KEYNOTE INTERVIEW
“A Powerful Force for Good”
In this compelling interview, L’Oréal Groupe Chief Corporate Affairs and Engagement Officer Blanca Juti explores how L’Oréal’s Sense of Purpose, ‘To create the beauty that moves the world’, can be a powerful force for good.
KEYNOTE INTERVIEW
“A Powerful Force for Good”
In this compelling interview, L’Oréal Groupe Chief Corporate Affairs and Engagement Officer Blanca Juti explores how L’Oréal’s Sense of Purpose, ‘To create the beauty that moves the world’, can be a powerful force for good.
“I’ve always believed in the power of business to make a difference,” says L’Oréal Groupe Chief Corporate Affairs and Engagement Officer Blanca Juti as she ponders what the company’s Sense of Purpose means to her. “I admire companies that deliver value to society and the planet on top of delivering great products, services and shareholder value.
“Our purpose, ‘To create the beauty that moves the world’ is precisely about this,” she explains. “It encapsulates who we are and what we stand for and it guides our actions. L’Oréal is a beauty company, and for over a century we have been dedicated to creating beauty. As an anthropologist, I know beauty is an essential human need that transcends history, geography and cultures. It goes to the very heart of what it means to be human.”
L’Oréal Groupe’s Sense of Purpose covers several pillars: Diversity & Inclusion, Fighting Climate Change, Protecting Biodiversity, Green Sciences and the Future of Beauty. Armed with this mission, Juti believes that L’Oréal Groupe is perfectly positioned to create a lasting positive impact on the world.
She says, “This Sense of Purpose articulates our belief that beauty can be a powerful force for good, which can give us the power, confidence and freedom to define who we are and who we want to be. It also expresses the power that we have as an industry to make a real difference, to drive social innovation, diversity, equity and inclusion, champion the cause of women and protect the beauty of the planet.”
Beauty for everyone
When it comes to its workforce, L’Oréal Groupe walks the walk in terms of diversity, equality & inclusion.
Juti says: “Inclusion and diversity are deeply rooted in our sense of purpose in many ways. We create products for every skin and hair type, which are all equally beautiful in our eyes. This means that we need to understand the needs of everyone, wherever they are. To do this, we have Research & Innovation centres all over the world, including in Brazil, Japan, China, India and South Africa. We have global, regional and local brands addressing different consumer needs.
“Over the past two decades, we have made significant progress in gender equity – with a strong representation of women across all levels and functions of the organisation (including 69% of the global workforce, 55% of leadership positions and 50% of the board).
“We have several programmes in place to support the LGBTQIA+ community and people with disabilities. We are also working to promote the diversity of people across various socio-economic and cultural origins within the Groupe.”
As the world’s fourth-largest advertiser, L’Oréal plays a significant role in promoting diversity and inclusion in the media. Juti explains, “We can make the world more inclusive by celebrating beauty in its infinite variety. We work not only to make sure our advertising is inclusive but also our algorithms.”
Earlier this year, L’Oréal Groupe was recognised by Bloomberg’s Gender-Equality Index for the fifth year running. It was also rated amongst the top 20 most gender-equitable companies by Equileap for the fifth consecutive year.
The launch of the ‘L’Oréal for the Future’ sustainability roadmap in 2020 has stepped up the company’s efforts to minimise its carbon footprint, protect biodiversity and fight climate change.
“We see success as not only financial but also social and environmental,” Juti says. “Over the past two decades, we have been working to improve our environmental impact and inform consumers about the environmental impact of our products so they can make sustainable choices and give back to the communities around us.”
To date, L’Oréal Groupe has taken substantial steps to achieving these goals “We are well on our way to reaching our target of transitioning 100% of sites by 2025,” she says.
Solidarity Sourcing
“These new commitments go beyond our direct impact, and will also focus on our indirect, extended impact,” Juti explains. “For example, this includes the activity of our suppliers and the use of our products by consumers.
“I’d like to highlight our Solidarity Sourcing programme, which was created in 2010 and designed to provide vulnerable communities with access to work and income through our global supply chain. So far, we have 365 projects up and running in 61 countries, which has helped over 89,000 people gain access to work.
