................................................................................................................  11  1.5.3 The Brand Gap & Identity vs. Image  ......................................................................................................  12  

1.6 Limitations & Delimitations (S&E)  ................................................................................................................  12  1.6.1 Limitations  .......................................................................................................................................................  12  1.6.2 Delimitations  ..................................................................................................................................................  13  

2. Body  ..................................................................................................................................................................................  14  2.1 Minor Customer Analysis (E)  ...........................................................................................................................  14  

2.1.1 Brand name  .....................................................................................................................................................  15  2.1.2 Quality & Price  .............................................................................................................................................  16  

2.2 Brand Awareness (S)  ............................................................................................................................................  20  2.3 Brand Loyalty (S)  ..................................................................................................................................................  23  2.5 Brand Associations (E)  ........................................................................................................................................  29  2.6 Brand Gap & Image-Identity Gap  ....................................................................................................................  33  

2.6.1 External Gap/ Image-identity gap  ...........................................................................................................  34  2.6.2 Internal Gap/ The Brand Gap  ...................................................................................................................  36  3.1.2 Denmark  ...........................................................................................................................................................  41  3.1.4 Japan  .................................................................................................................................................................  43  3.1.5 All in common  ................................................................................................................................................  44  

3.2 Points of consideration (S&E)  ..........................................................................................................................  45  4. Conclusion (S&E)  .........................................................................................................................................................  47  5. Bibliography  ...................................................................................................................................................................  49  6. Appendix  ..........................................................................................................................................................................  52  

Appendix 1.  .....................................................................................................................................................................  52  Appendix 2.  .....................................................................................................................................................................  52  

Appendix 3.  .....................................................................................................................................................................  53  Appendix 4.  .....................................................................................................................................................................  53  Appendix 5.  .....................................................................................................................................................................  55  

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Appendix 6.  .....................................................................................................................................................................  58  Appendix 7.  .....................................................................................................................................................................  60  Appendix 8.  .....................................................................................................................................................................  62  Appendix 9.  .....................................................................................................................................................................  64  Appendix 10.  ..................................................................................................................................................................  67  Appendix 11.  ..................................................................................................................................................................  69  Appendix 12.  ..................................................................................................................................................................  71  Appendix 13.  ..................................................................................................................................................................  73  Appendix 14.  ..................................................................................................................................................................  75  Appendix 15.  ..................................................................................................................................................................  78  Appendix 16.  ..................................................................................................................................................................  80  Appendix 17.  ..................................................................................................................................................................  82  Appendix 18.  ..................................................................................................................................................................  84  Appendix 19.  ..................................................................................................................................................................  86  Appendix 20  ...................................................................................................................................................................  86  Appendix 21  ...................................................................................................................................................................  87  Appendix 22  ...................................................................................................................................................................  88  Appendix 23  ...................................................................................................................................................................  89  Appendix 24  ..................................................................................................................................................................  91  

 

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L’Oréal Paris – Are they successfully implementing their glocalization strategy: Universalization?

A study of Danish, American & Japanese women’s perceptions of

L’Oréal Paris

1. Introduction (S&E)

“To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has

chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the

needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the

universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Annual report, 2012, p.22)

L’Oréal the company ranks first in reputation amongst French companies, according to a

study by the American Reputation Institute. (L’Oréal’s outstanding reputation, n.d.) In

addition to this, “In 2006, in Prague, L’Oréal was presented with the Corporate Diversity

Innovation award by the World Diversity Leadership Council. For the first time, the group

was recognized internationally for the cultural diversity of its products” (L’Oréal

Recognized, n.d.) Their core brand, L’Oréal Paris, around which this report is based, was

founded in 1909 and since then it has expanded to over 130 countries. According to L’Oréal,

“L'Oréal Paris has an unparalleled commitment to technology, research and innovation,

providing groundbreaking, high-quality products for women, men, and children of all ages

and ethnicities.” (About L’Oréal Paris, n.d.) But as Lewis (2010) states: “If you market to

everyone, you market to no one”, meaning the broader your target group, the harder it will be

to reach them efficiently. This brings us to question L’Oréal’s statement.

The overall aim of this report is to explore whether L’Oréal can live up to their statements.

How well are they reaching this broad target group, and are they adapting their products and

marketing efforts as they claim? These statements will be challenged through consumer

perceptions. In addition to this, as mentioned in our leading quote, L‘Oréal believe that they

are attuning their products and efforts to the cultural differences of each respective region in

which their products are sold. To challenge this, this report will investigate the opinions of 5

women from 3 different countries. By choosing countries from 3 different continents,

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covering North America, Europe and Asia, the report has access to the perceptions of

culturally diverse consumers. The selected countries are: Denmark, America and Japan.

These countries have been chosen due to accessibility. This chosen target group of fifteen

young women provides the basis for this report and all assumptions and findings made

throughout, are solely based on their perceptions and we are therefore not aiming to

generalize.

Due to space restrictions, L’Oréal Paris will from now on be referred to as ‘L’Oréal’ and if

the company in general is being spoken about, this will be made clear.

1.2 Problem statement (S&E) This report is set out to investigate:

L’Oréal Paris is a global brand that claims to adapt to the cultures in which its stores are

located, for this they have been noted for their success as a multinational company. Looking

at their branding efforts in Denmark, America and Japan, we seek to challenge the success of

their universalisation strategy through the use of in-depth interviews.

We will be looking at it from the consumers’ point of view, in order to see whether there is a

gap between their perception and that of L’Oréal Paris.

1.3 Theory of science (S&E)  This thesis bases itself on the position of social constructionism, which cannot be defined by

just one definition, as this would not adequately cover all positions. Nonetheless, for the sake

of understanding the fundament of this report, we will provide the key assumptions of social

constructionism that we follow. There are three key assumptions on which our definition is

based: “A critical stance toward taken-for-granted knowledge…historical and cultural

specificity…[and] knowledge [being]…sustained by social processes.” (Burr, 2003, p.2-5)

The selection of these key assumptions will be accounted for subsequently.

L’Oréal claims to be implementing a strategy that is attuned to everyone, which indicates

their belief that they understand the needs of all their consumers. But as Vivien Burr (2003)

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states: “The particular forms of knowledge that abound in any culture are…artefacts of it, and

we should not assume that our ways of understanding are necessarily any better, in terms of

being any nearer the truth, than other ways.” (p.4) Thus, it is wrong for L’Oréal to make the

assumption that their idea of the consumers’ needs is the truth. Their idea of a

universalisation strategy needs to be questioned and therefore it is natural to assume the

position of social constructionism, which “…invites us to be critical of the idea that our

observations of the world unproblematically yield its nature to us, to challenge the view that

conventional knowledge is based upon objective, unbiased observation of the world.” (Burr,

2003, p.3)

As social constructionists it is necessary to not only be critical toward the objectivity of

the statements made by L’Oréal, but to also be critical toward our own findings. Hence,

throughout the report, no knowledge will be taken for granted and no generalizations will be

made. It is important to note that we are aware that the findings do not necessarily reflect the

opinions of all Danish, American and Japanese women between the ages of 18-24, but that it

is a starting point into gaining insight into their perception of L’Oréal.

According to social constructionism: “knowledge of the world is created through social

interactions of all kinds, and what we regard as truth can vary both historically and cross-

culturally...”(Burr, 2003, p.5) this statement is a fundamental stance towards our

interpretations and analyses of the interviews.

In order to maintain the position of social constructionism, we have a section called points

of consideration. This is done in order to make it clear that we are not in the position of

making any clear-cut conclusions, but instead provide any interesting findings and ideas,

which should be considered by L’Oréal.

1.4 Theoretical framework (S&E)  Considering the report revolves around L’Oréal’s claim of adapting to different cultures, it is

natural that in terms of theoretical framework, we are dealing with glocalization.

Glocalization, according to Roland Robertson: “…means that it is local culture which assigns

meaning to global influences, and that the two are therefore interdependent and enable each

other.” (Cultural studies reader, 2012) and thus the belief is that we are not headed for a

homogenous culture, but instead intercultural ties and influences “are selected, processed and

consumed according to the local culture’s needs, tastes and social structure.” (Cultural studies

reader, 2012) Agon, made chief executive in 2006, “…has pushed his views of

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‘universalisation of beauty’ – similar to globalisation but ‘allowing the differences of

culture’…”(Armitstead, 2013) thus, universalisation and glocalization can be viewed as the

same. This report aims to challenge whether L’Oréal live up to their goal of glocalizing, and

eventually challenges whether this is even possible. Glocalization theory thus sets the

framework for our report, and more specifically we are approaching glocalization from a

branding point of view. Consequently, branding theory will be used to do the analysis of the

report, through the use of four branding theories.(app.1)

Firstly, a very small customer analysis will be conducted in order to gain some knowledge

of our participants and their specific needs. This is important as the report is based upon their

perceptions. We also find this information essential to attain, since we are looking at three

different countries and are therefore dealing with different cultures that may have different

needs. This information is therefore needed in order to see whether there are significant

differences in their needs, and to identify whether those needs are being met and if not, what

adaptations need to be made in order for L’Oréal to glocalize. Here, David. A. Aaker’s

customer analysis will be used with a focus on unmet needs. Aaker is a marketing expert with

focus on branding, and has received several prizes for his contributions to the development of

marketing (Prophet, 2014).

Secondly, the in-depth interview on which the report is based is mainly structured around

Aaker’s Brand Equity model, which demonstrates how brand equity generates value.

However, it is important to mention that Aaker is not a social constructionist since his

theories are presented as fixed knowledge based on generalizations. Nonetheless, the report

makes use of the equity model, but keeps a more critical stance to the static categories that

Aaker presents. Hence, this report allows the categories to overlap as we feel they are

interdependent. The questions will cover the four principal brand asset categories “brand

awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality, [and] brand associations” (Aaker, 2010, p.8),

which will be elaborated on under the methodological section. This equity model, will enable

us to look into the efforts of L’Oréal in creating a strong brand, and more importantly we can

utilize those criteria to see whether the consumers are convinced by their efforts.

However, we deem it necessary to include an extra category of questions independent of

the equity model. Here, we will combine two branding theories: 1) the brand gap as presented

by Marty Neumeier, who is “…a recognized thought leader in brand strategy, innovation, and

design…” (Liquid Agency, 2011). The brand gap according to Neumeier (2003), is created

by a disconnect between a brand’s strategy and their creative output. Thus the focus is on the

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internal gap that can occur. The use of this theory will hopefully shed light on whether

L’Oréal’s creative output is aligned with their strategy or whether there is a gap. 2) The

image-identity gap as presented by Aaker, is when there is a gap between the “…image

[which] is how you [the brand] are perceived and [the]…identity [which] is how you [the

brand] aspire to be perceived.” (Aaker, 2010, p.382) Hence, the focus here is on the external

gap that can occur between the consumer and the brand. The use of this theory will enable us

to see the difference between how the consumer’s perceive L’Oréal (image) as opposed to

how L’Oréal want to be perceived (identity). In an ideal situation, strategy and creative

output would be aligned, and we believe this is what would create an identity as Aaker

defines it, where L’Oréal’s marketing/branding efforts successfully meet their strategic goals.

Nonetheless, Neumeier argues for the possibility of a gap, and this report will investigate

whether this is the case for L’Oréal. Further connecting the two theories, we identify that the

creative output produced by L’Oréal is in the end what will be interpreted by the consumers

in order to create an image in their minds. The reason for combining the two theories is that

not only does L’Oréal have to align their creative output with their strategy in order to reach

their goal of universalisation, but also in order for it to be possible the creative output needs

to take consumer perception into consideration and adapt accordingly. This will reduce the

gap between image and identity. In addition to this, it can allow us to identify the possibility

of both internal and external gaps and highlights the origin of the problem.

In our discussion of findings from the analysis, we will come back to glocalization, where

through our application of the four branding theories to the three chosen countries, we will be

capable of evaluating whether L’Oréal have met their goal of glocalizing, as intend through

their universalisation strategy.

1.5 Methodological approach (S&E)  This section will start of with explaining our choice of using in-depth interviews and what

advantages and limitations this brings. In addition to this, the target group for the in-depth

interviews will be argued for, and challenges to this will be presented. Finally, the section

will explain the process of the primary research (in-depth interviews) on which the entire

report is based, and their structural connection with the theory.

As mentioned, the report makes use of in-depth interviews; the reason for this is that it is the

best possible way to gain extensive and insightful opinions from the participants. As Boyce

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& Neale (2006), state: in-depth interviews are the obvious choice “…when you want detailed

information about a person’s thoughts and behaviours…”. Nonetheless, there are limitations

to all research techniques. When it comes to in-depth interviews, it is extremely time-

extensive, there is a prone to bias, and due to its subjectivity the findings are not

generalizable. (Boyce & Neal, 2006) However, a lot of effort has been made into allowing for

minimal bias, there is a minimal use of leading questions, and there is a lot of room for the

participants to go their own ways. In addition to this, as mentioned previously, generalization

is not a goal since we are taking the social constructionist approach.

The chosen target group for the interviews is young women between the ages of 18 to 24.

They are all under higher education, and have not yet started a family of their own. This

means they are all on a student budget and are in an age where makeup is relevant. The

reason for selecting young women as the target group, is that looking at L’Oréal’s website

(app.19-21), it is evident that it is predominantly appealing to women. Another reason for the

age group is the availability and access to participants, since we ourselves are in this group.

The women live in culturally diverse areas, stretching over three different continents: Europe,

North America and Asia. Specifically, the countries: Denmark, America and Japan. The

reason for choosing these countries is because they are easily accessible due to personal

connections, and they are diverse enough to get interesting input. The diversity in cultures is

an important factor in order to complete our research.

The participants all differ in personality and tastes, and therefore one can naturally assume

they wont have the same answers to the questions or will have the same attitude toward

L’Oréal. Nonetheless, L’Oréal claims that they are reaching all of these women, so therefore

they should all feel targeted by L’Oréal, regardless of their individual preferences.

The final part of this section, will explain the process of the primary research in connection

with the used branding theories.

1.5.1 Customer Analysis  The first two questions of the in-depth interviews are aimed at providing insight into the

needs of the participants. The following questions will be asked: “What are the 3 most

important things when buying beauty products? Why?” and “How would you define a good

beauty company?”. In this case, the questions are asked without any correlation to the brand,

hence it will solely investigate the participants’ overall opinion about their reason for buying

beauty products and also their definition of a good beauty company. Through posing those

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questions, it will be possible to identify similarities and differences between the needs of the

different cultures. Furthermore, the objective is to identify whether L’Oréal is meeting those

needs and ultimately seeing whether adaptations needs to be made.

1.5.2 Brand Equity Model  The Brand Equity model presents the set of assets that add value to the company. The first

brand asset category is brand name awareness, which according to Aaker “refers to the

strength of a brand’s presence in the consumer’s mind.” (2010, p. 10) In order to evaluate

L’Oreal’s presence in the minds of the consumers, we ask the following questions: “Have

you heard about L’Oréal?”, “Do you know where L’Oréal originated?” and “Do you

remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns?”. Through asking those questions, it will be evident

where they are strong or weak in awareness. According to Aaker (2010) “…recall is as

important as recognition” and this is proven by the graveyard model, which was developed

by Young and Rubicam Europe and plots “brands in products class…on a recognition versus

recall graph”(Aaker, 2010, p.11). A graveyard model will be generated for the L’Oréal brand

(appendix 2), seen through the eyes of the participants and it will then be possible to see

whether L’Oréal is lacking in either recall or recognition.

The second brand asset category is brand loyalty. Loyalty is key since it is what ensures a

stable customer basis and as Aaker (2010) states, “It is simply much less costly to retain

customers than to attract new ones.” (p.21) In order to measure the loyalty toward L’Oréal,

we ask the following questions: “Would you recommend L’Oréal?”, “Do you use any of

L’Oreal’s products?” and “Do you prefer any local brands to L’Oréal?”.

The third brand asset category is perceived quality, which according to Aaker (2010) “…is

the single most important contributor to a company’s return on investment…”(p.17) In order

to see how consumers view the price and quality of L’Oréal products, they will be asked:

“What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products?” and an indirect approach

will be taken into interpreting their perception of their quality. After having collected the

participants’ thoughts on price and quality of L’Oréal, it is possible to create a perceptual

map (app.3), which is “A multidimensional scaling program [that]…attempts to locate

objects in a two…dimensional space…the two objects with the highest similarity are

separated by the shortest distance…”(Aaker & Shansby, 2001, p.60) Here, price and quality

forms the two dimensions, which will be analysed in order to give a clear view on how the

participants from the three countries differ/are similar in positioning L’Oréal.

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The final of the four main brand asset categories is brand associations, which “…are

driven by the brand identity – what the organization wants the brand to stand for in the

consumer’s mind.”(Aaker, 2010, p.25) To address this category, the follow questions are

asked: “What do you associate with the brand” and “Who do you think L’Oréal is

targeting?”. Here, it becomes clear what the brand stands for in the minds of the participants,

and will enable us to see whether there are any commonalities. Through asking these

questions, we see that there could potentially be identified an image-identity gap between

what L’Oréal thinks their brand stands for and what the consumers think they stand for. This

idea could be very interesting to explore, and therefore one more category of questions has

been established, based on the previously mentioned theories: the image-identity gap

presented by Aaker in connection with the brand gap by Neumeier.

As mentioned, the four categories overlap, and thus it is not possible to avoid commenting

on the findings of the others’ as they are interdependent.

1.5.3 The Brand Gap & Identity vs. Image  This added category will be used in order to identify two gaps: one gap between L’Oréal’s

strategy and their creative output, and another gap between L’Oréal’s identity and their

image. To explore this, the following questions will be asked: “Can you identify any

differences between typical Danish/American/Japanese beauty and L’Oreal’s view of

beauty?”, “Looking at the campaigns on the Danish/American/Japanese website – what

work’s/doesn’t work?”, and “What do you think about the following quote ‘To win the

confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to

impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty

rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the

universalisation strategy applied by the group.’” If these differences are substantial enough, it

will most likely lead to a brand gap. This report will evaluate on whether there are gaps in the

three countries, and if so where they are the most significant and why. This will enable the

report to pinpoint the source of the problems (internal or external) and to propose points of

suggestion to strengthen their glocalization efforts.

1.6 Limitations & Delimitations (S&E)

1.6.1 Limitations  This report will of course attempt to reduce as many factors of limitation as possible,

however, when it comes to the in-depth interviews, it is hard to avoid them all.

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A limitation this report deals with is the fact that the interviewees are incapable of

speaking or understanding Japanese. Thus, while the interviews with the Danish and

Americans are done in their mother tongue and thus the language the participant feels most

comfortable in, the Japanese are forced to do the interviews in English. This could lower the

value of their responses since they may be less comfortable communicating in English, and

misunderstandings are more likely to take place. Nonetheless, our choice of students under

higher education, meaning they all have classes in English, signifies a better level of

understanding and hopefully minimizes this limitation.

