Brand Hierarchy of L’Oreal
L’Oreal is a French beauty and makeup brand that is one of the largest in the market in terms of share and customer loyalty. The brand is headquartered in Clichy with a major registered office in Paris. The brand has been labelled as the largest cosmetic company in the world with most of the famous brands that is being used both in the drugstore and high-end category falling under the brand. The global brand has a 108 years of brand history as it was established in the year 1909 by Eugène Paul Louis Schueller (Loreal.com, 2018). The brand has a number of brands under its kitty right from Maybelline to Lancôme, Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, Biotherm, Kiehl’s, Ralph Lauren, Shu Uemura, Cacharel and many more. In total the brand owns more than 612 patents along with 23 of the biggest brands of the world including the ones mentioned above (Chen and Liang 2013). The brand is one of the major brands in the cosmetic sector that has a major loyal customer base and has been one of the most interesting brands in terms of makeup and beauty that signifies the concept of putting the whole of beauty in a jar.
The background of the brand started by the founder of the brand after manufacturing and selling the self-made hair dye to the various hair dressers of the town. The business eventually became very successful and lead to the registration of the company on 31 July 1919 which started the history of the most successful cosmetic brand of the times. The company gained popularity with the research and innovation that they eventually turned in the field of beauty and cosmetics area (da Silva Lopes and Duguid 2012). The main aim of the business was to bring various kind of innovation to the beauty sector of the brand and make sure that the customers have their own level of cosmetics at a price that most of the cosmetic lover can afford. The brand has a lively history and background within it which makes it one of the most potential brands in terms of cosmetics and makeup. The brand’s history makes the brand one of the most popular and viable in the field of beauty and makeup.
One of the best ways to summarise the strategy of the brand is to display the number and nature of common and distinctive elements of the brands across the firm with products revealing the explicit ordering of the brand elements. This is known as the Brand Hierarchy which is one of the most potential sources for the strategic marketing of the brand (Saaty 2013). L’Oreal is one of the most potent and growing brands in the market which spends more than 3.5% of the revenue on their research and development arena. The brand is expected to touch approximately 2 billion trademark by the year 2020 making it one of the largest brands of the world both in terms of products and subsidiary brands and the customer base. The brand has enormous revenue in their pockets making it one of the most profitable brands in the world. The brand hierarchy of L’Oreal is very high in the ladder as it is the mother company of a number of companies that are both focussed on high end and drugstore products. The brand has something for every genre of people right from the urban, trendy population to the nature conscious vegan products lovers. It responds to the diverse needs of the customers and understands the needs of the customers very aptly making it one of the first choices for any cosmetic and makeup lover. The brand owns and strategizes to own a number of other brands in the world which makes it one of the most high hierarchy brands in the sector of makeup and beauty. The brand owns one of the largest and most favourite trendy and urban brand Maybelline that caters to the masses of the urban population as well as the teenagers. The pricing point of L’Oreal is also one of the major pros of the brand which makes it a cult favourite among the women of the modern world. Every woman irrespective of her choice can find their staple and most favourite in the line of products that L’Oreal has. The brand is definitely on the higher planes of the hierarchical level making it one of the most well-known and well accepted brands of all times.
Brand Equity of L’Oreal
Brand Equity is defined as the commercial value of the brand that is derived from the perception of the consumer for the brand name of a particular product and not from the product or service itself. This is one of the major factors of the cosmetic industry as a majority of the women buyers buy cosmetics and products just because of the name of the brand associated with it and not with the product itself (Aaker and Biel 2013). There are two types of brand equity associated with the brand namely primary and secondary.
Primary brand equity of the product is defined as the worth of the brand with which the product is concerned about. In terms of L’Oreal, the primary brand equity lies with the name of the brand which is often associated with quality and diversity that the brand approaches (Torres et al. 2012). L’Oreal is a brand that has a brand value among its customers with a huge customer base pertaining to the needs of all the women of most of the countries. The products are not only diverse in their use but also makes sure to include as many people and types as possible. The brand value of L’Oreal is again very important as it makes the customers believe in the quality of the products just by the name of the brand. When a lipstick is bought about in the market, the customers buy the products just looking at the name of the brand and not even testing the products considering the fact that the lipstick should be good as it comes from such a reputed brand. This determines the value of the brand in the market.
