- a. Explain what L’Oreal does specifically to improve their approach to multicultural marketing.
- Provide a specific example from the text. Be sure to elaborate on your example and explain why this is better than the “traditional” way of doing things.
One specific example of how the multicultural approach of L’Oreal works is the experience of an Indian-American-French manager of L’Oreal’s men’s skin care line. He claims that he is able to handle cultural complexities because since childhood he has been exposed to three different cultures through reading in different languages and meeting people from different countries; thus, he thinks in different ways. This gives him an advantage in the area of product innovation. The traditional way of doing things is to just infuse foreign executives which usually find it difficult to deal with other cultures.
- a. Does L’Oreal’s approach to international business make them more “effective” or more “efficient”?
L’Oreal’s approach to international business has made them both effective and efficient. A proof of this is its global portfolio of brands from different cultures, namely France, USA, Britain, Italy and Japan. In the Asia-Pacific region, its sales grew by 18.4% in 2012 while its sales in Africa and the Middle East grew by 17.6%. Half of its sales in 2012 came from the emerging markets. Net profits of the company has increased by 17.6 percent in 2012.
- a. Comment on the role of each sales region in terms of its market development and fit with what L’Oreal sells. Is it what you expect? Are there any surprises?
The sales figures are very revealing. It is expected that a major portion, that is 35.6 percent of the global sales of L’Oreal will come from Western Europe, since L’Oreal is a French company. What is surprising is the share of the Asia-Pacific region in the global sales which stands at 20.6%. It is amazing how the customers from this region patronize a French company. This only goes to show that the products sold by L’Oreal meet the preferences of the people from the Asia-Pacific region, which is most probably the result of the multicultural approach of the company.
- Based on this information, from which region would you expect the most growth? Why?
Works Cited
Hong, Hae-Jung and Yves Doz. "L'Oreal masters multiculturalism." Harvard Business Review (2013): 114-118.
Loreal-finance.com. "World presence." 2012. loreal-finance.com. Web. 8 March 2014 <http://www.loreal-finance.com/eng/world-presence>.