1.6.2 Delimitations   First of all, participants for the interviews were found based on personal connections and

this also means a limitation in finding girls from different areas. This is especially seen when

it comes to participants from Japan, since here they are all from Tokyo. On the other hand,

the 5 Danish girls are from either Kolding, Århus or Copenhagen and the American girls are

from Indiana, New Jersey, Connecticut or California. This gives a more limited scope of

Japanese participants, since Tokyo is only a small part of Japan, whereas there is at least a bit

larger scope when it comes to America and Denmark. However, the report only uses

participants from larger cities as we feel they are more influenced by marketing efforts and

are more likely to lead lifestyles where L’Oréal is relevant. This means that more rural areas

are excluded, and thus also the perceptions of potential participants from those areas.

Nonetheless, young women that live in city areas fit better into our target group of women

that are under higher education, seeing as most institutions are in more populated areas.

Second of all, the in-depth interviews only cover young women between the ages of 18-24

and therefore it is an extremely limited part of L’Oréal’s target group. This report can

therefore only give insight into this specific target groups’ perception of and attitude towards

L’Oréal.

Thirdly, despite working with three different cultures this report does not include a

cultural analysis, as this is not relevant to the aim of the thesis. Therefore, theories such as

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions will not be used as part of the theoretical framework, yet valid

points can be used where relevant. Nonetheless, it is important to note that according to

Adler: “A cultural orientation describes the attitudes of most people most of the time, never

of all the people all of the time”(Bik, 2010, p.7) meaning that our report is not indented to be

based on cultural generalizations, which is also proven by our stand as social constructionists.

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Fourthly, the report aims to see how ones cultural background can influence the

participants’ attitudes toward L’Oréal. The challenge here is that the participants will of

course have their own unique personalities and tastes, and therefore culture will never be the

only influencing factor. However, this can also be an advantage, since it also means that it is

wrong for L’Oréal to assume that they can adapt their products to a culture, when there are so

many other factors in play that also influence their choices.

Lastly, the customer analysis performed is very small due to space restrictions and

because only the most relevant areas, pertaining to beauty products and companies, will be

covered. In addition to this, in terms of Aaker’s image-identity gap, the term identity is in this

case seen as directly correlated with their glocalization strategy, as we are not doing an

extensive brand analysis, and are instead putting a larger focus on the consumer perceptions

in connection with the glocalization strategy.

2. Body

2.1 Minor Customer Analysis (E)  The purpose of this section is to look into the participants’ unmet needs and their purchase

decision factors. Here, participants’ opinions are evaluated in connection with L’Oréal in

order to see how well the brand lives up to different customer expectations, needs and wants.

It will also highlight the importance of adaptation, since as Aaker also argues “Unmet needs

are strategically important because they can represent opportunities … “ (2001, p.193). As

L’Oréal claims to be innovative with high adaptability, by investigating the possibility of

unmet needs, it will create an opportunity for them to live up to this claim. Furthermore, this

customer analysis enables us to detect any similarities and/or differences between the

participant’s expectations of a beauty company, and their decision-making process when it

comes to buying beauty products. The customer analysis is based upon two questions: “What

are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why?” and “How would

you define a good beauty company?”. Note that no generalizations are intended, but

reflection points will instead be presented, hinting at the possibility of a consumer trend.

The first question presents the criteria of the participants’ needs in terms of beauty

products, and since L’Oréal would like to adapt to its’ diverse consumers it is necessary to

identify the individual consumer profiles they have to deal with. Additionally, the aim is to

see whether the participants’ different cultural backgrounds have an impact on their specific

  15  

needs, or whether their needs are significantly aligned in order to identify a more global

consumer profile within their segment. Looking at the answers, it is interesting to highlight

that they show a lot of similarities between the participants. (app.19) The three most

important criteria when buying beauty products are: brand name, quality and price in each of

the three countries. However, since in-depth interviews provide the opportunity of further

explanation, some interesting findings were discovered, such as the fact that despite naming

the same criteria, participants show different reasoning patterns behind their choices. The

participants’ three main criteria will be looked into in terms of the reasoning behind those

choices.

2.1.1 Brand name  Considering the Danish participants, three of them explicitly mention brand name as an

important criteria when buying a product. Kathrine seems to implicitly imply that she needs

some sort of knowledge about the product before buying it. According to Kathrine: it is

important “that … it [the product] has been produced in a proper way with good ingredients,

that I know I won’t have any allergies when using it, and that it looks natural when I wear

it.)” (app.4). The stronger a brand name, the more information is accessible to the consumers

through the brands marketing efforts due to its visibility. In order for Kathrine to be able to

pick products that meet her criteria, she has to be familiar with the brand and its presented

products and values, in order to trust the quality of it. As Millward Brown also argues

“People rely on brands to deliver a consistent level of quality and reliability…(and) they will

pay more for a branded product than a generic one... “ (p. 4) Also, the fact that the product

needs to give a natural look when Kathrine wears it, can be an indication that she bases her

decision on prior experience, or that she has seen the commercials and knows the products’

promises. In that sense, some level of brand recognition is validated as an important factor

during her purchase decision. This is also supported by Tanja, who states that when she buys

a product: “it also should be [from[... a known brand, so it is not bought in “tiger” or

something. “ (app.7) All in all, Danish participants seem to argue that they care about the

brand’s image and popularity, because a highly recognized brand proves that it must do

something right in order for the majority to favor it. Additionally, a well-known brand name

gives immediate information to the consumers through their associations of the brand. This

informal value of a well-established brand seems very important for the Danish participants,

as they appear to be conscious buyers.

  16  

Looking at the American participants, they seem to have a completely different relation to

this criteria’s importance. Here, four of the participants explicitly state that brand name is

important and then two of them make the connection to loyalty by applying that they would

rather buy a brand name they have had an experience with. Here, Julie states: “I tend to stick

to a brand that I like” (app.9) and Katie mentions that: “I always buy the same brand for my

face makeup and my mascara (app.13).” These statements can indicate that American

consumers would prefer to stick to brands they know instead of buying impulsively, making

them more brand-conscious.

Finally, four out of the five Japanese participants, point out the importance of brand name.

Here, it is important to mention that several studies show that the Japanese have a high level

of brand consciousness. As Lupin argues, “ … brands are far more popular in Japan than they

are in some of the developed economies.” (Sharma, 2012) Moreover, Lupin states that

Japanese brand consciousness is a well-known fact all over the world. (Sharma, 2012) As

opposed to the Danish and American participants, the importance is placed on how famous

and successful the brand is. As Aaker (2010) argues: “ People in Japan want to be associated

with the best.” (p.112) and therefore, they may not be as critical toward a brand as long as

they are famous. In addition to this, Maya argues brand name “… kind of relates to the trust

because it is hard to buy something … (she has) … never heard of.”(app.17) In addition to

this, Alisa amongst others (app.14) states: “a famous one [brand name] should be nice”, and

this indicates that the Japanese directly correlate having a strong brand name with being of

good quality.

2.1.2 Quality & Price  In Denmark quality is connected with the participants’ concern with the ingredients of a

beauty product. Maria and Tanja (app. 6 & 7) are both conscious about what the beauty

product contains and as mentioned before, Kathrine is focused on the products quality in

terms of personal health (app.4). This demonstrates that the Danish participants are very

health-conscious. The interesting connection between quality and price is also highlighted by

the fact that only Christine (app.8) failed to mention quality as a criterion, but she is also the

only Danish participant who mentions price. The other participants do not seem price

conscious, which could be based on the assumption that they are willing to pay for their high

quality criterion.

  17  

Amongst the American participants, quality is not as big of a concern as compared with

the Danish participants. Here, packaging is mentioned as a proof of quality by Rachel who

says that packaging “typically says a lot about the quality of the product …” (app.11)

Additionally, Nora claims that quality comes with a price and therefore even though she

thinks quality is important, she prioritizes price higher, meaning that if she were posed with

two options of equal quality, she would opt for the cheaper product. (app.19) Overall, price

seems to have a higher priority than quality according to Americans. Rachel also states she

likes to shop affordably (app.11), and it could be assumed that this claim usually fits every

consumer, especially the young students within the target group of our interviews. However,

some criterion such as good skin can be on a higher level of need, and thus overpower the

need of affordability.

Japan showed surprisingly high concern for quality. This finding opposes the statement

that in Japan “A reputation for quality is less of a concern, but only because it is not regarded

as a differentiator.” (Aaker, 2010, p.111). Hence, all firms are expected to deliver products

with high quality and it can therefore not be considered an important decision-making factor.

However, when considering quality, the Japanese participants appeared to associate very

different things to this notion. In Denmark, quality was connected with health and in America

it was connected with design and packaging. However, in Japan, the basic functional benefits

of a product were mentioned, which are values that the Danish and Americans seem to

assume are there. As Yuna states:“Good quality is important. I look at the price and function

as well. Like how the product works.” (app.18) Hence, amongst the Japanese participants,

their criterion of good quality, are less complicated than that of the other participants. Alisa

for example states she prefers waterproof products and connects that functional benefit as an

indication of quality (app.14). Lastly, Japanese participants seem to prioritize price higher

than quality, which makes them the most price conscious out of the three cultures. (app.19)

The three most important criteria show a high level of cross-cultural similarity, implying

that some consumer needs are independent from cultural influences. However, when looking

into their reasoning behind the criteria, it shows distinct consumer trends that may be

accounted for by the differences in culture. Additionally, the responses show that Danish

participants are more concerned with the product’s ingredients and some of them also

commented on the smell of the products, which seemed as a unique factor. When it comes to

recommendations, it doesn’t seem to be as important a criterion for Danish participants as for

the Japanese and Americans. (app.19) This could be due to Hofstede’s description of Danish

  18  

people being very individualistic with an independent mind- set. Hence, they don’t need a

collective re-insurance by others when they make decisions. (The Hofstede Center, n.d.1)

This further indicates that especially in Japan and America, L’Oréal needs to make sure that

their reputation and WoM help strengthen a positive brand image. As also argued by Milward

Brown; “Consumer-to-consumer communication often plays an influential role. Marketers

who understand the significance of WoM to their brands can positively engage with

uncontrolled brand communications.” (p. 51) Here, the use of social media could be a very

important tool to make sure that they communicate and keep a good relationship with their

consumers globally. This connects to another criterion called design, which is mostly

important for the American participants. (app.19) This highlights the significance of the

visual brand appearance, where it is not only important for a brand to be eye-catching but

also to correspond with current trends.

The second question: “ How would you define a good beauty company?” is concerned with

the overall consumer needs regarding a good beauty company. By identifying those needs, it

is possible to evaluate where L’Oréal stands in comparison with the participants

requirements.

Firstly, none of the Danish participants mention L’Oréal as a good beauty company,

which should be a concern for the brand. The overall demand of the participants is that the

company should be focused on quality, and that they should be conscious about what the

products contain. However, Christine argues that with L’Oréal she doesn’t know what she is

getting (app.8), which could indicate that L’Oréal is not that informative towards their

consumers. When naming a good beauty company, a Danish brand called Nilens Jord is

mentioned twice. (app. 4 & 5) This indicates how well a Danish brand matches its

consumers’ demands and keeps up with the consumer trends. As Kathrine says, she favors

Nilens Jord, because “…they fulfill…[her] demands about looking natural and being good

for the skin.” and furthermore, they don’t use unrealistic commercials (appendix 4). Hereby

implying that L’Oréal is superficial. Tanja also mentions a popular Danish company

Tromborg, and states it “is a good brand because it is natural and I like that.” (app.7). Thus

she also emphasizes a need for natural products. Furthermore, Maria mentions the importance

for the company to be diverse not only in terms of cultural beauty diversification, but also by

including the needs of different consumers in terms of e.g. having allergies or sensitive skin.

(app.6) Trustworthiness and reliability are also an important factor for a good company, and

  19  

most of the Danish consumers also demand that more natural products and beauty ideals

should be presented by the brand. Dove and Nivea are also mentioned as good companies, for

the reason “…they make you feel that…[they] think a lot about their customers.” (app.8)

Thus, overall, several unmet needs are identified when looking at what the Danish

participants require from a good beauty company, compared with what L’Oréal appears to

offer. Nonetheless, whether L’Oréal are meeting those requirements or not, the important

thing is that the participants are not mentioning L’Oréal as an example.

While shifting the question to the American participants, Rachel describes a good beauty

company as one that: “… has products geared to all ages, while still specializing each group

to fit their buyers specifically. It is also affordable and meets the needs of the consumers.”

(app.11) This also fits well with L’Oréal, as they claim to create affordable luxury for

everyone. Whereas Julie states that a good beauty company: “… would offer a lot of products,

so that is you are brand conscious you can stay with that company.” (app.9). Since, L’Oréal

has the biggest product offering this need also seem to be met. (About L’Oréal Paris, n.d.)

Rachel further also argues: “A good beauty company takes into consideration all types of

hair and skin and tries to give a natural feel.” (app.11) This overall description of a good

beauty company, is considerably aligned with L’Oréal’s perception of what they stand for,

which could be an indication that L’Oréal have successfully adapted to their needs of a good

beauty company, thus eliminating unmet needs. However, only Julie seems to recognize it,

when she states: “Loreal definitely has that”(app.9), referring to her needs for a beauty

company. However, she further states: “… and also Maybelline” and explains that since

Maybelline is cheaper she prefers this brand to L’Oréal. (app.9) In addition, none of the

remaining American participants identified this alignment, nor did they mention L’Oréal as a

good beauty company. Here, Neutrogena, Dove, Clinique and Maybelline are mentioned.

This contradiction is an interesting finding to take into consideration, and to keep in mind

throughout the coming analysis.

In Japan, only Alisa would describe L’Oréal as a good beauty company. She is very

positive about the brand when she states: “They know what we need and want to

buy.”(app.14), while referring to L’Oréal as being trend conscious. Here, Alisa also indicates

that L’Oréal matches the consumers’ needs, which is an impressive acknowledgement for a

brand to receive. As mentioned before, attuning to the needs of their consumers is what

L’Oréal desires to achieve on a global scale. This alignment between Alisa’s perception and

L’Oréal, could indicate that the consumer needs are met. However, even though Hitomi and

  20  

Maya start out by stating that L’Oréal is good, they see other brands as being superior to

L’Oréal. Hitomi argues that L’Oréal does not fit her age and Maya expresses her desire for

product and color diversity, while mentioning MAC as a brand that “a lot of Japanese people

… love” (app.16). In addition to this, several participants mention cheaper local or Korean

brands as a ‘good company’ and two of the Japanese participants refer to Maybelline.

Consequently, L’Oréal does not seem to be qualified as a good beauty company in the minds

of the Japanese participants, with the exception of Alisa who managed to describe L’Oréal

exactly how they want to be perceived. All in all, it indicates that most of the Japanese

participants’ expectations are higher than what L’Oréal can live up to. In order to be

considered a good beauty company by the Japanese participants, L’Oréal needs to look into

those unmet needs and adapt accordingly.

2.2 Brand Awareness (S) So how strong is the brand L’Oréal in the minds of the consumers? Having spoken with the

fifteen participants several aspects have become evident. First of all, every respondent said

yes, when posed the question “Have you heard about L’Oréal?” and the yes was often

accompanied with the phrase ‘of course’. So from this, it can be said that L’Oréal have

achieved strong recognition. Recognition according to Aaker (2010) “does not necessarily

involve remembering where the brand was encountered before, why it differs from other

brands, or even what the brand’s product class is.”(p.10) it simply means the participants

remember that they have had a past exposure to the brand. Recognition is important for a

brand, since several studies have proven that “…consumers want what they know.” (Nielsen,

2013)

However, there is also the matter of recall, which is when a brand “comes to consumers’

minds when its product class…is mentioned.”(Aaker, 2010, p.11) Hence, when bringing up a

product class the participant would be able to mention L’Oréal without any direction from the

interviewee. Recall therefore entails that the consumer knows more about the ‘where’, ‘why’

and ‘what’. The respondents were asked the questions “Do you know where L’Oréal is

from/originated” and “Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns?”, which are questions

that require a deeper knowledge of the brand. Starting with the first question: “Do you know

where L’Oréal is from/originated?”, here, twelve out of the fifteen participants either knew

with certainty or thought L’Oréal was from France/Paris, showing high recall. It is also quite

interesting to note that one participant from each country answered or momentarily wanted to

answer that L’Oréal originated in America. This finding will be interesting to look further

  21  

into, as it may be an early indicator that L’Oréal is not seen as a global company, but more

American/western.

Looking at the second question: “Do you remember any of L’Oréal’s campaigns?” results

were no where near as good as could have been expected of “…the biggest beauty brand in

the world…” (About L’Oréal Paris, n.d.) A commonality in the interviews, was that most

started out by answering that they couldn’t remember anything, however, when the

interviewer then asked whether they could mention some products or actors, the participants

were capable of coming up with some answers after a longer period of hesitation. Amongst

the Danish participants, three were pretty sure they could remember seeing Eva Longoria in a

L’Oréal commercial, and in addition to this, Malene answered “The one with the weird hair,

but I’m not even sure that was L’Oréal” (app.5) Tanja also believed she may have seen Kiera

Knightley in a commercial, however, she has never been featured in a L’Oréal commercial.

Christine on the other hand did “not really” (app.8) remember anything, but mentioned

Claudia Shiffer who was one of the first spokespeople for L’Oréal. Thus, it is clear

models/actresses are the biggest source of remembrance for the Danish participants.

However, even if they do remember something, it is not with much detail and they are still

uncertain as to whether they are correct.

Amongst the America participants, two start of with saying ‘not really’ and Julie says

“Not off the top of my head” (app.9). However, Rachel remembers seeing Beyonce,

“…because I love beyonce” (app.11), and Nora mentions an actress called Angela, who has

never appeared in a L’Oréal campaign (app.12). Thus, she is the second participant to

mention an actress that has nothing to do with L’Oréal, which may be a small indicator that

the marketing efforts of beauty companies are at high risk of being cluttered in the minds of

the consumers. However, again, models/actresses are what catch the eye of the American

participants.

Lastly, when considering the Japanese participants, none of them could mention a single

specific actress but Alisa states “I always remember foreign actress…” (app.14). In addition

to this, two answer “No, not really” and Maya believes “I don’t think they advertise too

much...” (app.17) but thinks she may have seen something in a magazine and Aya also states

“I often see [them] in some magazines” (app.15). Thus, the marketing efforts of L’Oréal do

not appear to be received by the Japanese participants, as their commercials are not even

being mentioned.

  22  

Hence, it is evident that there is much higher recall of L’Oréal in Denmark and America

than in Japan. The biggest source of their superior recall is clearly their remembrance of

certain actresses/models, which seem to appeal to the Danish and American participants.

During an interview with Katie, she even criticises a commercial for using normal women

and states “Maybe if it were celebrities it would be more appealing” (app.13). Thus, this may

be an indication that the spokespeople used for L’Oréal is what has the largest potential of

remembrance amongst their Western consumers. However, in Japan, these spokespeople

haven’t made an impact, and this may be due to the use of foreign actresses/models. As will

also be discussed under the section of the brand gap/image-identity gap, the use of foreign-

looking actresses may not be the best choice in Japan.