Secondary brand equity is defined as the secondary reason that is being considered by the brand as well as the customers for the purchase of the products. The secondary brand equity of L’Oreal can be a fact that the products is inclusive to a great level (Buil, De Chernatony and Martinez 2013). It accommodates a wide variety of product range that caters to the taste and preference of most of the people of the world and even is diversified in the wide colour range that the brand has. The brand is one of the major brands that manufactures products that are needed by the various types of customers and does not stereotype the belief and thoughts into something clichéd and not inclusive enough. They suit to a number of people in the different category of skin complexion and taste which makes it one of the most selling brand of the recent times. The secondary brand equity of the brand give the customers a major reason to purchase the product along with the primary reason of the brand value.
Brand Report Card of L’Oreal
L’Oreal as a brand delivers all the ten aspects of the brand report card by Kelvin Lane Keller. The analysis of the ten factors of the report card of the brand is analysed below –
The factors of Brand Report |
Marks Obtained with Importance |
Full Marks |
The brand excels at delivering the benefits the customers truly desire |
8 – High Importance |
10 |
9 – High Importance |
10 |
|
The pricing strategy is based on consumer’s perceptions of values |
7 – Moderate Importance |
10 |
The brand is properly positioned |
8 – High Importance |
10 |
The brand is consistent |
9.5 – Very High Importance |
10 |
The brand portfolio and hierarchy makes sense |
7.5 – Moderate Importance |
10 |
The brand makes use and coordinates a full repertoire of marketing activities to build equities |
8.5 – High Importance |
10 |
The brand’s managers understand what the brand means to customers |
9.5 – Very High importance |
10 |
The brand is given proper support and the support is sustained over the long run |
7.5- Moderate Importance |
10 |
The company monitors sources of brand equity |
8 – High Importance |
10 |
The following calculation of the brand report has been done keeping the value, equity and the image of the mind in mind on an approximate level as per the L’Oreal as a brand.
L’Oreal as a brand always makes sure to deliver the benefits the customers truly desire in the products manufactured by them. By both the quality and the range of products, the brand excels in the delivery of products that benefits the customers and makes sure to adhere to their desires both in the short and long run.
The brand stays relevant to the tagline and slogan the brand advocates. The tagline of the brand you are worth it makes sure to include every type of relevance the brand has in its criteria of customers. The brand makes sure to manufacture products that is relevant for most of the customers by including different forms of colour, texture and finish to the products.
The pricing strategy of the brand is truly based on the consumer’s perception of values of the brand. The brand has a certain price range which caters to most of its customers which they try to attract. The pricing strategy lies between high end and the drugstore variety that is most attractive to most of the customers of the brand as a number of customers of L’Oreal are the urban population who love to lead the trendy form of life. The pricing strategy is based on the value of the product which is again based on the perception of values.
The positioning of the brand is one of the most important factor of any brand and L’Oreal is one of the best positioned brand in the cosmetic sector. In terms of different cosmetics or beauty related products, there is an ample amount of position in the brand that has a generous amount of customer base as well as loyal customers. The brand has the reputation of being one of the best brands in the realm of beauty and makeup and make sure to be one of the positioned brand in terms of the number of brands manufactured and sold all over the world. The amount of products submitted by the brand is really one of the most interesting factor of the brand which makes the brand one of the best positioned brand on a global circuit.
The brand is consistent in its production as well the product quality. The quality of L’Oreal is one of the best in the world with an affordable price point that caters to most of the urban population of the world. The consistent quality as well as production with the variety of products makes the brand one of the best in the cosmetic arena. The products manufactured by the brand are consistent in their approach and also makes sure that the quality of the brand is manufactured are always in stock and always upto the mark.
