L’ oréal – Building a Global Cosmetic Brand
“It is a strategy based on buying local cosmetics brands, giving them a facelift and
exporting them around the world.”
- One Brand at a Time: The Secret of L’Oréal’s Global Makeover,
www.fortune.com, August 12, 2002.
L’ORÉAL MAKES WAVES
In November 2002, L’Oréal, the France-based leading global cosmetics major,
received the ‘Global Corporate Achievement Award 2002,’ for Europe by ‘The
Economist Group.’ Awarded by the publisher of the world’s leading weekly business
and current affairs journal ‘The Economist,’ the honor was given in appreciation and
recognition of the ‘depth, breadth, and diversity of L’Oréal’s management team.’
In the same month, L’Oréal’s Chairman and CEO, Lindsey Owen Jones (Jones) was
honored with the ‘Best Manager of the Last 20 Years’ title by the French Minister of
Finance and Economy, Francis Mer. This award instituted by the leading
French business publication, Challenges, was in recognition of Jones’
outstanding achievements in transforming L’Oréal from a French company
into a global powerhouse. Jones also received the prestigious ‘Manager of the
Year 2002’ award from the French Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Jones was
the first foreign head
of any French company to receive this award, which was sponsored by the
leading
French business publication, Le Nouvel Economiste.
These honors were not just a ‘cosmetic’ eulogy; L’Oréal deserved them, for it was the
only company in its industry to post a double-digit profit for 18 consecutive
years
(Refer Exhibit I for L’Oréal’s key financials). L’Oréal, which had operations in 130
countries in the world, posted a turnover of € 13.7 billion1 in 2001. The
company recorded a 19. ...