It is quite surprising that the slogan “Because you’re worth it” is only mentioned by one of

the respondents, since as L’Oréal states: “For most, the name “L'Oréal” is immediately

evocative of the brand’s signature phrase, "Because I'm Worth It” (About L’Oréal Paris, n.d.) When looking at recent campaigns, the signature phrase has been altered in several different

ways. Perhaps, that is the reason why it no longer sticks in the minds of the consumers. One

of the key features to developing and maintaining a strong brand is consistency, and here,

L’Oréal are being inconsistent with their slogan. According to Cayla & Arnould (2008) “for a

global brand to be a true global brand, it must also be consistent, not just in name, but in

position and what it offers… Erdem and Swait (1998) argue that the consistency of brand

messages increases the clarity and credibility of a brand in the minds of consumers...” (p.93)

L’Oréal Paris being the core brand (the oldest) of the L’Oréal brands, they should know that

sticking to one thing would empower recall – like with their brand Maybelline, which appears

to be a bigger success amongst the participants. Overall this lack of knowledge about the

brand is undesirable, since one could argue that achieving recall, means reaching consumers

on a deeper level. Being top of mind of consumers like that, can as Aaker (2010) states:

“…be the deciding factor in getting on a shopping list..”(p.11), meaning that consumers go

directly after a specific brand/product instead of picking from the shelf.

However important recall may appear to be now, the graveyard model provides evidence

that recall and recognition are equally important. When attempting to plot L’Oréal on a

graveyard model based on the in-depth interviews, we get a clear result. As mentioned,

L’Oréal has a very high level of recognition, however, when considering their recall it is

relatively low. L’Oréal is therefore placed somewhere between the upper left corner and the

middle of the graveyard model (app.1). Being placed in the upper left corner in what is called

  23  

the graveyard “can be deadly…[since] customers know about the brand, but it will not come

to mind when considering a purchase.”(Aaker, 2010, p.13) Thus, when looking at the results

gained from the fifteen participants, there is an indication that L’Oréal need to put higher

focus on increasing their recall amongst their consumers.

Surprisingly, four out of the five Japanese participants and two out of the five American

participants had high recall for Maybelline, where respondents would mention the brand

while answering random questions about L’Oréal. Many would use them as a point of

comparison such as “Maybelline is more famous in Japan” (app.17) and one of the

participants mentioned their slogan “Maybe it’s Maybelline” (app.10) - This is the type of

recall L’Oréal should be focused on achieving for L’Oréal Paris. Evidently they know how to

empower recall, since Maybelline is a L’Oréal owned brand.

2.3 Brand Loyalty (S) Loyalty is about the retention of customers, and it is what according to Aaker (2010) creates a

brand’s value and “a highly loyal customer base can be expected to generate a very

predictable sales and profit stream.” (p.21)

When posed with the question “Do you use any of L’Oreal’s products?” the report will be

able to identify whether the participants have a connection with the brand and stick to a ritual

of using specific products from L’Oréal. Considering the participants from Denmark,

mascara and hair products appear to be the products mostly used. However, often the

respondents’ only ‘thought’ they were from L’Oréal and were therefore not certain. In

addition to this, Kathrine didn’t use any L’Oréal products due to her skin being very sensitive

(app.4). Malene on the other hand, only had products from L’Oréal due to them being on sale

(app.5) , and both Maria and Tanja use ‘cheap’ as an argumentation for their purchase

(app.6&7). Nonetheless, Maria and Christine both speak about the quality of their mascara

and shampoo; Maria even states “…I’ve been using it for years now.” (app.6) Thus, the

Danish participants are very uncertain with what products they use, and usually buy them due

to the fact that they are on sale or because they are cheap. This indicates that they are not

very loyal to the L’Oréal brand, as their purchase choice is not based on their love for the

products, with the exception of Maria who appears to be loyal to the mascara she uses from

L’Oréal.

Out of the American participants, very few of them actually use L’Oréal products. Rachel

says “I do use L’Oréal temporary hair dye a few times a year and self-tanner spray…”

  24  

(app.11) however, two respondents don’t use any of their products (one stating she might

have when she was a kid), and the remaining two said “No I don’t think so, just some nail

polish…” (app.13) and “my mascara might be L’Oréal…” (app.9) Thus it doesn’t sound like

any of them apart from Rachel, adhere to any L’Oréal products. Again, this indicates a low

degree of loyalty toward the L’Oréal brand, as they are not consistently or consciously

buying their products.

Lastly, the Japanese participants seem much more enthusiastic about L’Oréal products.

Hitomi claims to have tried several of their products since L’Oréal was the only brand she

knew in the beginning. Alisa uses their mascara, foundation and hair products “…because it

is famous so they have good quality” (app.14) and Maya uses their eyeliner, mascara and

lipsticks because she “like[s] the brand and…know[s] it works well…” (app.17). Only one

participant, Yuna, mentioned she’d rather use Maybelline, yet she still uses their hair die and

sunscreen. Hence, the Japanese participants are the ones that seem to be the most loyal

toward the L’Oréal brand, as they are buying several of their products. Nonetheless, the

reason for using their products is not due to how good they are, but is based on their liking of

the brand name and how popular it is. This aligns with the previous section of customer

analysis, which highlights the importance of a brand name in the minds of Japanese

consumers.

Thus, based on this question, the Japanese respondents are the ones that are most brand

conscious and certain in what products they use from L’Oréal, and are also the ones that use

the broadest variety of product categories. The majority of the Danish are very uncertain as to

whether their products are from L’Oréal, and mostly mention mascara and hair products. The

American respondents appear to favour L’Oréal products the least, and only one participant

could with certainty mention some products that she adheres to. As examined earlier in the

report, having strong recognition of a brand is beneficial since people are more likely to buy

products that they have previously heard of. Therefore, having 100% recognition amongst the

fifteen respondents should indicate that they use/are loyal to some of the products offered by

L’Oréal. However, having such low recall also signifies that the respondents aren’t likely to

go directly after specific L’Oréal products. Therefore, the chance is that the participants may

buy L’Oréal products as impulse buys or items that are on sale, while they probably have

other products on their more permanent shopping list. This fits very well with the results of

the in-depth interviews in Denmark and America. Respondents mentioned other brands as

being their go-to brand for their products. However, the Japanese as mentioned are more

  25  

focus on how famous and successful a brand is, and this may also be a reason why they are

more willing to discard any lack of recall or connection with the brand. Its’ famous brand

name may be enough.

A second indicator of brand loyalty can be observed when asking the respondents the

question: “Would you recommend L’Oréal to others?” When a consumer is loyal to a brand,

they are also more likely to recommend the brand. Starting with the Danish participants, it is

clear that they are not overly excited about recommending L’Oréal to others. First of all, most

of them say that they might recommend their mascara, hair die or shampoo because they are

‘cheap for its quality’. However, the three out of the four participants that mention a product

they would consider recommending, all state at some point: “No, I don’t think so, but

maybe...” (app.7), “No, not really…” (app.8) or “but otherwise, I don’t think so…” (app.6)

Hence, the products are evidently not something that have made a big impression and their

immediate answer to the question is ‘No’. One participant, Malene, really likes the way her

L’Oréal shampoo smells and would therefore recommend it, yet later she argues that: “…I

wouldn’t give someone a gift from L’Oréal because then I would feel like I was giving a bad

gift.”(app.5) Therefore, it seems that if Danish girls are to recommend something from

L’Oréal it is not due to it being a top quality product, but is more because their products work

and provide a fair quality based on the price. This will also be elaborated on when

considering the perceived quality of L’Oréal.

Moving on to looking at the American participants, initial reactions to the question are

much more positive. They start of with phrases such as “I would definitely recommend a lot

of L’Oréal’s products…” (app.11) “I would recommend it to people…” (app.12), or “Yes I

probably would…” (app.9) So these participants already seem much more positive toward

L’Oréal products. Nonetheless, three of the participants move on to saying they themselves

don’t really use many of their products and therefore change their answer towards no. One

directly states “Probably not just because I don’t really use it…” (app.13) and this fits well

with the fact that we are more willing to recommend products that we ourselves have used

and like, and likewise “Personal recommendations are the number one driver of consumer

purchase decisions” (Keller, 2012) thus this is an important buying cycle to enter. As Jessica

states: “…I only feel I recommend things if I really use it or like it…” (app.10)

Lastly, when looking at the Japanese participants, their reaction to the question varies

greatly. Hitomi argues that she “…can find better and cheaper brands” (app.16) so she

  26  

would not recommend it, and Aya is unclear whether she would since she herself only uses

one of their products and doesn’t “know if the brand is really good” (app.15). three of the

participants state that they would recommend L’Oréal, yet, their answers are very interesting.

Yuna argues she would recommend it to her mom, Maya would recommend it to her

international friends since she doesn’t think it is for “Asian people” (app.7) and Alisa would

recommend it “because it’s a huge brand and company...” (app.14) So what we can see here,

is that they are not recommending it for themselves but more for an older age group or their

western friends. Thus, they are eliminating themselves from the target group of products. In

addition to this, Aya is only recommending them based on their brand status and as

mentioned earlier, this really appears to be a large focus for the Japanese consumers (app.15).

Consequently, it appears that people are more likely to recommend products that they

themselves use and are pleased with. Therefore, when looking back at the reactions the

respondents came with when asked whether they use L’Oreal products, it is not surprising

that none of them are really likely to recommend L’Oréal over other brands. However, some

did feel that they would recommend L’Oréal, but this was more because of reasons like ‘why

not’ or ‘it’s a huge brand and company’, instead of due to their own enthusiasm and

knowledge of their products. Thus, this question is a further indicator that the Japanese

participants appear to be the most loyal toward L’Oréal, and the loyalty of the Danish and

Americans remains low.

2.4 Perceived Quality (E) The perceived quality is not only important according to Aaker’s brand equity model, but

also according to the majority of the participants. While answering one of the very first

questions: “What are the 3 most important factors when choosing beauty products?”, quality

is frequently mentioned as a decision-making factor, besides price and brand name as stated

previously. Since L’Oréal claims to offer affordable luxury for everyone, it is valid to

evaluate on the different quality perceptions presented by the participants, to see how well

they deliver their promises. In order to do so, a perceptual map (app.3) is created based on the

participants’ answers regarding price and quality. The research showed major differences

between Denmark, America and Japan. In terms of perceived quality it is important to

mention that no direct question was asked regarding whether the participants think that

L’Oréal has a good quality, hence the in-depth interview tries to avoid yes /no questions or

any form of leading questions. However, the in-depth interview indirectly investigates the

  27  

consumer’s attitude towards L’Oréal’s quality by asking several sets of questions, where they

cannot avoid commenting on the perceived quality. This way, the perceptual map is based on

the interpretation of interviews (app.3).

Firstly, by looking at the Danish participants’ perceptions of L’Oréal, they are perceived

as a cheaper brand by the majority. This reflects back on the fact that according to our

participants, local products in Denmark have way higher prices than the products offered by

L’Oréal on the Danish market. Maria also mentions that: “Danish brands are really

expensive”(app.6). Over half of the Danish participants state that they chose L’Oréal mostly

because they feel they get “good quality for no money” (app.7) The Danish participants seem

to be more conscious about their quality evaluation of L’Oréal, hence they immediately

connect quality with the expectations that come with low price perception. Hence, instead of

evaluating price and quality separately, they evaluate them based on each other. Therefore it

is very challenging to identify their quality perception seeing as it can only be fully

understood in connection with the price. Christine was the only Danish participant who says:

“I think they are pricey at least when it comes to their shampoo…” and later on she states:

“For the price I don’t think that they give good quality products.” (app.8) Here, a clear

connection between price expectations and quality is demonstrated, which is also argued by

Steven M. Shugan (1984), who states that a consumer “...use[s] a product’s price as a

measure of the product’s quality…and…often assumes that a higher product price indicates a

higher level of quality.” (p.627) Hence, people usually expect more when they pay more, and

therefore when L’Oréal is perceived as an expensive brand, it also reflects on the quality

perception as is also seen by Christine’s statement.

Secondly, while looking at the American consumers, they mostly categorize L’Oréal as

affordable. According to Julie: “I think they are not the most expensive, but not the least

expensive either” (app.9). Furthermore, the participants appear to be satisfied with the quality

of L’Oreal’s products, or at least feel that the brand delivers the required quality for an

affordable price. However, Rachel highlights the products she uses and states “These are the

products I found to be affordable but appeared to be top quality in comparison to other

brands on the shelf.” (app.11) Here, she is being more critical to the overall brand image and

highlight the fact that within the different product categories, there may be a difference

concerning quality. This does not necessarily signify that she associates L’Oréal with bad

quality, but instead gives a more fair evaluation of their different products. L’Oréal the

company also states: “L'Oréal Paris…is a total beauty care company that combines the latest

  28  

in technology with the highest in quality for the ultimate in luxury beauty at mass.” (About

L’Oréal Paris, n.d.) . It can be argued that according to the American participants, this claim

is justified through most of L’Oréal’s products.

Lastly, by looking at the perceptual map it is evident that the Japanese consumers perceive

L’Oréal as being an expensive brand. In fact, several participants mentioned that they cannot

afford their products. Only one out of the five Japanese participants, Aya, argued that “they

are expensive, but not that bad.” (app.15) which still indicates that she does not perceive the

brand as cheap. This challenges L’Oréal’s statement of affordability, since they seem to fail

to deliver this in Japan. However, it is important to mention that together with the expensive

and luxurious associations, L’Oréal is perceived as a good quality brand. In addition to this,

social and economic differences between countries can also affect the price perception, even

though the price range is intended to be perceived as being affordable. This is due to the

stagnation in the Japanese economy, meaning that “prices [are] continuing to spiral

downward due to a deflationary environment.” (Trefis, 2013) Another factor is the cultural

difference between social interdependence, where Japanese students significantly depend on

their parents’ economic help, which automatically sets a limit to their economic freedom as

consumers. Hofstede, who characterizes Japanese as being very family-oriented and thus

more dependent on each other, also highlights this cultural difference. (The Hofstede Center,

n.d.2)

According to Aaker (2010): “Some brands are price brands, and others are prestige or

premium brands.” (p.19) This statement raises several identity questions for L’Oréal’s global

image, since it is evident that in Japan, L’Oréal is seen as a premium brand with high quality

products. Whereas, in Denmark L’Oréal is more likely to be associated with ‘budget’ and

cheap products. This would place them on the complete opposite end of the scale, making

them a price brand, since price is considered a reason for choosing L’Oréal over other beauty

brands. L’Oréal wins a lot of their consumers in Denmark, through their good promotional

efforts and due to the fact that the quality of their products is fair when considering the price.

All in all, participants within all three countries agree that L’Oréal present a good quality.

However, they evaluate their price range, and thereby set different quality expectations to the

brand. L’Oréal’s main goal is to “[provide] affordable luxury for people who demand

excellence in beauty.” (About L’Oréal Paris, n.d.). It could therefore be argued that L’Oréal’s

goal of affordable luxury is best applied amongst their American consumers. Also, it cannot

be ignored that a lot of participants mention Maybelline when talking about quality and price.

  29  

Especially, in America it is used to demonstrate a more affordable brand and in Japan it is

referred to not only as “cheaper” but also as “more popular”. (app.14)This instant brand

recall reflects badly on L’Oréal, since it shouldn’t even be mentioned within this context.

Especially, not used as a better example of a brand.

2.5 Brand Associations (E)  By looking into the brand associations of the fifteen participants, it is interesting to see if

there are any comprehensible differences of consumer perception within Denmark, America

and Japan. Since L’Oréal’s strategy is to glocalize, it is natural to anticipate a level of

divergence in their associations. However, for a global brand it is also important to maintain a

consistent brand image and therefore some similarities cannot be avoided when talking about

associations.

According to Danish participants, L’Oréal is mostly associated with the words

“cheap”(app.6) and “ low budget”(app.7), which shows that L’Oréal is mostly perceived as a

price-brand. This can be seen as a negative association, since those descriptions usually mean

that the product is associated with bad quality. Also, keeping in mind that “Value proposition

or customer relationship is based on the organizational associations. “ (Aaker, 2010, p.130),

negative associations can hurt a brands image and ability to create a relationship with its

customers. However, as the perceptual map also demonstrates (app.3), L’Oréal is capable of

delivering its promises about quality and therefore the low-budget association, can in this

case even serve as an advantage and can thus give a reason for the customer to buy L’Oréal’s

products, as it argues for the financial benefits of its choice. In terms of product category,

L’Oreal is mostly associated with hair products and mascara. Besides these two specific

product categories, lipstick and the general description of make-up also came to mind. These

kinds of product category associations highlight the areas where L’Oréal seem to have the

biggest impact on the participants, and these products are thus those with the highest recall

potential. Another interesting association point are the actresses/models that stay in the

consumers mind, as mentioned previously. The very first spokesperson of L’Oréal, Claudia

Schiffer, is recalled by Christine along with the slogan of “Because, you’re worth it.” (app.8)

She is the only participant that appears to recall L’Oréal’s slogan, which usually would be

expected as a very commonly associated item amongst consumers. Despite the fact that

L’Oréal uses its’ slogan in every commercial and marketing effort, it as mentioned previously

seems to fail staying in the minds of the consumers. On the other hand, Eva Longoria is

mentioned twice, whereas Jennifer Lopez is associated with L’Oréal by one participant.

  30  

These celebrity associations seem to be a result of a strong celebrity endorsement applied by

L’Oréal, as mentioned under the section of awareness. Despite the fact that no specific detail

is associated with L’Oréal, it still manages to create associations either in terms of products

or celebrities. What is interesting to highlight, is the lack of adjectives (other than cheap)

used as associations for L’Oréal, which shows a deficit of emotions connected to the brand.

This could also be explained by the before mentioned loyalty issue amongst Danish

participants, meaning they do not have a strong relationship with the brand and therefore lack

emotional connection to it.

Americans are similar to the Danish participants when it comes to associations. Here, both

products and marketing efforts in terms of celebrity endorsement are mentioned. L’Oréal is

mostly associated with its hair products. Nora even associates the brand with “sexy hair”,

which indicates a positive connotation to the product and its effect. (app.12) Again,

commercials and celebrities are a strong point of association. Nonetheless, Julie uses

“innovative brand” and “always something new” to highlight the brand’s ability to come up

with something new. (app.9) This kind of association reflects on the recognition of L’Oréal’s

innovative nature, which counts as a positive acknowledgement from a consumer. However,

besides Julie, there are no other participants who associate the brand with this type of positive

adjective. This can imply lack of personal connection to the brand, which also appears to be

the case among Danish participants. Interestingly, no associations are made in connection to

price or quality, which also suggests the in-between state of L’Oréal in terms being neither a

price nor a premium brand. Another reason for no significant price or quality association can

be the fact that the American participants lack product experience and therefore have no

firsthand knowledge within this area.