The brand is among the best in its portfolio and hierarchy. This has a variety of products in its line from high end to medium to salon based products. The hierarchy of the brand makes sure to be inclusive in its production and also make sure to include as many products as possible to the arena. A number of brands like Maybelline and Lancôme are under the umbrella of L’Oreal which prove the range of cosmetics the brand manufactures. Maybelline is for the people of the urban society and for the college going teenagers who look for cheap yet quality products for their needs while Lancôme is for the high end customer needs that suffice the need to express their love for the products.
The brand has one of the best reputations for the coordination of a full repertoire of various marketing activities to build equities with the customers. The two types of equities are built along with the customers which are defined as primary and secondary brand equity. The report of the brand makes sure the coordination of the brand with the customers is done in a manner.
The managers of the brand understand the demand and needs of the customers and manufactures the products and gives discounts according to it. The brand also makes sure that the customers are given enough priority for the products are sold accordingly. The customer demands are highly are catered by the brand and are made sure to be adhered by the company with the highest level of priority. The managers of the brand are determined to produce the level and quality of products that will be useful for the customers and will be demanded by the customers with all zeal.
L’Oreal is known to provide its customers with proper support and customer assistance to give the right kind of shade to the customers and also provide the customers with the right assistance to choose their products. The sales person of the counters of L’Oreal make sure to help the customers as much as possible and to provide assistance in terms of selection and purchase.
4.10 The company monitors sources of brand equity
The company has a separate staff section for the sourcing of the brand equity and also to make sure that both the forms of equity are maintained at a great level. The brand associates makes sure that the customers buy products in the name of the brand and also makes sure to engage in a variety of customer reviews and suggestions for the improvement and betterment of the products.
The brand recommends that the customers are one of the most important factors of the brand and should be given enough options to choose from. The recommendations that should be given to the brand includes –
- The brand should be made cruelty free and should not include any products that is sourced from animals
- The brand should make use of natural things more and come up with a natural range of products
- The brand can include the staple ingredients from all over the world and include them in the products to make use of the products accordingly.
- The product range should be more inclusive and cater to the taste of all types of women from different types of countries with various skin complexion
- The range of products should not contain harmful chemicals that can hamper the health of the people
- The brand should be made inclusive of various types of cosmetology products that are missing in the current scenario.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that L’Oreal is one of the best cosmetic and beauty brands on a global scale that is devoted to manufacture products and services that cater to a wide mass of customers and clients hailing from all over the world. The brand has a number of sub-brands under it that is committed to make products for every class of people and every section of the women population. It manufactures products for various types of necessities like salon and personal use. The brand satisfies all the necessary conditions of the brand report and makes sure that the brand has a required amount of sources for fulfilling both the conditions of primary and secondary brand equity. L’Oreal as a brand makes sure to fulfil all the clauses of the brand and also to provide adequate resources for the same.
Reference
Aaker, D.A. and Biel, A.L., 2013. Brand equity & advertising: advertising’s role in building strong brands. Psychology Press.
Buil, I., De Chernatony, L. and Martinez, E., 2013. Examining the role of advertising and sales promotions in brand equity creation. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), pp.115-122.
Chen, R. and Liang, C., 2013. The strategy tool: The trademark map of best 100 brands in the world. Journal of Management and Strategy, 4(4), p.21.
da Silva Lopes, T. and Duguid, P., 2012. Introduction: Behind the brand. Business History Review, 86(2), pp.235-238.
Loreal.com. 2018. L’Oréal – L’Oréal Group. [online] Available at: https://www.loreal.com/ [Accessed 5 Jul. 2018].
Saaty, T.L., 2013. Analytic hierarchy process. In Encyclopedia of operations research and management science (pp. 52-64). Springer, Boston, MA.
Torres, A., Bijmolt, T.H., Tribó, J.A. and Verhoef, P., 2012. Generating global brand equity through corporate social responsibility to key stakeholders. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 29(1), pp.13-24.