“I’m proud that our efforts have been recognised by several independent organisations. L’Oréal is the only company to have been awarded the top score (AAA) by the CDP for six consecutive years for our achievements for fighting climate change, protecting forests and managing water sustainably. We have also been recognised as a UN Global Compact LEAD company for the seventh year running and received a top score in the S&P Global ratings.”
Championing Women
Across the beauty giant’s powerful portfolio, brands have fully embraced this Sense of Purpose and launched various environmental and social programmes that have helped countless women around the world.
“To create the beauty that moves the world, many of our brands have already put in place cause programmes and are working together with global and local NGOs to combat social or environmental issues,” Juti says. “In 2021 alone, our brands worked with over 200 NGO partners, providing direct support to almost one million individuals around the world.”
“In partnership with the NGO Hollaback, L’Oréal Paris launched the ‘Stand Up’ programme to fight against street harassment. Since launching on International Women’s Day 2020, more than 855,000 people have completed the dedicated Stand Up training programme around the world.
“Lancôme launched the ‘Write her Future’ programme in partnership with Care International. The programme enables women around the world to be the authors of their own destiny. More than 50,000 women are already benefitting from literacy courses, training in entrepreneurship and student scholarships.
The Future of Beauty
Beyond its sustainable and social commitments, L’Oréal is dedicated to inventing the future of beauty by adopting green sciences, biochemistry and beauty tech innovations.
Juti comments, “We were founded by a chemist back in 1909. Innovation and technology have always been part of the Groupe’s DNA. Today, we have over 4,000 scientists and 5,500 tech and digital experts working behind the scenes at L’Oréal in research centres around the world.
“More recently, the Groupe has embarked on a beauty tech transformation, where it is harnessing the power of new technologies and data to reinvent the consumer experience, make better products, enable virtual try-ons and virtual diagnostics and connect more directly with consumers.
“Tech and data allow us to deliver new levels of personalisation in-store, or at home,” she adds. “For example, Lancôme’s ‘Le Tient Particulier’ allows consumers to find their perfect foundation in-store. The process starts with an in-depth skin scan to analyse their skin type and shade. An exclusive algorithm then uses the data from the scan to determine the perfect foundation shade from 70,000 possible combinations. A new foundation is prepared in-store within 20 minutes.
“More recently, we launched YSL ‘Rouge Sur Mesure’, an at-home smart device that allows consumers to create thousands of bespoke lipstick shades at the touch of a button. Tech is allowing us to enter a new era of intelligent make up.”
Plenty of these beauty-tech innovations have been featured across L’Oréal’s numerous beauty activations in travel retail. They include the recent L’Oréal Paris Revitalift Filler, YSL Beauty Le Vestiaire des Parfums, Lancôme Summer Face Makeup, SkinCeuticals The Antioxidant Lab, Maison Martin Margiela Replica pop-ups in Hainan – which each feature their own beauty-tech, experiential and retailtainment innovations.
To communicate its ESG achievements and share its Sense of Purpose around the world, L’Oréal Groupe launched its first-ever corporate campaign in June 2021.
“The first phase of this campaign, which was shot during the pandemic in South Africa, featured a number of our employees, including team members from research & innovation, marketing, operations, finance and human relations, alongside consumers,” Juti explains.
“Each element of the campaign celebrated one aspect of our Sense of Purpose, highlighting our commitments and what we’ve achieved to date. It has been featured in print, in out of home advertising (including in airports and subway stations), in social media, in digital advertising and across our buildings.
“To date, the campaign has gone live in over 20 markets around the world, reaching in excess of 250 million people,” Juti adds. “The reactions so far have been positive and we will continue to bring our Sense of Purpose to life with new assets. The new phase of our campaign will go live soon.”
With an eye towards the future, Juti believes that L’Oréal’s Sense of Purpose will continue to serve as a guiding light for the company. She says, “Beauty will continue to be relevant for the centuries to come as it has been since the birth of humanity.
“Our responsibility is to create beauty that is inclusive, responsible, and caring to people and the planet. Our Sense of Purpose is more than a catchphrase, it acts as our ‘North Star’ and as such guides all our actions and decisions. We are deeply committed to creating the beauty that moves the world.”
“For me, this Sense of Purpose articulates our belief that beauty can be a powerful force for good, which can give us the power, confidence and freedom to define who we are and who we want to be.”
L’Oréal Groupe Chief Corporate Affairs and Engagement Officer Blanca Juti