By looking at the associations mentioned by the Japanese participants, it is evident that

they have a slightly different perception of L’Oréal. Maya directly links L’Oréal to

trustworthiness, which creates credibility and strengthens the brand image through this

positive association (app.17). Since “Organizational associations can also provide self-

expressive benefits.” (Aaker, 2010, p.132) it is important to have associations that

communicate the consumers’ self-image such as “sophistication” mentioned by Maya

(app.17). However, it is also important to mention that none of the Japanese participants

remember any specific detail or campaign. They can all make associations in connection

with one or a couple of L’Oréal’s products, but they cannot name specifics. This relates back

to the previously mentioned problematic in the graveyard model. All in all, Japanese

  31  

consumers have a positive association connected to L’Oréal. Regarding the finding that

L’Oréal is mostly seen as a premium brand by the Japanese, it comes with associations of

high quality and price expectancy. However, it is interesting to note how Maybelline, as

mentioned earlier, have a better recall within cosmetics and make-up. It could be an

indication that Maybelline have a clearer and stronger brand image in the consumers’ mind,

since even asked about associations with L’Oréal, there is an instant connection to

Maybelline. Furthermore, Hitomi associates L’Oréal with being a “non-Asian” brand,

(app.16) which can indicate that L’Oréal’s goal of glocalizing in Japan, is not as successful as

desired. In terms of product association it is clear that L’Oréal is mostly associated with its

hair products, which is also the pattern in Denmark and America.

All in all, L’Oréal have a lot of similar association points in the three countries, yet they

also differ when it comes to some elements in its brand image. Since associations “...are

driven by the brand identity” (Aaker, 2010, p.25) it is interesting to mirror L’Oréal’s identity

through the participants’ target group associations. The participants base their definition of

the target group on their associations with L’Oréal. Furthermore, this subjective opinion also

answers an indirect question of: Do you feel targeted?, Does L’Oréal appeal to you

personally? Here, it can be evaluated whether the participants feel included in the target

group they mention. A successful company manages to reach out to their targeted segment,

and therefore it could be assumed that in order for L’Oréal to have successfully glocalized,

the fifteen women should have been reached. By looking at the different answers (app.21)

provided to the question: “Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting?”, a pattern was discovered,

demonstrating a noticeable difference within age-segment perception but also a similarity in

connection to the perceived geographic segmentation.

Firstly, in Denmark a younger segment is perceived as the target group.(app.20) This

opinion is reasoned by the low budget pricing, the youthful and trendy campaigns, the models

and even with the fact that younger people are easier persuaded by advertising and powerful

marketing (app.4). Even though it sounds like a positive acknowledgement of L’Oréal’s

branding effort, it can be interpreted as a negative critique of a misleading character instead

of a trustworthy brand that is capable to deliver its promises. Malene argues that the quality

of the products and their ingredients, are not concerned with health but are only focused on

sales by going after superficial trends. (app.5) It can be argued, that this would reflect poorly

on loyalty, since people would most likely change brands when trends are changing.

Additionally, as people mature they become more conscious about what they buy, as Hard

  32  

also argues (2005), adults are more health conscious. Hence, they may change to a brand that

is perceived as being more safe, healthy and quality approved. In Denmark, some participants

acknowledge L’Oréal’s multicultural and global efforts, however, they still argue that

L’Oréal is mostly concerned with the Western part of the world in terms of target-group. As

mentioned earlier, the Danish participants perceive L’Oréal as a cheap brand. After

evaluating the target group as perceived by the five participants, it provides yet another

association which points to youth. This association can both be seen as something positive

and negative. It can be seen as positive because beauty and youth usually have a close

relation to each other, and people would like to be up to date with the latest trends. A

youthful brand gives opportunities for transformation and has a more updated collection,

which fits with the trends at the time. However, an association to youth can also have a

negative meaning, because it has a further connotation to irresponsibility and unreliability.

For such a health conscious customer segment as the selected Danish participants, those

associations mostly have a negative value and are perceived as a critic to L’Oréal’s image.

By looking into the American participants’ perceived target group, it is evident that

additional differences can be detected. Interestingly, four out of the five participants feel

included within the named target group. This gives the impression that most of them can

relate to the brand, and feel like they are a part of it. This is a big success factor for the brand,

since L’Oréal claim they target everyone. However, it is mostly in America that the

participants recognize this effort. Nora mentions that “all women” are targeted, and no

specific age segment is selected, as was the case in Denmark. (app.12) However, according to

Katie it is mostly Americans who are targeted by L’Oréal (app.13), which yet again indicates

that the brand is not recognized for its multinational efforts.

In Japan, the target group is perceived older than intended by L’Oréal and is also

identified as being more Western (app.21). This target group can be based on two related

perceptions in connection with the brand. Firstly, that the participants perceive L’Oréal as an

expensive brand, that is not affordable for young students. Therefore they argue that L’Oréal

should rather target women in their working-age, as they are in a better economic situation.

Another reason for seeing the brand as something for an older generation is their evaluation

of the models used in L’Oréal’s campaigns. It is a fact that they use a lot of celebrities to

promote their products. However, according to the majority of the Japanese participants, they

look old. They cannot relate to their ages, and feel the advertisements are more fitted toward

older women. Secondly, when referring to the more western target group, they also argue that

  33  

the European models appeal mostly to western women. The critique of L’Oréal’s advertising

efforts is based on their current website, where they frequently use blond European models to

promote their hair-products. Since the participants were incapable of recalling any L’Oréal’s

campaigns, they based their judgment on the Japanese website (app.21), which happens to

only include European models. This of course formed their idea of the beauty perception

presented by L’Oréal, and consequently they perceived a western culture instead of a

multinational one. The association of an older/western target group is against L’Oréal’s claim

that they target everyone. Also, it is very important to mention that none of the Japanese

participants feel that L’Oréal targets them. However, it can be contradicted by the fact that

some of the participants have L’Oréal products, hence they buy them even though they do not

feel directly targeted by the brand.

It is interesting to see the connection between the perceived value propositioning and the

perceived target group. When the brand is looked at as a premium brand, it can be argued that

it mainly targets people in an age where they have access to more money, hence an older

segment. On the other hand, when the brand is mainly perceived as a price-brand the

economical situation seems less necessary to consider, and therefore a younger target group

can be included.

2.6 Brand Gap & Image-Identity Gap As observed through the four main brand categories, there is a clear gap between what

L’Oréal believe their brand stands for, and what the participants believe the brand stands for.

This possibility was accounted for, and therefore three additional questions were added in

order to get a better idea of the extent of the two gaps (image-identity gap/brand gap).

First of all, the participants were asked: “On a shallow basis, how would you define

beauty?” and “Can you identify any differences between typical Danish/American/Japanese

beauty and L’Oréal’s view of beauty?”. Through posing those questions, it will be interesting

to see whether their personal views on beauty are aligned with what they believe is the

typical beauty perception in their culture, and likewise, whether those views are matched by

the beauty perception they feel L’Oréal presents. In order to successfully glocalize, L’Oréal’s

presentation of beauty needs to be aligned with what is believed to be the typical beauty

perception, in each of the three cultures. Thus here there is a focus on looking at the external

gap (image-identity gap). Second of all, the participants were asked to look at the different

campaigns running on the L’Oréal website of their respective countries, and to voice their

  34  

opinions on what worked and what didn't work. The overall result of this will hopefully allow

the report to pinpoint what L’Oréal are doing well in terms of their glocalization efforts, as

well as what they should work on. Thus, here the focus is on looking at the internal gap (the

brand gap).

2.6.1 External Gap/ Image-identity gap Firstly, after having spoken with the Danish participants, it is clear that in their opinion

beauty is being natural. More specifically, they placed high importance on having clear skin,

long healthy hair, a nice face, big eyes, as well as being curvy and healthy looking. In terms

of individual models/actresses that came to mind, Marilyn Monroe, Kate Winslet and Julia

Roberts were mentioned. These women all represent this natural, healthy beauty ideal that the

Danish speak about, and have a very Western look. However, one of the Danish participants,

Maria, was a little bit different, her ideal women were Ciara, Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez

whom all have a more Latin look. Yet, they are still natural and curvy. The reason for this

difference is most probably her background. Despite having lived in Denmark her entire life

and her mother being Danish, her father is from Morocco and she herself is therefore more

naturally tan. The important point to take from this, is that the world being such a culturally

diverse place, we of course have second-generation ethnic minorities, mixed races etc. living

all around the world whom despite being e.g. ‘Danish’ or ‘American’, are still influenced by

their more complex backgrounds. Thus, gearing marketing efforts toward a specific culture is

almost never black and white. This fits with the social constructionist view, which believes in

the “ … individuals power of defining and redefining their cultural identities in a

multicultural society.” (Chang, n.d.) After gaining this knowledge, the Danish participants

were asked whether they could identify any differences between the Danish view of beauty

and L’Oréal’s view of beauty. The participants highlighted that Danish beauty is about being

natural and sticking to who you are, while also becoming the best version of yourself. Hence,

their idea of Danish beauty aligns with their own view of beauty. However, four out of the

five participants state that L’Oréal is more retouched. In their opinion, L’Oréal has more of a

focus on using beautiful models and actresses that are too perfect, superficial and

photoshopped (app.4&6). Thus, the image of L’Oréal in the minds of the Danish participants

is that they are fake, and this does not correspond with how L’Oréal would place their

identity. Ultimately, we have recognised L’Oréal’s strategy as being the same as their identity

for the sake of this report, and therefore in order for image and identity to be aligned, the

consumers need to perceive the brand as being adapting to different cultures including their

  35  

own. With this in mind, it is evident that the Danish participants do not believe that L’Oréal

is adapting to their culture that prefers natural beauty, and therefore they are dealing with a

significant image-identity gap.

Secondly, we have the American participants. Here, considering their personal

preferences, there is a large focus on having a perfect and symmetrical face, perfect skin,

having long luscious hair, being the typical girl next door all while maintaining a natural look

with simple makeup. In terms of ideal women, Jennifer Aniston and Natalie Portman were

mentioned along with Blake Lively who was mentioned twice. The interesting thing to note

here is that unlike the Danish women, the word ‘perfect’ was often used, which is a more

unobtainable view of beauty. In addition to this, a natural look was paired with wearing

simple makeup, whereas for the Danish being natural had nothing to do with wearing

makeup. The choice of ideal women definitely reflects the idea of the girl next door with

Jennifer Aniston and Blake Lively, and also all three actresses are American whereas the

Danish girls didn’t mention a single Danish actress/model. When asking the American

participants whether they can identify any differences between typical American beauty and

L’Oréal’s view of beauty, they are all unanimous in the opinion that the views are very

similar with very few differences. Interestingly, Katie even asks: “…Aren’t they American?”

(app.13). Another of their girls, Julie, argues that “they cater to the people we are all looking

up to, who we in society think are beautiful.” (app.9). Thus, it appears that L’Oréal’s view of

beauty and the American view of beauty are quite aligned. Hence, the image-identity gap

appears to be minimal amongst the American participants, as they believe L’Oréal’s creative

output is well adapted to their culture.

Finally, the Japanese participants appear to have very diverse ideals of beauty. Some

mention blond hair, others mention dark hair, while others argue that black straight hair is

beautiful (app.14-18) Also, there appears to be conflicting ideas as to whether having white

skin or something in between is preferred, yet they are in agreement that too dark skin is not

ideal. Nonetheless, in whole they appear to agree that big light eyes, being healthy, simple

and natural is beautiful. Miranda Kerr and Emma Watson were both mentioned twice as ideal

women and other than this, Cara Delavigne, Adriana Lima and Angelina Jolie were

mentioned. Thus again, like with the Danish participants, they only mention foreign models

and actresses, but in this case the ideal women are very far from their own Asian looks. The

Japanese participants however, do highlight that outside their personal preferences, the

Japanese ideal is usually long hair, big light eyes and white skin and one of the participants

  36  

mentions “Kawaii, which is the idea of being cute.”(app.15). Posed with the question of

whether they can identify any differences between typical Japanese beauty and L’Oréal’s

view of beauty, they are all in agreement that there is a large focus on Western beauty, with

tanned models, different hair and skin colour, which they find very hard to identify

themselves with. Thus, they feel that L’Oréal’s representation of beauty is very different. Due

to this, L’Oréal are facing the largest image-identity gap in Japan, which really needs to be

worked on.

2.6.2 Internal Gap/ The Brand Gap As mentioned, the participants were also asked to voice their opinions about the creative

output produced by L’Oréal, in this case the specific campaigns on the L’Oréal website of

their respective countries (app.22-24). Their opinions of the creative output will enable us to

identify whether it is aligned with L’Oréal’s strategy of glocalizing.

Starting with the Danish website (app.22), the majority of the Danish participants argue

that a lot of the campaigns seem fake, and are too perfect. Additionally, many agree that the

products look cheap and find it hard to believe that they will be capable of doing what they

are promoting. Other elements that individuals found didn’t work, were one of the models

having short hair, inability to clearly see what they are trying to sell, and of course an anti-

aging crème was not relevant for them. However, elements that did appeal to the Danish

participants were the beauty of some of the models, especially the more fresh-looking

Scandinavian looking ones. Also, the more natural look in one of the campaigns that seemed

more obtainable was preferred. Kathrine mentioned that the use of a celebrity (Jennifer

Lopez) seemed like a good idea, especially if it is a person that someone looks up to (app.4).

Thus, it is evident that the creative output from L’Oréal in this case didn’t live up to the

strategy, and the brand gap is therefore quite large in Denmark.

Moving on to looking at the reactions the American participants had of the website

tailored to America (app.23), some appeared to dislike the use of real girls and would have

been more convinced by the use of celebrities. One of the young women, Rachel, even

argues: “…they are trying too hard not to look like typical models” (app.11). In addition to

this, they also found that the more wild hairstyle campaigns were unrealistic and silly, since

“an average person wouldn’t do that to their hair…”(app.9). Again, the use of a model with

short hair was disliked, and a lack of makeup and clarity of focus on the product was not

appealing. The elements that worked on the American website, were that some liked the use

of real people, but more so the majority mentioned wanting to try a look and to transform and

  37  

be different. Overall, three out of the five campaigns had positive feedback, and therefore

L’Oréal’s creative output is relatively aligned with their strategy of tailoring to the American

culture, reducing the brand gap. Hence, in America L’Oréal appear to have good internal

alignment.

Lastly, the Japanese had the biggest critique of the L’Oréal website tailored to Japan

(app.24). To start with, some of the campaigns looked too artificial and expensive for the

Japanese participants. However, more interestingly, two participants argued that the models

looked too old, and that the campaigns were therefore more targeted toward older women. In

addition to this, three participants agree on the fact that they are using the wrong type of

models. Wrong in the sense that they can’t relate to them, that they are foreign and are too

different compared with Asian women, and they therefore don’t see how the products would

work for them. One of the blond models in a campaign appealed more to the Japanese as she

looked closer to their age and was very pretty. They also liked that the products look

luxurious and expensive, and more shiny hair seemed to work. Overall, there is a large brand

gap in Japan, as L’Oréal’s creative output is not working to meet their strategy of adapting to

the Japanese culture. Thus, compared with their efforts in America, L’Oréal are having a hard

time reaching internal alignment.

To conclude on the marketing efforts of L’Oréal on the different websites, we can see they

are very different. In Denmark the use of ‘too perfect’ models and unobtainable looks is

extremely unappealing and makes the consumers believe that L’Oréal are promising

something they cannot live up to. On the American website, some girls claim to like the

natural look in one of the campaigns, yet in a whole it appears that they like the more

unobtainable perfect look, seeing as they want something to strive for. Therefore, L’Oréal’s

creative output on the American website are those that appear to work best, and they thus

have the smallest brand gap in the states. The Japanese website on the other hand, appears to

be the least successful, and accordingly L’Oréal appear to be dealing with the largest brand

gap in Japan. Oddly enough, unlike the two others, the Japanese website only uses hair

product campaigns, which is odd since in Denmark and America it was a good mix of hair

products and makeup. In addition to this, not a single model used was Asian. It is therefore

not a big shock that the majority of the Japanese women don’t find the campaigns appealing

at all because they cannot relate to the models or the products. They may find some of the

models pretty, yet if they have no use for the product they are promoting it is irrelevant.

  38  

2.6.3 Internal & External

Finally, the participants were also asked: “What do you think about the following quote: “To

win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not

to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs,

beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the

universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Annual report, 2012, p.22)?” This question

is asked in order to get a more direct opinion of L’Oréal’s identity and strategy, as the

participants will automatically compare it with their own perception (image) of L’Oréal

based on their efforts in their specific cultures. Thus, we are looking into the internal gap

from the perspective of the participants, and since they cannot avoid comparing it with their

own image of L’Oréal, it is combined with the external gap. This was the most challenging of

the questions for the participants, since it requires a higher level of understanding of what this

strategy means, and therefore not all provided a meaningful opinion on the subject and many

of the Japanese didn’t fully understand the question. Starting with the Danish participants, two agree on the fact that they do not believe that

L’Oréal caters to all age groups, and instead believe their products are for a younger

audience. When it comes to being attuned to different cultures, Kathrine believes there is no

way they can live up to such a big promise. However, Maria and Christine, argue that

L’Oréal are good at matching different cultures and Christine argues, “…I think they include

everyone.” (app.8). In addition to this, we have Malene who thinks it sounds like the ideal

strategy, yet believes that “…maybe it’s not a good strategy since you might not want to look

like the ideal cultural way of where you are, but aspire to look like something else.” (app.5).

Thus, in Denmark, three participants do not believe that the strategy is being applied, and

either do not believe it is possible or that it is what people really want. This is an interesting

point, as “we want what we don't have…” (Becker, 2013) and therefore providing products

that give no chance of breaking out of their look may not be wanted. Nonetheless, two

participants believe L’Oréal is good at matching different beauty ideals, yet those same

participants heavily criticized L’Oréal’s creative output, and their image of the brand was

part of creating the brand gap. Thus even though in their case image and identity are aligned,

there is a clear gap between strategy and creative output in their minds. Hence, even though

they believe L’Oréal are implementing their strategy, their evaluation of their creative output

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contradicts their alignment of image and identity. Thus once again, it is evident that they need

to look at the internal problems and thereby re-adapt their creative output in Denmark.

