Page 54 - 2024 Summit of the Americas

INSIDER

L’Oréal International Distribution (LID) treated its Diesel brand to a major relaunch in North America, culminating
in a show-stopping splash in New York City’s Times Square.

L’Oréal International Distribution: Filling in the White Space through
partnerships, collaboration and a new approach to growth

Despite its rich portfolio of brands, And in between the two axis we found all a worldwide citizen, is to offer each and
the L’Oréal Group realized that there were these white spaces: the opportunity was every person around the world the Best of
markets around the world that were under substantial.” Beauty by creating the beauty of the world.
potentialized and the company recently The L’Oréal Group has just come The L’Oréal Group’s purpose is to create
added a new business unit to its structure through several very successful years— the beauty that moves the world.
designed specifically to build select brands “We bounced back into 2021 going twice “So LID was created as a brand
in these areas. The world’s leading beauty the speed of the market. And in 2022, building entrepreneur with the mission
group has launched L’Oréal International we had a grand slam, meaning that every of accelerating the conquest of the white
Distribution, familiarly known in the single division and every single category spaces. And the notion of brand building
company as LID. beat the market,” said Grégoire. is of key importance. We are not just
According to Annie Grégoire, General L’Oréal generally credits the strength blanketing the world with products, we’re
Manager of LID’s North American zone, of its portfolio for its ongoing success. protecting their brand equity positioning,
the concept was initiated by L’Oréal’s The company currently has 62 active and ensuring the brand identity,” she
current CEO, Nicolas Hieronimus, back beauty brands, each with a distinct brand explains.
in 2019, while he was still Deputy CEO in identity, notes Grégoire. To do this, LID has been divided
charge of Divisions. “The main reason for our recent into five zones which are complementary
“Hieronimus was looking at ways of achievements -- apart from the people that to L’Oréal’s existing geographical zones:
accelerating the growth of the Group apart work in the company --is our portfolio of North America; Latin America; Europe,
from acquisitions – even as we are very brands, which are so complementary. We which includes Middle East/North Africa &
active in the acquisition world-- looking have 62 beauty brands that are live right Sub-Saharan Africa; North Asia and South
at how we could generate growth from the now, including the Group’s 36 international Asia Pacific. Some of these include travel
portfolio of brands that we already have,” ones, as well as more than 87,000 retail to some extent.
explains Grégoire. “Basically, he built employees in 150 countries. But still, we Accelerating growth in white space
a chart and put all the brands we had on have a lot of white spaces out there. So this requires a whole new set of approaches,
the X axis, and then placed the countries is the reason why LID was created. skills, and ways of working, says Grégoire.
where we were present on the Y axis. “And our mission as a company, as “We at LID have an agility and speed

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