Inside L’Oréal’s new-and-improved mass beauty strategy

Despite consumer pullback on discretionary spending across retail categories, beauty is thriving. And L’Oréal, the world’s largest beauty company, is too.

As consumer habits change, the company is eyeing growth within its more affordable mass market segment, its Consumer Products Division (CPD), home to L’Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline, NYX, Thayers, and Essie. With ~$5 billion in its most recent quarterly sales—for reference, that’s more than Estée Lauder’s total quarterly sales—it’s the company’s largest division. And it’s got momentum behind it: Last year, mass beauty outpaced prestige for the first time in years and in Q1, mass sales rose 7% to $18.1 billion, Circana reported.

“I don’t think consumers are thinking about it as a downgrade,” Tina Fair, president of CPD of North America, told Retail Brew. “We’re capturing that prestige consumer that is shopping in other channels and being a little bit more conscious.”

Fair, a company veteran, assumed her role last year, rejoining the division where she first started at L’Oréal 18 years ago, combining an internal transformation at CPD with a new marketing perspective to help its portfolio of popular beauty brands continue to shine.

Fresh faced: In her early days in the new role, Fair observed its portfolio brands to determine how they could be more “relevant” and “activate a bit differently, unexpectedly from what traditional big brands do.”

That came in tandem with a pre-planned internal transformation for CPD, which established one sales team and one category development team shared across all brands. The new organization allows the company to be “hyper-focused” on each brand’s core customer and the need they fill for them. It’s created a “huge recruitment opportunity,” establishing “entry points” for consumers—Maybelline is the mascara destination, while L’Oréal Paris is the to-go for anti-aging skin care, for example.

“It gives us the ability to push and pull where one brand is strong and the other one has room to grow or complement the brand, so you’re not fighting for the same consumer,” Fair said.

The move has given the company a “competitive edge,” in retail, Fair said, presenting its partners with a vision and insights across its portfolio, rather than for just a single brand. That’s ultimately improved how CPD’s brands show up in retail, Fair said. She cited a recent partnership with Walmart across CPD’s brands to elevate its 359 supercenter in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with interactive experiences like a L’Oréal Paris brow pen consumers can see and touch.

Full speed: The CPD’s innovation is increasingly supported by consumers and influencer input, Fair noted. In April, NYX moved into body care for the first time with products like fragrance mists and body oils and butters to meet the demand of its Gen Z audience, while Thayers launched a Hydrating Milky Mist after its influencer partners told the company they’d been putting the viral Thayers Milky Toner into spray bottles.

Fair said the company has fast-tracked its innovation where possible. While categories like anti-aging skin care take more time and research, it can push out more trendy innovations like lip products, blush or, right now, men’s curly hair products, to meet the moment quickly.

Its marketing strategy has shifted, too. It’s been using TikTok Shop for exclusive launches, like its recent Maybelline Super Stay Peel-Off Lip Liner, and doing more partnerships, Fair said. This spring, L’Oréal Paris launched an ad spot in collaboration with The Devil Wears Prada 2, while Garnier partnered with Cher for its Fructis Diamond Sleek Spray. Last September, Maybelline announced Miley Cyrus as its new global spokesperson. The effort has been embraced by consumers, she said.

“The appreciation of a brand being integrated in what you are watching, loving, following in a seamless way is very much appreciated,” she said, “versus trying to serve up an ad that is made by us to talk to them.”

M’oreal: Despite billions in sales and century-old brands in its portfolio, Fair is establishing a runway for more growth.

“The work never stops,” she said. “I love beauty because the consumer is forever evolving, and it doesn’t stay constant; you have to continuously evolve, read the market, change, address new needs.”