Moving on to the American participants, three believe that it is either a good or an

excellent idea, and Rachel believes “the company will gain more consumers using that

strategy” (app.11). Nonetheless, Julie thinks that the goal of gaining a billion new consumers

sounds unrealistic. In addition to this, Katie believes that they are more targeted toward

Americans and Europeans than anyone else – hence, that they are more western. Lastly,

Jessica is not sure the strategy would work, and furthermore thinks that “…if they aren't

trying to put one specific standard of beauty to all consumers they should still use

celebrities…better tailored to that specific market!”(app.10). Hence, the Americans believe

more in the strategy of glocalization, and the creative output was also well received, yet their

image of L’Oréal still indicates that they see them as more Western, and therefore not as

diverse as they claim to be. Jessica’s idea of using celebrities tailored to a specific market is

what L’Oréal already claim they are doing, and it is therefore interesting that her perception

of their efforts is completely different. Overall, strategy and creative output appear to be

aligned; yet the image-identity gap is still existent. The important thing to note, is that the

image-identity gap is due to them seeing L’Oréal as more of a western/American brand,

which of course goes against their identity/strategy of adapting to all cultures. Nonetheless,

this is also the reason why the brand gap is so minimal for L’Oréal in America, as they want

them to interpret them as adapting to American culture.

Lastly, considering the Japanese participants, many misunderstood the question and

instead talked about L’Oréal’s price and quality and their mind-set of targeting everyone.

These are valid things to look at, however, these opinions have been used in more relevant

sections. Nonetheless, they all critique L’Oréal for not targeting the Japanese properly in

terms of their price or age group. Three participants appeared to have a better understanding

of the question and their responses were as follows: “Oh okay, if I think about it … L’Oréal is

really working on getting their cosmetics here in Japan... I just don’t hear too many people

using it.” (app.17), “I think so [that it is possible]. But I don’t think L’Oreal is doing this...”

(app.15) and “I don’t agree…” (app.16) Thus, the Japanese seem to acknowledge L’Oréal’s

strategy of glocalizing, yet, they do not agree that the strategy is being adequately applied in

Japan and consequently their image of L’Oréal is different than the brand’s intended identity.

Hence, there is both an internal and external gap. Overall, if strategy and creative output are

not aligned, then it is close to impossible for the image and identity to be aligned. We have

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identified that the largest brand gap is in Japan, which also means that the image-identity gap

is the largest here. Secondly, the brand gap is also significant in Denmark, which signifies

that L’Oréal’s attempt at glocalizing is not successful. However, the image-identity gap,

solely considering the evaluation of the quote, it is a little bit smaller than the brand gap, due

to the inconsistency in the perception of two of the participants. Lastly, the strategy and

creative output are best aligned amongst the American participants, giving us the smallest

brand gap and thus the most successful glocalization effort. In terms of image and identity,

the Americans had the biggest belief in the strategy and thus again, the gap is minor.

3. Discussion & Points of Consideration (S&E)

3.1 Discussion This section will discuss the connections between the findings that we believe are the most

relevant for our problem statement, when looking at the difference between consumer

perceptions in each of the three countries, as well as the difference between the perception of

L’Oréal and the consumers. We will look at the countries individually as well as combined,

in terms of how L’Oréal appears to be positioned in the countries according to the fifteen

participants. Conclusively, these findings will be used to create points of consideration for

L’Oréal as to how they can improve their brand.

3.1.1L’Oréal

As has been mentioned throughout the report, L’Oréal are an award winning multinational

company. They believe that they are attuned to the needs of all ages, genders and ethnicities

and their main strategy is to adapt to the lifestyles, beauty rituals and needs of people all

around the world. Thus, they believe themselves to be culturally diverse, and highlight their

use of diverse spokespeople. To begin with, we find it very hard to see how it is realistic for a

brand to target such a large and diverse demographic segment. How can they claim to know

the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles within each country, as we are all so unique and

different in many ways? As a result of globalization, every country has now taken in more

than one culture, and due to technology and media people are now more susceptible to the

influence of other cultures. As mentioned earlier, Chang (n.d.) mentions the power we have

to define and redefine our cultural identity in this more diverse and multicultural society. This

makes the idea of glocalization very challenging.

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In terms of their products, L’Oréal states they are a “…combine the latest in technology

with the highest in quality for the ultimate in luxury beauty at mass.” (About L’Oréal Paris,

n.d.) In addition to this, their “…main goal is providing affordable luxury for people who

demand excellence in beauty.” (About L’Oréal Paris, n.d.) Thus, L’Oréal feel they are

providing high-quality products at an affordable price. We can’t help but think that since they

are located in so many economically diverse countries, it is challenging to maintain the same

price/quality position on a global scale. If this challenge isn’t tackled in a proper manner, it

will cause both brand and image-identity gaps.

With their strategy of universalisation, there is a high focus on adaption to different

cultures and needs. According to Aaker, brand consistency is very important in order to

maintain strong brand equity. (p.12) L’Oréal therefore need to maintain brand consistency

while focusing on their adaption, in order to avoid a diluted brand image.

3.1.2 Denmark When it comes to what the Danish participants expect from a company and its products, they

want diversity, and focus on quality, especially when it comes to ingredients. They are very

health-conscious. It is therefore interesting to consider why they are willing to give in to

impulse buying, where price is the focus, when they have such a clear idea about what they

want from their products. Perhaps it is because within our target group, we are dealing with

students that have a limited budget, and consequently need to be more price-conscious. The

majority of Danish participants mentioned local brands such as Nilens Jord and Tromborg as

being preferred, as they also match with what they want from a good beauty company.

However, these brands are also more expensive, and thus brands such as L’Oréal have a

chance since they are more accessible due to being considered a price brand in terms of value

propositioning, where the consumers expect a fair quality that is reasonable considering the

cheap price. In addition to this, they feel the target group is western women, mostly in the

their teenage years.

The participants use very few products, and are not keen to recommend L’Oréal, thus they

cannot be considered loyal to the brand. The interesting point is that the few products that

they use were bought because they were on sale. This accentuates that the price of the

products is the deciding factor in Denmark, when it comes to buying L’Oréal products.

Therefore, for the Danish, the value proposition that L’Oréal products bring, are a functional

benefit as they merely provide a solution to a need. (Aaker, 2010, p.95) Thus, it is not the

brand that pulls them in. The Danish participants often had to check whether their product

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was from L’Oréal, and this further proves that they do not consciously go for specific

products, and even when using the product daily they are not conscious of what brand it is.

Nonetheless, it is interesting that they even buy L’Oréal products, since they do not consider

themselves a part of the target group. However, when being ‘in-store’ and seeing L’Oréal

products on sale, the cheap price along with high recognition of the brand name can induce

impulse buying. As concluded from the in-depth interviews, Danish women prefer natural

beauty, and thus realistic campaigns. When in-store, the marketing efforts online that were

highly criticized for being too unrealistic are insignificant. This indicates that their choice of

models/actresses and their packaging is appealing enough to gain attention in-store and sell

the product. The need for more down to earth campaigns is a typical Danish attitude. In

Denmark there is something called ‘Jantelov’ that in short means that a person should not

gloat with their achievements and no one is better than another. This idea of equality is

reflected in their beauty perception, as they believe that ‘perfect’ cannot be achieved and nor

do they want to, as in Denmark beauty comes from showing imperfections and even

enhancing those features. This specific beauty perception is so different from L’Oréal’s

creative output attuned to the Danish, that it was what created a significant brand gap.

3.1.3America

Considering what the American participants expect from a company and its products, they

want diversity in products, and a company that is attuned to women of all ages and products

that meet the needs of everyone. This is part of what L’Oréal also claims and aims to deliver.

Interestingly enough, the Americans do not mention L’Oréal as a good company, so it is

evident that their efforts are not being noticed.

In America, L’Oréal is neither a price brand nor a premium brand, it is floating

somewhere in the middle. They believe that the products are affordable and of fair quality. In

addition to this, they feel that they are the target group along with most other western women.

Thus, the perceptions of the American participants are most aligned with how L’Oréal want

to be perceived, hence the smallest image-identity gap. However, the American participants

bought the fewest products, and were not keen to recommend L’Oréal due to having no

knowledge of their products. This is conflicting with our finding: that they find their products

affordable and see themselves as part of the target group. So why are they not buying L’Oréal

products? Also, American women appear to want unrealistic ideals to strive toward, some

mention natural, yet by the end of all interviews, it seems they prefer the possibility of

transforming themselves. The marketing efforts on the American website use the same

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retouched models as on the other websites, and additionally use more natural and real

models. The one campaign that used real women, was the most criticized as “they

[were]…trying too hard not to look like real models” (app.11) and some felt it would have

been more appealing to use celebrities. Therefore despite saying they like natural, this shows

otherwise. It is interesting that the American website is the only one where L’Oréal have

decided to use a more natural campaign, as out of the three countries, America appears to be

the one with the least demand for it. In America they have something called ‘The American

Dream’ and this may explain the mentality of the American participants in that they want to

hold on to the fact they have an equal opportunity of obtaining any beauty dream they have.

This makes them capable of relating to more ‘unrealistic’ beauty images, which for example,

the Danish would never consider as an option. Despite the first more natural campaign, the

remaining campaigns use ‘perfect’ models, just like how the American participants ideally

want everything to be perfect when describing a beauty ideal. So once again, why are they

not buying L’Oréal products since out of all the marketing efforts, they are most adapted to

the Americans?

Overall, the positioning of being ‘somewhere in the middle’ may be the biggest setback

for L’Oréal. They are likely to have a hard time competing on the American market as long

as they are not more defined in their propositioning. There are competitors that offer the same

at lower prices, as well as competitors that offer better quality for higher prices or same price

– where the participants are willing to splurge. In addition to this, it is hard to distinguish a

value proposition in America, since the participants do not really buy their products.

3.1.4 Japan When it comes to what the Japanese expect from a company and its products, L’Oréal is

often mentioned as the ideal company. However, they also mention Asian beauty companies

as ideal, since those companies understand their needs in relation to skin and hair types. It is

clear that the Japanese participants view L’Oréal as a very foreign, non-Asian brand, which

doesn’t necessarily mean it impacts their sales negatively. And as seen with the participants,

they are the most enthusiastic when it comes to buying L’Oréal products and use the largest

variety of product categories. Nonetheless, with the goal of glocalizing, hence adapting to

different cultures, it is evident that at least according to these five participants they have

failed to change their marketing efforts accordingly. Thus, this could indicate that the

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Japanese may not respond well if the glocalization strategy were successful as they are

already buying their products.

In Japan, L’Oréal is considered a premium brand, where the products are perceived as

high quality and expensive. In addition to this, they believe the target group is older western

women. However, for the Japanese participants, ‘old’ was sometimes from the age of 25 and

up, which is a completely different definition of ‘old’, from how the Danish and Americans

would define it. Nonetheless, the important thing is how the Japanese are eliminating

themselves from L’Oréal’s target group, which is puzzling since they are still buying their

products. L’Oréal’s creative output is a large reason why the Japanese do not feel targeted,

and one of the biggest mistakes on the Japanese website, was only focusing on hair products

and western models that look nothing like the Asian standard. So then why are they buying so

many products? Perhaps their use of western models in other product categories is not as

problematic as with these specific hair campaigns. In fact, being a big foreign brand with

foreign models and celebrities may be appealing to the Japanese. Hence, contrary to the

Danish who buy L’Oréal products for the cheap price, the Japanese buy the products because

of the brand name which may be yet another reason why they buy products despite the

glocalization strategy being weak. Therefore, the value proposition that L’Oréal products

offer in Japan, is that of self-expression, as the products provide opportunity to communicate

self-image. Also, the perception of L’Oréal being high quality, is most probably due to the

perception of it being expensive, but is in addition to this also due to the prestigious brand

name.

3.1.5 All in common  Following the analysis of the in-depth interviews, some similar findings were found in all

three countries.

First of all, there was a high degree of agreement that L’Oréal has a clear western culture.

Additionally, three girls (one from each country) thought L’Oréal had an American

background. This highlights L’Oréal’s failure to attune to non-western cultures, and thus

shows their inability to glocalize their products and their overall image. So, despite their

culturally diverse spokespeople and attempt at diversifying, these efforts are being

overlooked and are not memorable enough to stick in the mind of the consumer. Thus

creating the brand gaps.

This brings us to the second point that L’Oréal has 100% recognition amongst the

participants but very low recall. A reason for this could be that they are within a highly

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competitive market, and therefore have to compete against a lot of marketing, which can be

hard to stand out from. This is also made evident, as participants appear to be mixing

campaigns. In addition to this, being the biggest beauty brand in the world, they are dealing

with a very diverse range of product categories and product lines. Having different

spokespeople and campaigns for different products can be make it hard for consumers to

connect a specific person or product to a brand, thus lowering recall. The more you have to

remember, the harder it is to recall the specifics. However, it is a strong push that cannot be

ignored, hence the strong recognition. This brings us to the fact that six out of the fifteen

participants, mentioned Maybelline out of context. Some could recall products, campaigns or

their slogan – this shows very high recall. The reason for this may be due to the fact that their

selected target group is more fitted toward our participants. It also interesting to note that

Maybelline is a L’Oréal owned brand, which shows they do have the knowledge to create a

memorable brand.

A third point of similarity is the challenge of complex cultures. How can L’Oréal claim to

know the culture and needs of all countries? A culture is not black and white, and therefore a

marketing effort that may work on one Japanese woman, may not work on another.

Especially when one’s unique personality and background also comes into play. Kotler

(2012) even mentions that consumer behaviour is influenced by personal and psychological,

social and cultural factors (p.183). Though the marketing efforts received good feedback

amongst the American participants, they were all Caucasian women and therefore we have no

input from other ethnic minorities.

Lastly, as we analyzed L’Oréal’s brand equity through the participants’ perceptions it is

interesting to see that in order for them to buy L’Oréal’s products, it requires a positive image

of the brand. Since brand name is an important requirement for all participants, it is crucial

for L’Oréal to maintain it and make sure it is linked with positive associations.

3.2 Points of consideration (S&E) As a result of our findings, several weaknesses have been discovered in L’Oréal’s

glocalization strategy. This section serves to demonstrate those weaknesses and provide

points of consideration as to how those weaknesses can be eliminated. Suggestions are based

both on our own findings as well as the participants’ input. Note that all suggestions are only

relevant for our selected target group, namely young educated women between the ages of 18

to 24.

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In order to better target the Danish consumers, L’Oréal needs to use more realistic and

natural beauty ideals. According to Kathrine, “…they lie a lot in their campaigns, and

thereby lose a lot of credibility.”(app.4) In addition to this, Tanja states: “…I really think

their campaigns and commercials give self-esteem problems for a lot of people, when they

buy the product they expect the same effect at it has on the models.”(app.7) Evidently, the

Danish consumers don’t like being to lied to, they have much more realistic expectations as

to what they can expect from a product. In order to better compete on the Danish market they

need to adapt to this, since the Danish companies such as Matas, Nilens Jord, and Tromborg

have understood this need and are catering to it. This seems to work, as they are also the

preferred choices by the majority of the Danish participants.

When it comes to the American consumers, L’Oréal’s propositioning isn’t strong enough.

As mentioned in the discussion, they are neither a premium brand nor a price brand. They

need to better differentiate themselves from other companies on the market, and give a clear

reason for choosing their products over others. The campaigns were well received by the

American participants and therefore, marketing doesn’t appear to be the issue.

In Japan, L’Oréal has the largest issue with recall. They therefore need to make their

campaigns more memorable, specifically by including more Asian models which they can

relate to as Maya suggests and also adds: “…I don’t mind European looking models, but they

should use some Japanese models if they really want to target the Asian market, so they can

make us feel that we are a part of this company as well.”(app.17) L’Oréal claims to have

diverse and universal spokespeople, yet currently they have not included any East-Asian

models/celebrities in order to appeal to their cultures. In addition to this, the use of ‘older’

models and the products being considered so expensive, L’Oréal is seen as a brand for an

older demographic. If L’Oréal truly wants to target all ages, then they need to consider using

younger models as they would appeal much more to our target group.

Lastly, as previously highlighted through the perceptual map (app.3), the three countries

perceive L’Oréal very differently in terms of quality and price. This indicates an

inconsistency in value propositioning, which can hurt the brand’s global image. Thus out of

all their brand equity assets, their price/quality perception and thus their value propositioning

is most inconsistent and this is something L’Oréal should focus on in order to have a clear

brand identity.

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4. Conclusion (S&E) Note that all assumptions that have been made have been based upon our selected target

group of fifteen young women, and due to this and our stance of social constructionism, it is

not possible to make generalizations, nor is it the goal. However, we are capable of

concluding that consumers are very diverse and there are so many influencing factors upon

their perceptions other than culture, such as their unique personality, personal tastes,

backgrounds, and socioeconomic status. This makes L’Oréal’s goal of glocalizing extremely

challenging and one can question whether this is a realistic task to set for a brand.

Nonetheless, in order to increase their chance of success, they need to better understand the

needs of their consumers through continuous monitoring. Cultures, as mentioned, are ever-

changing and hard to define, therefore L’Oréal need to be careful with setting generalizations

through categorizing cultures in specific countries.

When it comes to reaching L’Oréal’s broad target group of all ages, genders and

ethnicities, the Danish and Japanese participants felt excluded. Thus, in this case they did not

live up to their goal and this shows that it is very hard to target everyone. In addition to this,

the Japanese participants have shown a large gap in L’Oréal’s efforts toward Asian cultures,

as they have been perceived by all participants to have a dominant Western culture. This

doesn’t live up to their glocalization strategy, as they are imposing a western vision of

beauty.

Nevertheless, L’Oréal is still the largest beauty brand and is known all over the world with

a very high level of recognition. This indicates a strong market presence and shows despite

their weaknesses discovered in our findings, they are capable of providing products that meet

the needs of most of their consumers. Of course, it is challenging for a global brand to

maintain consistency in their brand image, while adapting to diverse cultures. Nonetheless,

we have seen that amongst these consumers they have imposed a western vision of beauty,

and this shows consistency, but their inability to glocalize further proves how challenging it

is to do both.

Through this analysis of L’Oréal’s attempt to glocalize through their universalisation

strategy, it brings us to question the problem of glocalization on a more global scale. If the

largest beauty brand in the world is struggling with adapting to different cultures while

maintaining brand consistency, one can question the ability of other brands to do so.

Additionally, we feel that beauty is something extremely personal, and this only makes it

harder for a brand to attune to everyone’s needs.

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The next step for L’Oréal could be to escape their classification of having a Western brand

image in Japan, and focus on including more East-Asian elements. Due to limitations, the

report could not look into every country, but since they are having a hard time adapting to the

selected countries, there is a chance they are doing the same in others, and it could therefore

be an idea for them to look into this.

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6. Appendix

Appendix 1.

Appendix 2.

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Appendix 3.

Appendix 4. In-depth Interview – L’Oréal Kathrine Fabrin Nielsen

1. Age 19

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? That I know it has been produced in a proper way (with good ingredients, that I know I wont have any allergies when using it, and that it looks natural when I wear it. I care a lot about these factors since I don’t want to look fake when I wear my makeup and don’t want my skin to flip out.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? A company that keeps their promises, like for example is they say their foundation will stay on all day well then it has to be able to stay on all day. I am a big fan of Nilens Jord, since I think they fulfill my demands about looking natural and being good for the

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skin. Furthermore, they don’t use unrealistic commercials with girls that have fake eyelashes etc.

