International beauty group L'Oréal has selected Accenture as its partner of choice for a consumer experience overhaul in the region – underpinned by cutting-edge technology.
With a portfolio of over 500 brands across all segments of the beauty business – hair colour, permanents, hair styling, body and skincare, cleansers, makeup, and fragrance – L'Oréal is the world’s largest player in the segment. The Paris-headquartered company generates revenues of around €30 billion.
In the Gulf Cooperation Council, L'Oréal has embarked on what it brands as a “data-driven marketing transformation”, and flown in strategists, consultants, creatives and technologists from Accenture to help deliver the job.
Main objective of the transformation is to build “a more precise and connected approach to customer contact” which then in turn should “increase consumer engagement in the GCC,” said Mehdi Moutaoukil, L'Oréal’s Chief Marketing Officer for the Middle East.
The beauty giant aims to achieve this by embedding a design-led approach to developing customer experiences, taking content personalisation to the next level, and leveraging insights from big data to offer customers more relevant product messaging, recommendations and rewards across its beauty products.
Much of the attention will go to the e-commerce channel, with a growing number of consumers in the GCC turning to their laptops or smartphones to purchase their beauty products. According to research from Accenture, the proportion of online purchases for personal care and make-up products has boomed over the past years, and further accelerated during the pandemic.
Commenting on the collaboration with Accenture, Moutaoukil said: “Accenture boasts deep competencies to help brands drive growth by experience reimagination. We are confident that this collaboration will help us to unlock new possibilities in beauty – from skin diagnostics and virtual try-ons to personalized or bespoke products.”
David Fregonas, leader of Accenture Interactive in the Middle East, said: “The rapid rise in e-commerce over the past 18 months is paving the way for brands to tap deeper human insights so they can be more creative in every digital engagement. We are excited to help L'Oréal master data-driven beauty experiences to create greater value for consumers, drive greater market differentiation, and ignite long-term business growth in the Middle East.”
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Accenture set up a joint venture with another beauty major, Shiseido – to help the Japanese group with transforming its beauty experiences.
