African men more open to beauty products – L’Oreal MD
When it comes to beauty, apparently men in emerging markets are a lot less conservative than their rich-world peers. According to L'Oreal South Africa MD Bertrand de Laleu, marketing beauty and personal care products to men is a lot easier in the developing world than it is in Europe and North America. Men in Africa and India are a lot more open to the idea of buying products to enhance their appearance, offer the right product at a reasonable price, and you can make a mint. This is one reason why companies like the global beauty brand L'Oreal are so interested in places like Africa. De Laleu says that South Africa, in particular, is L'Oreal's gateway to the rest of Africa, a market the company hopes to cultivate over the next few years. It seems like more and more consumer brands and products are looking to Africa with an eager eye, another indication of the continent's growing reputation as a place where things are happening. – FD
ALEC HOGG: Well, the various shows across our channel will be exploring the business of beauty today. L'Oreal South Africa sees our country as a gateway to the African continent. Bertrand de Laleu, who is the Managing Director of L'Oreal South Africa, joins us here. It's a pity Gugu's not here…my colleague, my co-host…she's far more beautiful and far more involved in the L'Oreal area than I am. It's interesting – a company that has been going for over 100 years. Is it still family-controlled?
BERTRAND DE LALEU: Yes, it's still family-controlled.
ALEC HOGG: Is it still French-owned.
BERTRAND DE LALEU: It's still French-owned.
ALEC HOGG: Did you list on various stock markets?
BERTRAND DE LALEU: No, it's just on the French market.
ALEC HOGG: The family in France still attracts quite a lot of attention. Are they involved in the business still?
BERTRAND DE LALEU: No, since the beginning, they preferred to give the leadership of L'Oreal to professional people, and it has been like that for almost 70 years.
ALEC HOGG: It's very easy to see you're French with your accent. Did you grow into the business? Did you start there?
BERTRAND DE LALEU: Yes, like many people at L'Oreal, we are children of L'Oreal. I joined L'Oreal right after my graduation and here I am, and like hundreds of people at L'Oreal, the leader of L'Oreal today is also a child of L'Oreal.
ALEC HOGG: It's fascinating. What attracted you to the beauty business?
BERTRAND DE LALEU: The beauty business at the time – I'm talking now about 30 years ago – was still in a state of infancy. It was not as famous as the detergents. In fact, what is great about beauty is there are no limits. There are no limits to beauty. It was usually seen as a business only for women, and now it's a business for men and women – especially in Africa. There's something specific in Africa. Its men are more progressive when it comes to beauty, styling their hair, and fragrance. Men in Europe and the States are probably a bit more conservative. We find the same trend in India, for instance. Men are very progressive when it comes to beauty. If you give them access to the right products at the right price with a clear message, and where the product says what it is about, they buy it.
ALEC HOGG: Your slogan is brilliant. It's often quoted by marketing people around the world 'because you're worth it', which would suggest you're at the upper end of the market. You've been there for 30 years. How did that slogan come about?
BERTRAND DE LALEU: The slogan is the slogan for the brand L'Oreal Paris only, because we have many brands within the group. The slogan was born in the States in fact, almost 26/27 years ago. At the time, we were looking for a good claim that explained our superiority in terms of technology, but without being boring. At the time, we were fighting in the hair colour business. Hair colour is very technical, but it's a technological product. Superiority is visible from a woman's point of view, and whether it really covers grey 100 percent and not 80 percent, and whether it lasts long after a couple of shampoos.
ALEC HOGG: And whether it looks natural or not.
BERTRAND DE LALEU: We then had to find a claim. At the time, it was also the emergence of women. They had to affirm their personality. A bright guy in an ad agency found this claim, but we struggled to make it global. I remember when I was in France and we had to translate it into a Latin language, it didn't have the same flair. English is far superior in a short sentence, when it comes to explaining a concept. The Latin language requires more words, so we struggled but in the end, we decided that we had to go and now it's translated into 50 languages.
ALEC HOGG: And that's why you also look – because of the globalisation – for global figures. The thing is that, as a South African, our Charlize is an icon to us. She used to be involved with L'Oreal and now she's with Dior. What happened there? How did you lose her?
BERTRAND DE LALEU: I don't know. I wasn't in charge.
ALEC HOGG: It wasn't your call, in other words. I suppose the other big issue that's going around the world is sustainability. The beauty industry, often, has been under pressure because of the use – or, in the past – the use of experimenting on animals. How far has that come now?
BERTRAND DE LALEU: There has been a lot of progress in that, as we no longer do any animal testing on finished goods, because L'Oreal has been very instrumental in creating reconstituted skin, so we have a lab in France that is now able to reconstitute skin from different ethnicities. We can therefore have African skin or Asian skin, so we don't need any more of the tests. There are countries that still impose some animal testing on certain raw materials, but it is becoming the exception on the planet.
ALEC HOGG: I'm sure your consumers are also paying a lot of attention to this, but this is a classic business where the cost of production is not that high. There's a lot of research of course, but the end product – the branding or the marketing – is a huge investment. Is that the same in the company? Do you guys all live the brand?
BERTRAND DE LALEU: It depends. When you say the cost of goods is sometimes very high, it depends on the price you're targeting and the consumer you're targeting. If you're targeting the middle or the bottom of the pyramid for basic products, the cost of business is a big portion of the price, and we have many products like that for example a basic moisturiser or a basic relaxer. Of course, the more you go into the premium niche – into the luxury – where you add to that service, sampling, advice, and facials of course, it adds up to the price.