4. How often do you buy beauty products? I buy makeup once a month, and hair products 2-3 times a month. The reason I don’t buy it often, is because I buy expensive makeup and I cant afford buying it all the time.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal? Yes

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+)

Paris

7. What do you associate with the brand? Products or actors (When you think about Loreal , what is the first think you are thinking of ? – any of their products you recall or any campaigns actresses? ) Makeup, makeup commercials – especially the campaign for foundation with Eva Longoria

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not?

No – because my skin is very sensitive, so I use brands such as Nilens Jord. I may use some of their hair products

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products?

I associate loreal with quite cheap products, so it don’t put a lot of thoughts behind my purchases when I buy from them, so its more impulsive.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / is there any Danish brand you like better ? and why? I prefer Danish brands if it is for the skin (Svanemærket) so that I am sure that it is good quality

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit

in with/look like? ( outside look, hair color, skin color, eyes ? ) Clean skin and beautiful hair – looking fit and healthy

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? The one with Eva Longoria for night cream. A lot of commercials with mascara – In my opinion the lashes look very fake

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish beauty and L’Oreal’s view of

beauty? (without website)

Yes – for example the Danish brand Matas, care about women with natural beauty, they use models with freckles and a bit overweight. It is about bringing out natural beauty. L’Oréal is a lot more retouched and photoshopped, having a lot of focus on beautiful models/actors.

14. Looking at the campaigns on Danish website – what works/doesn’t work?

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1. Miss manga – doesn’t work for me, too short hair and seems fake 2. Jennifer Lopez, true match – doesn’t work, no one has that perfect skin.

However, using a famous person is a good idea, since people that look up to her would probably find it appealing.

3. Barbara Palvin, hair product – works because it looks more natural and like something I might actually be able to obtain myself. Easier to identify with – I want that hair.

4. Anti-aging – doesn’t work on me, isn’t relevant. 5. Doutzen – Wooow she is beautiful! She is gorgeous, but I find it a bit hard to

believe that I will look like her.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why? If I experience that they live up to their promises, then I wouldn’t mind recommending them to a friend. But since I haven’t had the best experiences with L’Oréal, then I wouldnt really recommend them.

a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? Definitely the young!

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)?

I think it is extreme that they want to use a different strategy in every region. I feel like once again they are promising something they cant live up to, since they cant possibly mean that they want to lead different strategies across the world in all regions. Also, in the case that they will do this, then I feel they are giving themselves way too much work since I think most women want to have the same out of the products they buy, independent of which region they live in.

17. Is there anything you would like to add? I think their campaigns are better fit toward a younger audience – they are more gullible and willing to believe that they will look like the models if they use the products. They lie a lot in their campaigns, and thereby lose a lot of credibility. Appendix 5. In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Malene Söth Hansen

1. Age 24

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? Tried it before, that I understand what it written on the back I don’t like it when it is in 7 different languages etc – then I feel like it is a bad product it has to be more ‘ligetil’ and targeted toward me, that it smells good.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind?

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That they care about not using bad ingredients, but that it is at the same time cheap. I wouldn’t use the matas product that is ‘green’ …it is probably good, but I don’t think it would smell good or be good enough also because it is so cheap and because of the packaging. I really like nilens jords, I don’t really know why but it just looks like it would be really good for the skin. I used some of their powder and got some blemishes so maybe its not true, but for some reason it hasn’t really changed my opinion.

4. How often do you buy beauty products? Mascara I buy about every second month, but other than that most of my products last for a long time. I don’t use body lotion.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal? Yes

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+) Paris, right?

7. What do you associate with the brand? Products or actors (When you think about Loreal , what is the first think you are thinking of ? – any of their products you recall or any campaigns actresses? ) A really weird commercial where the hair is huge at the bottom – I don’t really associate L’Oréal with makeup but more with hair. Don’t remember any actors or anything. I see them as something that is cheaper, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not?

Mascara and shampoo – because they were both on sale

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products? I think it is cheap and that is quite cool. I have used the mascara for a loooong time and often prefer buying a product if I have previously used it and know it is good.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / is there any Danish brand you like better ? and why? Do we even have any Danish brands? Haha….No I don’t prefer any local brands.

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit in with/look like? ( outside look, hair color, skin color, eyes ? )

I really care about skin, having nice skins mean a lot to me. Not having split ends. The face means A LOT when it comes to beauty. That you look healthy and like you take care of yourself. The ideal woman – Marilyn monroe’s body, more curvy..but I don’t like her face. Long thick beautiful hair, slim but not too slim, not too tall but not short either, blue eyes, nice ‘fyldige’ læber and a straight nose – I like when a guy has a bumpy nose, but I think this is something masculine.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? The one with the weird hair, but I dont remember specifically what it was.

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13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website)

Danish beauty is about being natural and being a better version of yourself, but sticking to who you are. Some people don’t pluck their eyebrows because they are very natural. We are quite slim here compared to other places in the world I feel. Looking at L’Oréal’s campaigns I feel they fit quite well with the beauty ideal in Denmark, maybe not the first manga one since it was quite extreme.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the Danish website – what works/doesn’t work?

1. That is okay, but this looks like it is not so expensive. I liked the other model

more, with this picture I don’t really know what it is they are trying to sell – nothing stands out.

2. I like this one, it’s a little bit funny – it looks like she has sex hair. Kind of the opposite of what they are trying to sell. The other photo is taken just above her breasts, the hair is probably not the first thing you think about, but more the fact that her head is missing. She is really beautiful.

3. It is the same as with the one with lopez, looks cheap and doesn’t really appeal to me.

4. I don’t understand what they are trying to sell here again, it doesn’t stand out clearly. It is a bit boring.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why?

Yes, because I think the products I use from them are good. My shampoo smells really good!

a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? I am not sure who they are trying to target. From looking at the campaigns it looks like they are trying to target my age group…but from what I had in my head, it was more my mothers age. However, from the photos it looks more like my age – maybe not jeniffer lopez. But the manga was more towards my sister who is 14…she doesn’t even use those types of products yet.

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)?

I think that sounds like a really good strategy, and it probably the smartest thing to do. They say they people always buy “a dream” and maybe its not a good strategy since you might not want to look like the ideal cultural way of where you are but aspire to look like something else. But other than that, I think it’s the right thing to do ‘ideally’.

17. Is there anything you would like to add? In my head L’Oréal is not a good company it is probably toward the bottom of the list, I wouldn’t give someone a gift from L’Oréal because then I would feel like I was giving a bad gift. I don’t think L’Oréal is for men, where you said they feel they target everyone. They smell good and I like that, but compared to other brands I just feel like they don’t use good ingredients.

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Appendix 6.

In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Maria Christiane Hamann

1. Age 21

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? I’m thinking about what it is in the product, what it is made of and also if it smells good or doesn’t. And I also think about the brand. I actually don’t think that much about if it is recommended or not.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? A good beauty company has a lot of options to chose from, a huge variety of products. For example: products to both light hair to dark hair, diversity is very important. Also, people who have allergies should have the chance to buy their products. Also, the price is important so it is affordable for a lot of people. And I also prefer some nice design for the packaging – I would say “ the eyes buy the product” When I think about good beauty companies: MAC, Wella and Bobby Brown are my favorites.

4. How often do you buy beauty products? I actually didn’t buy beauty product that often .. well I just bought some yesterday, but usually not that often because I also get a lot of products in connection with my work but if I have to buy all of my products I would probably buy it once a month.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal?

Yes.

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated Paris, right?

7. What do you associate with the brand? Product/actors

I instantly think about colors and lipsticks… hair-colors and I also think : cheap. I associate L’oreal prices fairly cheap compared to other beauty brands. When I think about actresses I think about Jennifer Lopez.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not? Yes, I have their lipsticks, and this is it- I think.. wait, maybe a mascara. Yes, iIt is really good and I’ve been using it for years now, it is good quality and also cheap.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products? I think it is cheap but I’m not buying that impulsive I would like to hear about it, recommendations or try it myself first.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? Danish brands are really expensive, so no. If I can get the same product from a foreign brand than I would rather buy that instead. For example Tromborg is a very popular and good brand and if I had the money I would buy that instead.

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11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit in with/look like?

Nice and healthy looking skin, “well-cared person” and white teeth. When it comes to the body type I prefer trained and fit. When I think about famous beauty idols I would say Ciera, Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez. But I still prefer the natural look - not too much make-up.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? I remember the hair shampoo campaign with Jennifer Lopez.. It is something about her being up on the roof-top and swinging her hair around or something. And I remember a commercial with a Desperate housewife actress.. what is her name ? Eva Longoria ? This was something about foundation. Yes, I remember those two commercials.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish/Japanese/US beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website / with website - campaign evaluation ( what works and what doesn’t work for you)

I would say it is really different. Their beauty idea is very foreign.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the Danish website – what works/doesn’t work? When I look at the website I instantly think - wow, it’s Pink and very transparent.

1. The first add about Miss mange doesn’t say me much. But she is really pretty and she could go as a Scandinavian model with blue eyes. I could consider buying the mascara.

2. Looking at the second add: I don’t like their foundation but the model is really

pretty. If I didn’t know the product already I might actually go for it, because they have foundations to a lot of different skin tone.

3. Looking at add nr 3 : she is very beautiful. I like it but I’m not sure about the product

4. It is not for me. 5. She is really - really beautiful and she fits in the scandinavian model type as well.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why? Their mascare I would recommend- I think. But otherwise, I don’t think so .. I mean, it is cheap for its quality.

a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? I think they try to target everyone. I would recommend it for my mom and friends and also other students, young people and teenagers. People who are trendy and up to date . ( if you also think about the models they use I would say around 13-28 ish.

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new

consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)?

I’m not sure about that. I think even my mom would rather buy Danish products and I feel that the Loreal is designed young , so I don’t think they reach out to the older generation. But I think they are good at matching different beauty ideas.

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17. Is there anything you would like to add? I really think it is a good brand considering the price.

Appendix 7.

In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Tanja Ovchinnikova

1. Age 22

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? The most important part is that the product is good for my skin. ( maybe also that it is ecological ), and I also thinking about the effect meaning that when I use a mascara I would want to get the volume that it promises – which refers to good quality. And yes, good chemicals used in the product are also important. Yes, I think this is it.. hmm.. and yes, it also should be a known brand, so it is not bought in “tiger” or something.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? I would prefer a company which uses natural beauty in their campaigns to brand their product. I also think they have to be catchy a lot of colors to draw my attention. I would say Tromborg is a good brand because it is natural and I like that.

4. How often do you buy beauty products? Not that often. Maybe, every 5th months.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal? Yes, I do.

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+)

No idea, maybe from America?

7. What do you associate with the brand? Products or actors (When you think about Loreal , what is the first think you are thinking of ? – any of their products you recall or any campaigns actresses? )

Eva Longoria is the first one I think of and then I associate L’oreal with a low-budget cosmetic and I also think of mascara.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not? I think I have a mascara and an eyeliner. Mascara I bought because I saw a commercial about it, that it will give volume to my lashes. I bought the eyeliner because it was the cheapest I could find.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products?

( is it expensive or affordable , cheap ? ) – when you buy a product are you buying it impulsively or do you ask your friends and look at recommendations ? It is good quality for no money. However, I found better products so now I mostly buy something else than loreal. I also think that when I was younger I was more influenced by the commercials and today I’m not that much. I’m older.

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10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / is there any Japanese brand you like better ? and

why? I wouldn’t mind buying foreign brands if I know the brand. Right now I use something called: Young Blood, I’m not sure if it is Danish or not, but I think it is Scandinavian. It is a little bit expansive but since I’m not buying that much I would rather buy quality products. I think I would rather buy Scandinavian if it comes to it.

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit in with/look like? Kate Winslet is very beautiful. I say natural beauty and curvy forms. I like big eyes I wouldn’t necessary focus on the hair but if I have to chose I would prefer brunette instead of blond girls. They can appear too much sometimes. It might be my personal judgment here but I fell blonds can come across as superficial sometimes. Haha.. I’m not sure.. Until the girl doesn’t wear too much make-up and don’t over use beauty products than it is natural beauty.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why?

Eva Longoria is the only one I can think of.. I’m not sure .. there is a girl from Pirates of Caribean ? .. hmm Kiera Knightly I think.. but I’m not sure if it’s loreal.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website) Yes, I would say that a Danish beauty company would focus on more real and natural beauty. Whereas Loreal use a lot of famous people to promote their products. It is a more fake idea of beauty. I’m sure they wouldn’t chose normal people for their campaign and I think they exaggerate it by photoshop to make it too perfect.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the Danish website – what works/doesn’t work? 1- She is not really beautiful. I wouldn’t buy the mascara and I think she looks like

some animation. She looks like someone who could be a part of some Avatar movie. I can’t see myself connecting to this product.

2- She looks more natural, I mean besides her skin. If she is trying to sell the mascara I think it is more natural than the first one. I like her hair because it is very simple, so it looks more familiar to me. Not too edgy as they always try to be.

3- Hmm.. I don’t like the model as much and the hair is messy. 4- She is my favorite one, she looks more natural than the others. Her mouth looks

funny though, I think she tries to be sexy .. and she isn’t . but she has nice big eyes. And again her skin is too perfect. I don’t know. They have nothing on their skin I don’t like that part. Overall I would say that they seem to perfect and it makes them less credible to me. I would say it works on people in general because they would like to be

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perfect and want to be like them. But I know that they would be disappointed because they can never get what they promise and promote.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why?

No, I don’t think so. But maybe their hair die, I use it myself and I really like that. I would especially recommend it for young students who doesn’t have that much money to die their hair in a hair salon. But again I wouldn’t promote it to people, I really think every young student knows the brand because of the commercials. I wouldn’t personally recommended for my friends when it comes to their other products.

a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? I think under 18 or maybe 20. I think it is for really young people. Mostly for western countries, Europe.

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)? Okay, I have a hard time to imagine that every age group would use their products for example. My mom wouldn’t and I don’t think they are for every culture I only see western/ European models in their campaign. I don’t think they use black women or Asians in their campaigns. Also, if they use them they are all famous and I don’t feel that gives the same credibility to their efforts.

17. Is there anything you would like to add? If they want to create make-up products for everyone I don’t think they should make it so perfect in their campaigns and use that much photoshop. I really think their campaign and commercial gives self-esteem problems for a lot of people because when they buy the product they expect the same effect as it has on the models and when it doesn’t match up to their expectations they would feel there is something wrong with them somehow. This is also the reason why I think that they mostly appealing to younger people because I think the older ones can see through it better.

Appendix 8.

In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Christine Aandstad Lund

1. Age 22

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? Price first of all and brand that you heard of or know. Hmm.. I’m not sure what else.. probably that you heard it from some friends, some recommendation.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? I would say Nivea and Dove. For some reason I trust those brands better than others. I don’t know why but I guess it is also that they are such a big brand and their

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commercials are more , like they make you feel that those brands think a lot about their customers. Because Loreal only says “ You are worth it”. The other brands proving it by saying what their products contains somehow. Whereas with loreal I wouldn’t say that I know what I get.

4. How often do you buy beauty products? I buy mascara every months and yeah, I would say every month.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal? Yes, I know.

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+)

Yes, it is from France, Paris.

7. What do you associate with the brand? Products or actors (When you think about Loreal , what is the first think you are thinking of ? – any of their products you recall or any campaigns actresses? )

Because you worth it? Isn’t it Loreal? I think of a lot of famous actresses.. hmm I’m not sure who specifically .. hmm.. maybe Claudia Shiffer.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not? Hmm… no, I don’t think so.. wait.. I use their shampoo, because it is good and I don’t think I found Shampoo as good as Loreal.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products? I think they are pricy, at least when it comes to their shampoo. I wouldn’t really buy it

at least they have it on sales or I get it from my mom. I really don’t buy Loreal anymore, I was using it a lot before but I think it is expansive and I heard that it’s not that healthy to use because of the chemicals they have in their products. For the price I don’t think that they give good quality products. 10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / is there any Danish brand you like better ? and

why? Hmm. I would say it is much about branding more than nationality. But of course they can maybe trust Danish company more. I don’t think that Loreal applies to natural or healthy look, I think they apply more for superficial beauty.

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit in with/look like? ( outside look, hair color, skin color, eyes ? )

Hmm. This is hard. I think Julia Roberts was really beautiful, now I feel she is fake as well. I wouldn’t say I have some specific idea of beauty besides that it has to be natural.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? Not really, I know Claudia Shiffer.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website)

I’m not sure about the difference I guess they are more superficial with beauty.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the Danish website – what works/doesn’t work?

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1- I don’t really like it actually. I don’t know it is very set up. It doesn’t look very natural. I’m not sure why but I really wouldn’t buy it. Doesn’t appeal to me at all. And I don’t think that the model is nice either. She is not ugly but it is not like she is very beautiful. She looks fake.

2- Hmm… She is beautiful you can’t get around that. It is a foundation right? I’m not sure it would make me buy it. It doesn’t say me much because I know how photoshop this is and know that I would never look like this. It is mostly botox or something. Haha.

3- I don’t like this either. 4- Cc-cream? Hmm.. again, I wouldn’t buy it because of this picture- I heard good

things about CC-cream but I wouldn’t buy it from L’oreal. I heard a lot of bad stuff about l’oreal now that I think of it. I feel they are not that concerned with chemicals as I would want them to be.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why?

No, not really. Maybe their shampoo if it should be. And it would be to my friends. a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting?

I think it is mostly for the younger people. I bought Loreal when I was younger, back than I wouldn’t care about the product as much as I do today. I care about health a lot.

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)? That is true, I actually admit that I really respect them for trying to be as diverse as they are. I know they have black women and latinos and they really have all type of women, they brand themselves as a very diverse company. I think it is a very good aspect because it is not seen as many places, mostly it is only the white and perfect women which is marketed. I think they include everyone.

17. Is there anything you would like to add?

Appendix 9.

In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Julie Loveland

1. Age 20

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? Price is my top priority, secondly I guess if other people have tried it an they like it reviews, WoM etc., and thirdly I tend to stick to a brand that I like – I am really into bare minerals, I always use the same bronzer no-matter what

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? They would offer a lot of products, so that is you are brand conscious you can stay with that company. they should have their foot in every door. Loreal definitely has that and also Maybelline. Maybelline is my preferred for the cheaper products that I

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buy. We have bare mineral boutiques here, so I buy most of my stuff from there – and benefit for my bronzer. My blush was an impulse buy, I think its Maybelline.

4. How often do you buy beauty products?

Probably every month I buy something new like lipstick or eyeshadow, but some products last forever.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal?

Yes

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+) Paris I think

7. What do you associate with the brand? Products or actors (When you think about Loreal , what is the first think you are thinking of ? – any of their products you recall or any campaigns actresses? ) They have a lot of commercials, always something new they are coming out with. I see them as a very innovative brand. Personally I don’t think I use any of their products, maybe my mascara but there I use whatever is on sale. A lot of creams and makeup they come up with all the time

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not?

