Experts of Experience - Behind the Scenes of L'Oréal’s Real-Time Marketing Machine

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

How does a 115-year-old beauty giant keep up with TikTok trends, viral moments, and AI-powered hair tech?Chief Digital & Marketing Officer Darienne Kennedy pulls back the curtain on how L’Oréal’s Professional Products Division moves at the speed of culture. From signing pop icon Sabrina Carpenter and her stylist, to harnessing AI scalp diagnostics, to deciding which viral moments are worth jumping into—Darienne shares the brand storytelling playbook that keeps nine iconic haircare brands distinct, relevant, and trusted.We also dive into the art of B2B loyalty, how L’Oréal supports salon professionals beyond just products, and why technology should enhance — not replace — the deeply human connection between stylist and client. Whether you’re in marketing, beauty, or just obsessed with a great brand story, you’ll come away with insights on blending heritage with innovation.Watch the full interview to hear how L’Oréal balances risk-taking with brand integrity, the surprising celebrity moment that went viral, and the next big beauty frontier starting at the scalp. Key Moments:00:00 Inside L’Oreal’s Celebrity Partnerships and Cultural Moments04:25 Darienne Kennedy: 25 Years Growing with L’Oreal11:29 How L’Oreal Balances B2B and B2C Strategies15:58 Crafting Distinct Stories for Nine Global Haircare Brands22:40 L’Oreal’s Sustainability Push: Refills and Green Innovation28:16 Moving at the Speed of Culture in Beauty Marketing31:10 How L’Oreal Measures Marketing Impact34:07 Education and Training as Brand Loyalty Drivers41:39 AI and Smart Tools Shaping the Future of Haircare50:46 The Next Big Trends in Hair, Health & Wellness51:38 Lightning Round: Quick Insights from Darienne Kennedy –Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org

Would you say that loyalty has changed in the last couple years? Definitely. Today, a true loyalty program delivers exceptional value, and it needs to be meaningful. The customer or the end user needs to understand what they're getting. It really runs deep their relationship. If they're buying a L'Oreal product, they're going to get the best that's on the market. It's all about learning, earning, and moving at the speed of culture. In September of 2024, they signed Sabrina Carpenter.

It was super important not only to sign Sabrina. We work with her colorists and stylist to get her formula. How she gets that beautiful blonde hair. I think there's no set it and forget it today. You have to really be able to react to things that are happening. So with the K-scan, it's an advanced AI smart camera that's designed for a diagnostic of your hair in scalp. It provides a comprehensive diagnosis of what's going on.

That's huge. We're more honest with our hairstylists than we are with therapists. I don't care how far we go. I'm not letting a robot touch my head. One of our premium luxury brands was mentioned on one of the real housewives. One of the figures on the show spoke about one of the products and she mispronounced the name of the product. But it took off and it was this viral moment. How do we insert ourselves into those?

What stories should we be a part of or what stories should we not? You can't get these things right 100% of the time, but you have to be playing the game in order to appear at all. Welcome to Experts of Experience. I'm your host, Lacey Peace, and we just got off the mic with Darian Kennedy, who's the chief digital and marketing officer at Professional Products Division, L'Oreal USA. Rose, was this not a super fun one? And did it also not make us very self-conscious of our hair? the whole interview. I would never think to say this about any other guest.

Darian has great hair. She has gorgeous hair. I have to say, we didn't talk about it in the interview at all, but very on-branded. Yeah, very on-brand. Totally. So, Rose, have you ever gotten a bad haircut? Yes.

You've walked away from the hair salon and you're like, oh, God, what happened? Yes, I have. I am somebody who has gone through phases of cutting bangs. It might, like, throughout my early adolescent. and into college. And there was one time in college where I was like, all right, I'm doing it. I'm getting the big cut. And honestly, it wouldn't have been such a negative experience if my actual stylist was a little bit kinder. She told me at the beginning of the appointment. She was like, I usually tell people no when they ask for bangs because I just don't like cutting them.

