Company background
For more than 110 years, L’Oréal has been a pure player and leader in the beauty sector worldwide. Gathering 36 brands in both online and offline stores spread through 150 countries, L’Oréal is the number 1 cosmetics group in the world.
The french beauty synonym, Lancôme was founded in 1935 by the visionary pioneer perfumer Armand Petitjean. With its innovative products, iconic perfumes and strong corporate commitments, the brand devotes to offering the very best in Beauty and French-style elegance.
Kiehl’s was founded as an old-world apothecary in New York’s East Village neighborhood over 165 years ago. A blend of cosmetic, pharmaceutical, herbal, and medicinal knowledge developed and advanced through the generations is what this brand is all about.
Expectations
Though the two brands are quite different in what they offer, brand image is of high importance for both. Compliance with brand regulations when it comes to communication, advertising, and public image was equally as important as achieving brand’s business goals. The latter was defined by sales volume and revenue on a yearly basis, all to be reached within agreed advertising budgets.
Goals
Increase brand awareness
Increase sales volume and revenue
Achieve and sustain profitability
Be compliant with global brand guidelines
Solution
Cooperation with Kiehl’s was first launched at the beginning of July 2021, while Lancôme joined along a bit later on, in January 2022. As the approaches were different with each brand, adjusted to their needs and possibilities, we shall look at each separately.
Starting off, Kiehl’s was mainly focused on performance. Google Ads and Meta advertising was set up in four markets: Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria, turned mainly towards direct conversions, or better say purchases. This approach has brought in its results, but along with them the acknowledgment that for a higher growth,a full-funnel approach is needed.
Together with the client and the L’Oréal global team, we have started looking at things differently. The budget became split between awareness and transactional activities and goals were not set purely towards revenue or return on investment. Rather than that, dedicated awareness campaigns started rolling out, especially in 2023, looking at reach, frequency, or brand search trends as their goals. The larger awareness campaigns were also well laid out throughout the year, in a way in which we always had one just at the right time to serve as the awareness phase of the funnel for a greater sale or special offer. Collaboration with influencers has grown stronger, also uplifting both brand awareness and sales. Some other goals became more prominent as well, such as growing the newsletter subscribers base via dedicated lead generation campaigns. The increasing amount of first party data gathered in that way was then used to improve ads targeting, leading again to more brand awareness and revenue growth.
New campaign or ad formats are always gladly tested, as we are currently experimenting with Demand generation campaigns on Google Ads and the Advantage+ shopping on Meta in various markets. To summarize: a full funnel approach, willingness to test new possibilities, good communication with the client, and YoY budget upturn have brought in good results and long-term cooperation.
When it comes to Lancôme, the digital marketing strategy at our hands covers the same platforms: Google Ads and Meta. The markets at stake are Croatia and Bulgaria, which isn’t the only difference in respect to Kiehl’s.
As a truly luxury brand, Lancôme has faced different challenges in the markets, especially Bulgaria. As the brand is selling products at a rather high price point, reaching the right audience in the right way and with the proper communication is of great importance.
Another challenge were the competitors, meaning other sellers offering Lancôme products. It is important to note here that Lancôme has no brick and mortar shops in the markets we cover, while some of the other sellers offering their products do. As high-end make-up and perfumes are the types of products buyers prefer to try on before the purchase, physical stores have a great advantage, while at the same time we can hardly measure at what rate even our own ads motivate someone to go looking for Lancôme in a store. The fact that Lancôme products were oftentimes more affordable with other sellers than at the official webshop also presented a great challenge. These competitors also advertised on brand terms, making the need to “protect the brand” on search even greater.
Focusing the investments towards the best offers was the strategy of choice with this brand, among other tweaks, such as restructuring campaigns or investing in dedicated lead generation campaigns which helped grow newsletter subscribers list. Newsletter was later used as a channel for communicating special promotions, which in return significantly increased sales. Together with the client an agreement was reached to push further only the most attractive promotions via our campaigns, and for the rest of the time to focus on the brand itself and its bestsellers. In this way, the budget would not get spread across various, smaller campaigns, losing impact; but rather be invested in more significant amounts on the most prospective offers. Also, a larger portion of the budget is now directed towards Google Ads search network, as that is where we can capture the demand best and turn it into purchases the fastest. Of course, budgets were also increased YoY, providing us with more possibilities in our activities, but the focus we have achieved in 2023 has made the biggest difference and brought in the most growth.
Results
Our tailored strategies for Lancôme and Kiehl’s not only strengthened their presence in the competitive beauty market but also helped align their digital efforts with both local and global brand objectives. By adopting a full-funnel approach and focusing on the unique needs of each brand, we achieved significant improvements across multiple fronts.
For Lancôme, our efforts helped overcome the challenges of limited physical presence and strong competition, ensuring the brand reached its target audience effectively and achieved consistent growth. By concentrating investments on key promotions and bestsellers, while leveraging the power of search campaigns and first-party data, we ensured the budget was strategically allocated for maximum impact. The result was a notable uplift in brand visibility and an increase in conversions, with measurable long-term benefits for the brand’s market position.
For Kiehl’s, shifting from a performance-focused strategy to a more holistic one unlocked new opportunities for growth. Dedicated awareness campaigns, innovative ad formats, and strong influencer partnerships all played a role in driving greater engagement, boosting brand awareness, and enhancing customer loyalty. Additionally, growing the newsletter subscriber base provided a sustainable method for building lasting customer relationships and fueling future campaigns.
Overall, our collaboration delivered more than just incremental growth; it solidified the brands’ positions in their respective markets, elevated customer engagement, and aligned digital efforts with broader business goals. By fostering strong client relationships, embracing innovation, and maintaining a strategic focus, we laid a foundation for continued success.