My mascara might be loreal, but im not sure…other than that I don’t think so. I have an eyeshadow that is loreal. Im brand conscious for my more expensive purchases like foundations and bronzer that I use every day, but other products that I only use weekends I just buy whatever is cheap and looks pretty.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products?

I think they are not the most expensive, but not the least expensive either. Some of their lotions and stuff can get pricey from what ive seen.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / is there any Danish brand you like better ? and why? I use Maybelline sometimes and then I tend to go to Sephora and then ill listen to what the sellers say – and am easily persuaded.

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit

in with/look like? ( outside look, hair color, skin color, eyes ? ) For me beauty if having perfect skin, being able to put your best face forward, waking up at 7 am and still looking great. The ideal for me would be blake lively, she is always so put together and even when she isn’t she is still beautiful

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why?

Not off the top of my head I don’t think.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website)

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I see the commercials and I don’t know if theres too much of a difference. A lot of companies will come out with something, and then everyone comes out with the same a little later.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the American website – what works/doesn’t work?

1. The first choose your style one – that one definitely works, I know I wear different makeup for different occasions. Make eyeshadow when I am going out, and a little less showey or flashy. I think it works because here we always do so many different things. I like the models, they don’t look re-touched or anything…they look like natural people which is cool because we are not models, we don’t get touched up.

2. Hair care – that one is rpetty much the same. How everyone has their different style they want to do every day. Its playing with how we want to be other people. I don’t know if its strictly American, here we are always trying to be someone we are not. If my hair is straight, I want curly etc. I want to look like her, im always trying to change how I look. The model is definitely someone that changed her look up, I don’t think an average person would do that to their hair, so I don’t see how people would be swayed to buy it. The whole thing with hastags is something we use a lot her in the states since we all use twitter and instagram a lot.

3. Lipstick – its pulling on the transformation thing. That always plays onto how we are trying to change how we are looking. She is pretty.

4. Antiaging – this is something I always think about when I think about loreal – this is very loreal to me. I think again, we in America are never trying to get old. This is something that plays with that.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why?

Yes I probably would, well actually I haven’t really used too many of their products and if I had they haven’t made an impact on my life. I mean I will buy something, but it is not a life changing purchase. If someone asks, its probably a brand that comes to mind just because they are always on TV, but I haven’t too much experience.

b. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? I think loreal is targeting more of the older generation…like people with a little more money than college students or teens. They also tend to have anti aging products which also makes me think its more to the older generation, like ages 40 and up.

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)?

I think that’s realistic because after being in London for a few months I saw how different everything was. People with a lot more makeup than we would use daily here. They are doing something good by doing this. Cultures put more importance on different things when it comes to beauty. Although a billion new consumers sounds like a lot. They would need to put a number of years in there if that is a goal, to see how attainable it is.

17. Is there anything you would like to add? Now I probably will look at L’Oreal a bit more now that we’ve talked about it.

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Appendix 10.

In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Jessica McIntosh

1. Age 22

2. What are the 3 most criteria factors when choosing beauty products? Why? I would say like I know hyperogenic, like as long as there is no oil in it I have really sensitive skin. So I guess quality and im kinds of biased I always Clinique, that’s what my mom uses and stuff. I pay way too much for my makeup, so I cant say price. If its on my face I buy that more expensive. I hate make up that’s cakey, like liquid foundation, I like more barely there makeup. When it comes to hair stuff I buy the biggest bottle for the cheapest. Im way more likely to buy something ive tried before and I like.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? Uhmm as far as like makeup, oilefree type stuff, things that are good for your skin and like Clinique is my favourite makeup company. with hair im not too picky. I guess I like buying a variety of different brands, I don’t mind using a lot of different brands. I do prefer companies that specialize in a certain type of product, if their attention is focused on something I feel its better quality.

4. How often do you buy beauty products?

I would say like every two months, depending on what type of product it is. Like I use dry shampoo, but that’s the best! I will go a week without washing my hair sometimes.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal?

Yes of course!!!

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+) I assumed they sold makeup all over the world, but had no idea where they were based out of. I assumed it was American.

7. What do you associate with the brand? Products or actors (When you think about Loreal ,

what is the first think you are thinking of ? – any of their products you recall or any campaigns actresses? ) When I think of loreal I think hair stuff, like shampoo, conditioner, hairspray. I don’t even know, does loreal make makeup? No celebretires or anything

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not?

Uhmm im sure I have, I remember when I was a kid they have that detangling spray. But no I pretty much just us treseme. That’s my go to hair product. No specific reason why I don’t use their product. Treseme has big bottles, I hate running out.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products?

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Uhm I would say like, I would classify them as normal, nothing over the top, but not super cheap. I think suave is like the cheapest hair stuff you can buy – loreal is like the same as treseme and Revlon. Like middle class, affordable. But not what you would choose if you were on a budget.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / is there any Danish brand you like better ? and why? Like I mentioned my makeup I buy Clinique and hairstuff I herbal essences or treseme. I don’t have anything against loreal its just not my choice.

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit

in with/look like? ( outside look, hair color, skin color, eyes ? ) I know that like face symmetry has a lot to do with beauty and stuff, good skin, nice eyes, slim – like when I think of like prettiest actress I think of Blake Lively. Tall and athletic, long hair.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why?

You know I was thinking about it on my way home from work, and I couldn’t think. I think there is one with Penelope cruz, you know dark hair and big lips…something with lipstick. But I don’t even know if it was for L’Oréal. I know Maybelline is like “maybe its Maybelline” – and herbal essences is the one with the girls in the showers, but I couldn’t really think of one with L’Oréal.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish beauty and L’Oreal’s view of

beauty? (without website)

Uhm I don’t even know, is loreal not an American company? I don’t know their view of beauty.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the American website – what works/doesn’t work?

1. uhmm yeah no I would say that now looking at this, that its not your

typical American. I don’t know what sets it apart im trying to think. I think theyre wearing looser clothing, and one has really short hair, and not much makeup – for a typical makeup advertisement its very weird. It their whole bodies, and not zoomed in on a specific part, like lips or something.

2. This wouldnt appeal to me, she has crazy hair. But I know people that would get into. It has the hashtag on it, which is very popular in America right now. The hashtags are cool.

3. The next one looks like a tyipical makeup asdvertisement. Its zoomed in on her face, and is focused on the lips.

4. Is appealing to older women, since its about aging stuff. Its not something im worried about in my life yet.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why?

Yeah I mean like I guess I don’t use their products. I only feel I recommend things if I really use it or like it, but I would never be like “ don’t use loreal “. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it.

a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting?

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Uhmm I mean definitely women, I would say probably my age group, like less than the highschool age group cover girl is more for them. Loreal is from like 20 – 50. And like I would say as far like class, it would go from upper, lower and middle. There is no specific. They are an average price range.

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)?

I think it’s a good quote, seeing as beauty is defined differently by different cultures… as far as it working though I am not sure… I think when persuading consumers to use your products having a spokesperson everyone can relate to or looks up to is important, so maybe if they had different representatives for each different culture it could work… but not having anyone in an attempt to not define beauty seems like it wouldn't work. I think its realistic too, I mean I know when I studied abroad this summer in Malaysia I stopped wearing makeup because id sweat it all off in 20 minutes… but being from the Midwest where I deal with cold weather, that’s not an issues so each place is going to want different things from there makeup. I think if they aren't trying to put one specific standard of beauty to all consumers they should still use celebrities or a representative of some sort maybe better tailored to that specific market!

17. Is there anything you would like to add? Nope I think that is all!

Appendix 11. In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Rachel Faith

1. Age 20

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? Three most important factors are price because I like to shop affordably, brand because each brand has a reputation and I have had previous experiences with a variety of different brands, both positive and negative. and packaging because that typically says a lot about the quality of the product inside the packaging.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? A good beauty company has products geared to all ages while still specializing each group to fit their buyers specifically. It also is affordable and meets the needs of the consumers. A good beauty company takes into consideration all types of hair and skin and tries to give a natural feel.

4. How often do you buy beauty products? About every 1-2 weeks at least one new beauty product

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal?

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Yes

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+) If I could guess I would say Paris, but I am not 100% sure

7. What do you associate with the brand? Products or actors (When you think about Loreal , what is the first think you are thinking of ? – any of their products you recall or any campaign actresses? )

I associate L’Oréal with shampoo and hair dye products and skin-care

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not? I do use L’Oréal temporary hair dye a few times a year and self-tanner spray and sometimes I will buy L’Oréal eye-makeup remover. These are the products I found to be affordable but appeared to be top quality in comparison to other brands on the shelf. I don’t use L’Oréal make-up because I only wear eye makeup and other brands are slightly more affordable and look just as good.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products? Some are affordable, others can be found more affordable by other brands.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / is there any Danish brand you like better ? and why? Depends on the type of beauty product. For make-up I prefer CoverGirl. And for self-tanner lotion I prefer Jergens. I also use Neutrogena

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit

in with/look like? ( outside look, hair color, skin color, eyes ? ) Beauty is having soft, luscious hair, clear, tan skin, a fit body, white teeth and an attractive face while all maintaining a natural look. I think of beauty as Natalie Portman

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? Not really but I do remember Beyonce in a L’Oréal campaign because I love Beyonce.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website) Not too many differences besides I feel like L’Oréal frequently gears their products towards an older demographic and America differently values youth.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the American website – what works/doesn’t work?

The models in the slide for Choose Your Style seem to be trying to hard to not look like typical models. The other models all work for me and the haircare banner is appealing because the model’s hair looks amazing. The hairstyle model is beautiful but I would not want my hair to look like that so I’m not sure it works for me. The Lip model looks beautiful and her lips look awesome so I might buy that product if I started wearing lip product. I probably wouldn’t buy Revitalift at my age.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why?

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I would definitely recommend a lot of L’Oréal’s products that are affordable. Some I would not recommend because my friends wouldn’t find them necessary. I would recommend it moreso to my mother and older sisters because they can afford it and the products fit their needs better.

a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? Older women 25+

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)? I think it is an excellent idea because each culture and country definitely views beauty in very different ways. Some more superficial than others and I think the company will gain more consumers using that strategy.

17. Is there anything you would like to add?

Appendix 12. In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Nora Hanley

1. Age 22

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? Price is very important to me when I buy beauty products. However I know that I cannot be too cheap while purchasing makeup because quality comes with a higher price. I always buy name brand. If something is new I also like to try it. I am a sucker for packaging and color. For example if there is a black mascara case and a pink one, I will buy the pink one.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? – what are you looking to find through a good brand?

I am looking for variety in a beauty company. I like when I have options . For example Maybelline. I always am finding new products. However I do think quality is the most important part of a beauty product. It is obvious when makeup is good quality or not. I also love Neutrogena because I have sensitive acne prone skin and I trust their products to not have me break out.

4. How often do you buy beauty products?

Since I now live on my own and do not have much money to spare, I only buy beauty products when I need them. However when I need them I will buy them without question. I always have foundation, mascara, eye liner, bronzer, and blush. When one of them runs out I will buy it right away. I would say every couple months.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal?

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Yes I have heard of L’Oreal. I think that was one of the first brands I ever remember using as a kid because they had the no tears shampoo which you could get in your eyes without it stinging.

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+) I do not actually know but I am going to assume it is from France because of its name.

7. What do you associate with the brand?

I can’t think of anyone specifically but I do know they have many famous actors and actresses advertise for them. I think I maybe remember seeing Beyoncé in a L’Oreal commercial. I think mostly about shampoo and conditioners and sexy hair. I do not think of L’Oreal right away when I think about makeup. I associate is more with hair products.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not?

No I do not use any of their products. It is not because I don’t like them it is just because I have the products I use (herbal essences, Maybelline, Neutrogena) and I do not stray much from the brands that I like.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products? I have never noticed L’Oreal being unreasonably priced. I think their products are affordable however I still do not buy them. If they were to become cheaper I may start to be more interested. When I buy products I am not impulsive. I usually know what I want and I buy that. I think if one day I had more money I would definitely become more impulsive when buying beauty products.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / is there any American brand you like better ? and

why? ( what else do you use? ) The brands that I use are Neutrogena, Herbal Essences and Maybelline.

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit

in with/look like? ( outside look, hair color, skin color, eyes ? ) any actress you would want to look like ? Beauty on a shallow basis may be clear skin, nice teeth, pretty hair, and nicely done make up. Beautiful people are people that others want to look like. I think olive skin is so beautiful and light makeup but which makes the eyes pop. I do not like overdone makeup and I think simple is better.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why?

I remember the campaigns for the no tears shampoo with the kids on the slip and slide getting soap in their eyes and it not hurting them. Also is Angela from the office in a L’Oreal add? I remember that because it was the first time I had seen her in an add and I love that show so it did stand out to me.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical American beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website) I don’t know.

14. Looking at the campaigns on American website – what works/doesn’t work?

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Everyone looks beautiful in the ad which makes me think maybe I could look like that if I use this product. However I have been taught my whole life that it is unrealistic to look like these girls in the campaigns. I think using real natural woman works best.

1. Natural women –they are all beautiful. I would love to look like them. This still will not make me buy the product because most girls in all ad campaigns look like that. I do like they are using more realistic looking woman in their ads.

2. Hair shampoo – This makes me hope my hair could look like this. There is a line of all these new products which does make me want to buy them. As I said before I am a sucker for new products.

3. Lipstick - I do not wear lipstick very often but this makes me want to get some. She is very beautiful. I do not feel like I can relate to this woman.

4. Cream – I do want to start using anti-wrinkle cream because I heard somewhere you should start using it around age 18. I do not know how true this is but I want to think ahead and prevent those wrinkles!! If it was not too expensive I might buy it

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why?

I think L’Oreal is good quality. It has been around my whole life. I have used it before and never had a bad experience. I would recommend it to people if I think it is what they are looking for. However I may recommend the brands that I use first. I think it is a good product though.

a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? All women

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)?

I think this is very interesting. I do agree that the idea of “beauty” is different all over the world so maybe this is a good idea.

Appendix 13. In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Katie Turley

1. Age 22

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? Brand, price and reputation – probably in this order. I always buy the same brand for my face makup and my mascara ( I use a lot of bare minerals, I think its called bare essentials – but the actual makeup is called bare minerals, I also use a lot of MAC)

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind?

The whole dove campaign I really like that. After that I had more respect for them as opposed to other companies. I feel like a lot of beauty companies only use white women, which is kind of interesting – definitely here in American where there is a lot

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of diversity. To be a good company they have to represent all women and not just like one group.

4. How often do you buy beauty products?

Maybe like once every two months, or when I run out.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal? Yes

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+)

Isn’t it from Paris?

7. What do you associate with the brand? Products or actors (When you think about Loreal , what is the first think you are thinking of ? – any of their products you recall or any campaign actresses? ) I think of like makeup and nailpolish and I think of loreal kid shampoo. Black and gold – the colours, im not sure why. I think a lot of their commercials are black and gold.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not?

No I don’t think I use their products, just some nailpolish. I guess nothing has really appealed to me.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products?

I think they are pretty affordable. I usually just need more of the product, I never buy excessive amounts of makeup.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / are there any American brands you like better ? why? No – I don’t know any local brands, makeup is all kind of like chain

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit

in with/look like? ( outside look, hair color, skin color, eyes ? ) I think that in a way now beauty defines a woman. A lot of the time the beauty defines who you are an places you on a scale. First thing that comes to mind, is someone that is on the thinner side, probably blonde, perfect face, good hair, fashionable. I kind of think of the all American girl, like jeniffer aniston. Like the girl next door, that is really pretty.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? Not really, nothing specific. Most recent think I think was a commercial with Jennifer lopez…I actually think it happened yesterday.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical American beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website)

I feel like its pretty similar because I feel loreal probably caters to the people we are all looking up to. Like who we in society think are beautiful.

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14. Looking at the campaigns on the American website – what works/doesn’t work? 1. I think they look pretty natural in their makeup, which is a good thing…it

promotes women everyday makeup. Its funny how they have two blondes and two brunettes, it looks like they did that on purpose. Yes I mean it does appeal to me, but its funny to see 4 women you don’t know. Maybe it were celebrities it would be more appealing

2. Uhmm I think no one wears their hair like that…this is more like an unrealistic picture as opposed to the first one. I don’t think my hair will look like that, this does not appeal to me. My hair is too straight, it would fall down. Its silly.

3. I want some more of like I don’t know, its more for celebretiies, it looks like its high fashion and likes shes going to a big event. This appeals more to me than the last one, because I would want to try that look when dressing up. It looks more attainable.

4. I feel like my mom has used something like this from them. I don’t know if its because it’s the only cheap product out there that does that, but I know women that use..doesnt appeal to me sicne im not wrinkly yet.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why?

Probably not just because I don’t really use it, its not in my makeup bag. a) Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting?

I think they are targeting like 20 to mid 30’s, women

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)?

I feel like they are more toward Americans than anyone else. I don’t feel like they are catering to people in like Africa. I think its targeted more toward Americans and like Europe – so more western.

17. Is there anything you would like to add? Maybe I don’t use their products because I don’t know people that use it, or maybe my mom didn’t use it that much. Maybe tried something and didn’t like them…I don’t know.

Appendix 14. In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Alisa Kawanami

1. Age 21

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why?

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I have small eyes compare to others, because I’m Japanese and I always use eyeliner. Therefore I prefer waterproof products. So first of all, I think about the quality. And brand name is the next because a “ famous one should be nice “.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? I think Loreal is good because they know the trends. They know what we need and want to buy. I also like KAO ( Japanese cosmetics brand ) Shiseido, Kose, they are famous in Japan. They have good quality, brand and products.

4. How often do you buy beauty products?

Not so often, when I go to the airport I always buy something because it’s duty free. I would say once in every 3 months.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal? Sure, of course.

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? France. I heard about their history.

7. What do you associate with the brand? Product/actors

Tv advertisement, I don’t remember the actors maybe one with Nathalie Portman, I’m not sure. When it comes to their products I think about mascara, and I remember some hair-product commercials. But I would say Maybelline is a more famous brand in Japan.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not? Yes, mascara, foundation and some hair product. I use them because it is famous and they have good quality.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products? It is expensive; I think for students like us it is too pricy I usually think about the price when I buy beauty products. I also look into magazines when I buy a product because they have some pages for cosmetics. I check the price, quality and color and then I pick what I want and buy it in the shop. Sometimes I talk cosmetics with my friends but they are not that into Loreal. They like other brands better.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal?

Hmm.. I just care about the quality, so I don’t care if it is from France or Japan or from other countries. But I actually like Shiseido better for skincare. It’s really famous but I don’t buy cosmetics from them because I knew Loreal from commercials since I’m a kid. And I prefer Loreal because I knew it from childhood. Also I have allergy that is why I care about a quality as most. If I chose a more expensive brand than I would prefer L’oreal. I think their quality is better than Maybelline for example.

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit in with/look like? Confidence is always beautiful. I think a beautiful girl is neat and simple, not so decorative.

