BW Confidential - Issue #5 - March/April 2011 - (Page 14)

Update Digital digest L’Oréal unveils digital ambitions L’Oréal said it significantly increased investment in digital activities last year and sees the internet as one of the major factors that will revolutionize the beauty business. “This revolution is deeply changing brands’ relationship with consumers,” L’Oréal ceo Jean Paul Agon announced at a recent analysts meeting. “The notion of service comes into its own on the internet, thanks to the personalization that is possible and the interactivity with the consumer; this is a decisive opportunity for the cosmetics market. It is also a new channel of distribution, which means additional sales.” He added that the creation of the strategic marketing department at the end of last year is intended to accelerate its digital initiatives. Agon said that internet budgets were raised in markets such as China, where 8% of the group’s media spend is now devoted to digital formats. L’Oréal recently launched a website for all its luxury brands in China. The luxury division saw its global e-commerce sales grow by 30% in 2010, and the internet now accounts for 2% of its total business. The weight of e-commerce, however, varies greatly depending on country and brand, with 6% of sales done on the internet in the US, and 10% though this channel in Korea. E-commerce accounts for 10% of sales for the Kiehl’s brand. Efforts at boosting the digital business are also being made in the group’s mass division. Its mail-order brand Club des Créateurs de Beauté, which now does 50% of sales through the internet, launched an app for the Ipad last month. The app claims to make browsing the product catalog easier, and the group said that those who access the brand on an Ipad now spend more than those buying from a computer. Parlux’s experimental video US-based Parlux Fragrances is giving online marketing a major push with its campaign for its new fragrance from singer Rihanna. The company will introduce the fragrance through a video, which was designed to be played either from beginning to end or from end to beginning. The video is still watchable, but the storyline changes depending on which sense it is watched from. For example, Rihanna can be seen either walking towards or away from the man in the video, depending if the scene is watched from beginning to end or end to beginning. The video was created by New York based Droga5 and was first screened on rihannareblfleur.com and posted to the brand’s micro site www.perfumesbyrihanna.com. A simplified version of the video will also be posted on Youtube. Blogs versus magazines Blogs are more influential than magazines in consumers’ choice of beauty buys, according to a survey jointly conducted by US-based public relations company DeVries and blogging community BlogHer. The study found that 63.3% of those questioned in the US survey said that a blog was more likely than a magazine to inspire them to make a beauty purchase. Not all blogs however, are equal. Some 61% of those surveyed said that a familiar blogger was most helpful in providing beauty product advice or recommendations, compared to 19% who found a blog they randomly stumbled across in a search as helpful. 14 Over the past 6 months, which resource was more likely to cause you to buy a beauty product? Media Blogger Magazine writer/editor Source: DeVries/BlogHer Bluefly adds scent US-based online retailer of designer fashion brands Bluefly.com has added a fragrance boutique to its website. The site says it offers a range of high-end fragrance brands at 40% off the normal retail price. % of respondents 66.3 26.4 Which resource is most helpful to provide beauty product advice & recommendations? Resource Familiar blogger Store website Social networks Message boards Blog stumbled upon in a search Source: DeVries/BlogHer % of respondents 61 46 33 20 19 March-April 2011 - N°5 - BW Confidential http://www.nareblfleur.com http://www.perfumesbyrihanna.com http://www.Bluefly.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BW Confidential - Issue #5 - March/April 2011

Cover
Comment
Contents
Update
- Brand & retail news recap
- Digital digest
- Companies on the move
Take note
- Market facts, figures & trends
Best of BW
- Highlights from our e-publication
Launches
- The latest in fragrance, skincare & make-up
Interview
- Marionnaud CEO William Koeberlé
Insight: Make-up
- Category overview
- The latest trends
- Retailing strategy
Wellness
- Retail Sales
- Spa case studies
Retail
- New store concepts
Travel retail
- Market analysis: Americas
- Interview: Dufry's José Carlos Rosa
Radar
- Six up-and-coming beauty brands
Market watch: Brazil
- Country overview
- Industry roundtable
- Prestige retailing
Packaging
- Trends in secondary pack
Last word
- The Doneger's Group's Jamie Ross

BW Confidential - Issue #5 - March/April 2011