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I think Emma Watson and then I can’t remember the names but Cara Delevingne a british model. Japanese usually think blond hair and big eyes and big mouth and nose is beautiful.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? I remember a commercial from Maybelline but I don’t remember Loreal Paris. I always remember foreigner actress and they always use models with brown and blond hair.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish/Japanese/US beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website / with website - campaign evaluation ( what works and what doesn’t work for you) I’m not sure how but it’s very different. I think Japanese beauty always wants long hair, big eyes, skinny and mostly white skin. For example I don’t like to get sunburned I always put sunscream on. Even in winter time. Everytime I see the sun I protect my skin. I think nice skin is very important. I mean for a lot of Japanese girls they like fake eye-lashes and mascara and even put 2 eyelashes at once. I don’t like it but it seems beautiful. I think European Loreal is different Like that.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the Japanese website – what works/doesn’t work? 1. Hmm. I see a blond girl and I think “volumie” , yeah it doesn’t look like a real hair

it’s more artificial. It doesn’t look like it’s her hair. It is too unnatural. Hmm.. I wouldn’t buy that .. I prefer going to hair salon to dye my hair, not so into buying this stuff

2. It looks nice she has a wavy hair – yeah, I saw it at the drug-store, but I never bought it. I don’t think I would need that. I also use some oil or some treatment, so sometimes I consider buying that kind of stuff but it is expensive and that is why I didn’t buy it before. Maybe if my mom buys it for me. But the model is more beautiful here than the first picture. It is because the second one is simpler.

3. Wow, it is very artistic. It is like too much hair – too volumie. Hmm.. I still like the second one best. I think this is just too unnatural.

4. Hmm… Is that like a cream? It looks expensive.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why? Sure, yeah I do, because it’s a huge global brand and company and that mostly means that they are good. I would mostly recommend it to my friends.

16. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? Over 20 hmm.. or over 26, I think. It is not for students but more for working women. Mostly for a lady because they use older models for example and their product is not that cheap either.

17. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new

consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)?

Aww.. Hmm.. So, they actually think everyone is the target group. I don’t think they are so good to target the young once. I think Maybelline is targeting everyone, but hmm..

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Loral Paris is not so .. umm,… because my friend doesn’t use Loreal Paris products, like no one I know of. They mostly use a Japanese brand, more young brands instead.

18. Is there anything you would like to add? It’s expensive and student can’t afford it . Maybe people would afford just mascara just or 1 product not a whole product line.

Appendix 15. In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Aya Yamaguchi

1. Age 20

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? ( here I was thinking about when you buy a product and you have to chose what to buy – what is important for you to look at?)

I would say cost, recommendations of products and design is very important.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? If I had a lot of money, I would really care about it, but now I’m a student and I don’t want to pay a lot for just beauty products, so I don’t mind about the good beauty companies but mostly care about their prices.

4. How often do you buy beauty products? Once per 2 months.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal? Yes of course.

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+) No, I’m not sure.

7. What do you associate with the brand? Products or actors (When you think about Loreal , what is the first think you are thinking of ? – any of their products you recall or any campaigns actresses? )

I have a product from the brand but I don’t think about anything specific besides cosmetics.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not? Yes I have an eye shadow. I bought it because it looked cute.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products?

I think it’s average for me when it comes to their prices. I don’t buy expensive one usually. And yes, I always look at recommendations when I’m buying cosmetics.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / is there any Japanese brand you like better ? and

why?

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I don’t really care where the brand is from. I always use Maybelline just because they are cheap. Or sometimes use Korean one because I heard they are really good. But sometimes I feel like it’s better to use Asian cosmetics because they know how to make our Asian face(I mean… like… sharp eyes or yellow skin) beautiful.

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit

in with/look like? ( outside look, hair color, skin color, eyes ? ) I think there are lots of types of beauty. I like Angelina Jolie and I always think like ‘if I were like her…’ hahaha but I also like “Asian women” like black straight hair, white skin. By the way in Japan there are many girls who make double eyelid with glues, but I don’t like it.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? I can’t really recall in details but I often see some advertisements in magazines.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Japanese beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website) I’m not really sure what typical Japanese beauty is. It depends on a person, but for young girls Nozomi Sasaki is really popular. I think many Japanese girls desire Kawaii.( meaning cute) But the view on beauty from L’oreal’s perspective is very different form the Japanese one.

14. Looking at the campaigns on Japanese website – what works/doesn’t work? To be honest, I’m not really interested in any of them. I don’t really know why but I think it’s because those models are too different from me. I feel like the hair of those models are different from mine so it looks those products don’t work for me. For example I see that their hair is soft, but my hair is tick so I wouldn’t use those products even though they are pretty.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why? I’m not sure because I use only one product so I don’t know if the brand is really good or not.

a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? For girls who are 25-35 years old, I would say.

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)? I think so. But I don’t think L’Oreal is doing this, as I mentioned about models before. They don’t consider Asian women while using European hair models. 17. Is there anything you would like to add? No, not really.

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Appendix 16. In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Hitomi Ito

1. Age 19

2. What are the 3 most criteria factors when choosing beauty products? Why? ( here I was thinking about when you buy a product and you have to chose what to buy – what is important for you to look at?)

First of all the quality of the products and then I care about the brand and the price. 3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind?

I think loreal is good they don’t have bad cosmetics , but I don’t think it would fit my age. It looks a bit for older people, like 20-30 not for teenagers. I like Maybelline for my eye make-up. Also, I use Korean brand for my skin.

4. How often do you buy beauty products? Whenever things ran out, so about once a month or something.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal? Ya ya, I know

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? ( which country is it from+)

Isn’t that from Paris, France.

7. What do you associate with the brand? Products or actors (When you think about Loreal , what is the first think you are thinking of ? – any of their products you recall or any campaigns actresses? )

I think it’s kind of expensive in Japan compared to Japanese products. They don’t really sell it in Japan only in plaza or special places I think. I use to use a lot of products before but I’m not sure if it fits Asian people, I don’t really think so. We have completely different skin and hair types.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not? I used hair dye and mascara and foundation. Why ? Hmm… I don’t know but I didn’t like Maybelline and Loreal was the only brand I knew in the beginning. I liked their hair dye and foundation, but not the powder but the brush was really nice. I tried a lot of their products just to see.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products? In Japan it is expensive , but I know that in US it is decent.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal? / is there any Japanese brand you like better ? and why? I like Korean brands, they are cheap and they are better than Japanese once. I don’t use Japanese that much, mostly Maybelline but sometimes I use Japanese cream.

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11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit in with/look like? (outside look, hair color, skin color, eyes ? )

I really like the girls in magazines but they all look the same though. I like really dark, black, straight hair. It is so Asian. Haha. And I like not way too skinny but fit girls, healthy body. You know how some Japanese girl don’t eat and have really skinny legs. I don’t like that I think they should have more muscle. I don’t care or think about skin color as much – Too dark is not that nice, I don’t like it. Hmm when I think about someone famous; Emma Watson is really beautiful.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? No, not really.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Japanese beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website) Think it is completely different the colors are not really familiar with Japanese people when you think about their hair and skin.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the Japanese website – what works/doesn’t work? 1,I don’t like that they are using non Asian model and they edit the pictures way too much. It is like they have way too perfect skin and hair. She is pretty but yea, just completely different. I wouldn’t buy the product it looks like for older people for my mom mostly. You know when old ladies dye their hair. 2. They edit their pictures way too much, doesn’t look very human like. The product looks nice, I keep thinking that this is from foreign country and Japanese stuff do better for us Asians. 3. hmm.. yeah, I still think that Japanese product do better. They are using the foreign models and our hair is really different, like thicker… so I don’t think this would work on Japanese people… I wouldn’t buy it. The model she looks pretty but way too much make-up , especially the eyes .. I like natural more.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why?

I think I can find better and cheaper brands, so I wouldn’t recommend it. a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting?

This doesn’t look like for Japanese people obviously it is more for Western people … and I think it is for 40-50 years old … Not really for the young people, maybe for my mom.

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)? I don’t agree… If they want to sell products in Japan, they should use Japanese models and we should have different age models. Those people who would like to be like Americans they like American models. Like, I think the American models like from Victoria Secret … I think they are beautiful but it’s not something I want to look like. I also think that people who don’t speak English very well, they are more into Japanese products and brands. They wouldn’t go for a brand with foreign models like Loreal.

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Appendix 17. In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Name: Maya Sato

1. Age 21

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? First of all, I will look at how the product is according to my friends. You know what I mean? Like, how is it to kind of use this product. Is it actually really working? The second one is the price. And the last one ... hmm …what do I look at?! Oh yes, I would say the brand. It kind of relates to the trust because it is hard to buy something I never heard of.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? I think Loreal is good at least I like it is. I think a lot of Japanese people including me loves Mac. Especially, their lipsticks. It is more preferred here, it is a nice brand and it works. They have more products and color … more options to choose form.

4. How often do you buy beauty products?

It depends, but usually I only buy it when it runs out. Of course it depends of the product, how much I use it but I would say it is every 2 months.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal? Oh yes, of course

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? Yes, it is from Paaaaris.

7. What do you associate with the brand? Product/actors Oh … I think about mascara, eyeliner, lip-gloss and lipsticks .. Also, when I think about L’oreal I think about a very sophisticated and trustworthy brand… I actually can’t associate L’oreal with actresses so much, there is no specific commercial I remember from them.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not? Yeah, I use eyeliner, mascara and lipsticks .. I like the brand so I can trust it and I know it works well ... a lot of my friends use it too.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products? In Japan it is little bit expensive compared to other Japanese brands. It really depends why I’m buying a product, but sometimes I buy it because it looks nice and because of packaging. I would try it at the store before buying it though … and in Japan there is a very big website about cosmetics where you can see what people think about the product. I don’t do it so often because my friends also use products so I talk to them first but I would also try it on me.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal?

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That is hard.. hmm.. It depends. Half of my cosmetics are from local brands and half of other foreign brands. My creams are from domestic ones, I prefer the local ones there because we have different kind of skin here. But if it is just like a lip-gloss or something, it really doesn’t matter that much.

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit

in with/look like? Confidence … but to look only at the outside I would say light color of eyes, dark hair … maybe South – American, I like their beauty. When I think about someone famous there are Victoria secret models: Adriana Lima … and Miranda Kerr is also really pretty. When it comes to skin color I like not too than but not too white skin.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? I don’t really remember it, maybe I see them in the magazines, but I don’t think they advertise too much.

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish/Japanese/US beauty and L’Oreal’s

view of beauty? (without website / with website - campaign evaluation ( what works and what doesn’t work for you)

I don’t know what Loreal defines as a beauty. They mostly focus on European beauty, like the tanned models for example. It makes it harder to put ourselves in their shoes… it is more design for other people. But from a Japanese perspective we mostly think beauty is blond, blue eyes and light skin.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the Japanese– what works/doesn’t work? I can’t remember

1. Yeah. She is beautiful but I guess if they try to target Japan maybe they should use a different model. I can’t relate to the model and the product. I mean she is beautiful but not convincing when it comes to me.

2. Hmm.. She is beautiful. This is a good one... This add focusing on her hair not only on the model .-. it is more convincing … I feel like I would want to try it. This one works the best for my from the whole website. I like her shiny hair.

3. Yeaah .. this is really cool ,,, but if they try to focus on the hair I don’t feel they focus on the Japanese hair .. it is not too convincing for us Asians.

4. This is cool .. But just by looking at this I wouldn’t buy it. It is not too appealing.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why?¨ Yes, to my friends – maybe not too much for Japanese people for hair products ( mostly for my international friends, not for Asian people. Like when I used their hair product I could feel it in my hair that it wasn’t for me.

a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? Try to target all over the world, it is a big company.

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)?

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Oh okay, if I think about it … Loreal is really working on to get their cosmetics here in Japan and produce their products for Asians... I just don’t hear too many people using it, but it is interesting that they say this.

17. Is there anything you would like to add? I think they should use more Asian models. I know it is a global company. I don’t mind a European looking models but they should use some Japanese models if they really want to target the Asian market, so they can make us feel that we are a part of this company as well.

Appendix 18. In-depth Interviews – L’Oréal Yuna Ueda

1. Age 20

2. What are the 3 most important criteria when choosing beauty products? Why? Good quality is important. I look at the price and function as well. Like how the product works. Also I look at the brand name and packaging.

3. How would you define a good beauty company? Do you have a specific one in mind? I like Maybeline because they are matching me and it is good quality ( their mascara) and festive products. Also their price is affordable.

4. How often do you buy beauty products?

I really don’t buy products that often … Maybe every 4th or 5th months.

5. Have you heard about L’Oréal? Yes

6. Do you know where L’Oréal is from/originated? Uhmm.. I don’t know, America? Oh wait Paris... Yeah I knew that

7. What do you associate with the brand? Product/actors They have really good shampoo and I also think about sun cream, I think I have that as well. But I don’t really remember any actresses and campaigns.

8. Do you use any of their products? What? Why/why not? I use their hair die and sunscream. That is all, I rather use Maybelline.

9. What do you think about the price range of L’Oreal’s products? I think they are a bit expensive. I chose the products based on brand name, and I will ask my friends as well what they recommend.

10. Do you prefer local brands to L’Oréal?

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No, I don’t like Japanese brands.. it doesn’t really fit me, because my skin is really sensitive – I think European and American is better for me and I like foreign brand more I don’t know why but I really don’t buy Japanese products.

11. On a shallow basis - how would you define beauty? Is there any ‘ideal’ you would like to fit in with/look like?

Hmm.. I don’t really know.. But I think natural is beautiful. I also like Miranda Kerr a model, she is really beautiful. If I have to choose I would say she is ideal. Also, I like tan and dark hair and I really like big blue eyes. But typically people want what they don’t have. People with blond hair usually want dark hair.

12. Do you remember any of L’Oreal’s campaigns? Which? Why? Not really ..

13. Can you identify any differences between typical Danish/Japanese/US beauty and L’Oreal’s view of beauty? (without website / with website - campaign evaluation ( what works and what doesn’t work for you)

L’oreal is more European. And also I think there is a big difference between Japanese companies and L’oreal. Japanese have a short history compared to L’oreal. I think Loreal is more reliable and more safe to use their products – because of their brand name. I also think L’oreal was the first company to produce hair-die.

14. Looking at the campaigns on the Japanese– what works/doesn’t work?

- 1. She looks a bit old, but I like her hair – shiny and curly and like the color. I would buy the colors it looks nice.

- 2. It looks luxurious and expensive and looks like a very good product and she is very pretty but I can’t see her that much. Nice hair though it’s really pretty.

- 3. I like the last model, the blond one, she looks young and closer to my age.. if it’s affordable I would buy the product. She is my favorite one on the website.

15. Would you recommend L’Oréal? Why not/To whom? Why? My mom, because it is good and if she buys the products I can use it as well and yeah, maybe my friends.

a. Who do you think L’Oréal is targeting? I think mostly the 24 -30/ 40 .. not the young once. They mostly target Europeans I think but they also try to target Asians by using European models. Because Asians would like to look like them. People might think if they use Loreal products they can look like them so I think they try to reach everyone.

16. What do you think about the following quote: “To win the confidence of a billion new consumers over the coming years, L’Oréal has chosen not to impose a global vision of beauty, but instead to create products attuned to the needs, beauty rituals and lifestyles in each region of the world. This is the true meaning of the universalisation strategy applied by the group.” (Page 22, 2012 annual report)?

Hmm. Okay. I don’t think so.. It is expensive and it’s not affordable for everyone. I don’t think they keep the Japanese in mind like that.

17. Is there anything you would like to add? Yes, I think they are doing a good job. It looks very European and I like foreign brands.

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Appendix 19. Consumer analysis – What are the 3 most important requirements when choosing beauty products? Why? Denmark Price Christine Quality Tanja Maria Kathrine Malene Brand name Tanja Christine Maria Kathrine Recommendation/ WOM

Christine

Design “good for the skin” – ingredients / quality

Tanja Maria Kathrine Malene

Smell Maria Malene America Price Julie Rachel Nora Katie quality Jessica / packaging

Rachel Nora

Brand name Julie (Jessica) Mentions a brand name

Rachel Nora Katie

Recommendation/ WOM

Julie/ reputation

/ Reputation Katie

Design Rachel Nora Japan Price Aya Maya Hitomi Yuna Quality Alisa/

+function Function Hitomi Yuna

Brand name Alisa Aya Not the name but design

Maya Hitomi Yuna

Recommendation / WOM

Aya Maya

Design Yuna

Appendix 20 Brand Associations Denmark :

Christine:“because you’re worth it? “ Famous actresses Claudia Shiffer, Hair products

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Maria: colors, lipstick , hair color Cheap , actress: Jennifer Lopez Tanja:Eva Longoria Mascara and cheap / low budget products Malene: Hair products, cheap brand (no actress, but a weird hair campaign recall) Kathrine: Makeup, makeup commercials – especially the campaign for foundation with Eva Longoria America: Jessica: hair stuff, like shampoo, conditioner, hairspray.

“I don’t even know, does L’Oréal make makeup? “ No celebrities

Julie: commercials, always something new - innovative brand Mascara- A lot of creams and makeup they come up with all the time Katie: makeup, nail polish + kid shampoo. Black and gold – the colors, ( commercial ) Nora: many famous actors and actresses advertise for them. ( no specific recall) - Beyoncé Shampoo and conditioners + sexy hair. Rachel: Shampoo, skin-care and hair dye Japan: Maya: trustworthy, sophisticated

( no specific – actress ) Mascara, eyeliner, lipstick , lip-gloss

Yuna: sun-cream, shampoo (no actress, no campaign)

Hitomi: expensive, non-asian products ( not sure Asians use them) (no specific product, actor on campaign recall )

Alisa: tv-advertisement but no specific campaign/actor mascara and hair products + Maybelline as a more famous brand in Japan

Aya: ( some products that she is uses ) luxury

Appendix 21

Target group: Denmark:

Maria: Everyone – but mostly 13-28ish ( based on the models) – young, trendy and up to

date people

Christine: Younger people/ under 22 (when they don’t care that much about the health )

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Tanja: I under 18/ 20. - young people - western countries/ Europe

Malene: Not sure of the target group - my age (24) based on campaign recall , but

younger in connection to the manga-compaign campaigns / BUT previous perception is

that the target group is older ( my mom)

Kathrine: Definitely the young people

USA:

Rachel: Older women ( 25+)

Nora: All women

Katie: 20-mid 30 Americans

Jessica: 20-50 women ( my age) upper, middle, low class no specific

Julie: older generation, ages 40 and up

Japan:

Alisa: Over 20 – 26 / working woman / not for students – because, they use the older

models and their products are not cheap either

Aya: For girls who are 25-35 years old

Hitomi: Western people / 40-50 years old ( my mom )

Maya: They try to target all over the world / mostly older women and western ¨

Yuna: 24 -30/ 40 - not the young once. They mostly target Europeans

Appendix 22 Danish Website Campaigns

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Appendix 23 American Website Campaigns

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Appendix 24 Japanese Website Campaigns