But I'll do it for you if you're really sure. And I said, yeah, I'm really sure. And I was 18 years old. I feel like that should have been a red flag but it did it anyway and I she cut them perfectly like halfway through the appointment and for whatever reason she just got scissor happy and she just kept going so they were like a baby bang like right in the middle of my forehead and really thick so I was like trying not to cry I mean we talked about this a lot of the in the interview that going into a salon is a very vulnerable experience hair is extremely personal to each and every one of us. So I told, I just, she could see in my face that I was like, you know, holding back tears and scared. And she goes, okay, calm down. It's just hair. It'll grow. She said that. Oh my gosh.

And I had to go down in history as one of the worst lines to say to someone after they had bad haircut. And I didn't say a word. Like I didn't even say anything to her. I was just completely quiet. And I was like, okay. And walked out so embarrassed and. Oh, man. Yeah, never went back to that salon. No. No, I wouldn't either. I know. Which, you know, to bring this full circle to our interview today, I mean, this experience, you said it already, it's so intimate. It's such like a personal experience to get your hair cut because, I mean, I don't know about you, my hair doesn't actually grow that fast. Like, it does take time for it to go from bad to like, okay, to great again. And so it is such a commitment whenever you find someone who is an artist who is able to, you know,

create the look that you want to have. It's, yeah, it's just, it's hard to replace that person. It's hard to find that person to begin with. Darian is what she calls a L'Oreal baby, meaning she started her career at L'Oreal. She's been there for more than 20 years and held various different roles within the organization. And all of that is sort of accumulated into this moment now where she is working at the professional products division. So for those who don't know, L'Oreal is both B2C, right, where you can go to any store.

and go purchase L'Oreal products, but they're also B2B. So they're selling directly to stylists who then sell their products or use their products in the salon. So De Varian gives us a good breakdown on those two different divisions of the company, their operations, how they think about that. But she also dove a lot into the different brand stories. So L'Oreal has a bunch of different brands. It's not just L'Oreal, right?

Like you might have heard of Redkin. There's a bunch of brands underneath L'Oreal that they are responsible for. Yep. they're responsible for doing the brand storytelling for and kind of building the brand, selling the brand, selling the products, et cetera. So it's sort of an interesting problem of if you have, I think she said nine different brands underneath this one umbrella, how do you make them each differentiated? How do you make the story for that specific line interesting and unique and relevant to whoever that consumer is? So it's sort of an interesting brand storytelling problem

that she dove a lot into in this episode. Something I thought was really cool was Daryon talked a lot about knowing when to insert yourself or your brand into public discourse and knowing when not to. I think it can be really, people can get really trigger happy when it comes to posting on social media or jumping into every trend. But it's also fast moving that you, I think there's an art to knowing when to step into a conversation and when to sit back and listen. So she talked a lot about the art of knowing when and when not to join a conversation and how a legacy brand. I mean, L'Oreal is over 100 years old. I mean, I think it's 115 years old. 15 years old. Yeah. It's a massive company. It's a legacy company by definition. And she actually used a really cool phrase that I haven't heard before, which is moving at the speed of culture. Culture changes so fast. So how what tools are you using and how are you going to stay fluid and open to change because culture is just never going to stop moving. Moving at the speed of culture is actually really hard for a lot of brands. And you were saying that some brands kind of get trigger happy.

And that might be true for like B to C facing brands. But for B2B brands, they're way less trigger happy. They're way less likely to get involved with public discourse or cultural movements. They kind of have their marketing plan for the next 12 months and set it and try to forget about it and don't realize that like, oh, no, there was this crazy thing that happened with some celebrity that like actually is relevant to your brand you could have played off of in a way that was that's really unique. And something that she mentioned in all of this was about how that builds trust. So whenever you're able to act at the speed of culture, people start to think,

oh, you know, this brand is speaking in my language. They start to feel like there's trust built between you and the brand, whichever of the nine brands it might be that L'Oreal is currently, you know, operating under. But before we get to Daryan, I just have a huge thank you to all of you. I opened up my phone a couple days ago, and I saw the most amazing thing that we were number 20 in all business podcasts on Apple. I believe we were number like 67 or something like that in all podcasts in the world, which is just phenomenal and amazing. So thank you. Thank you so much to everyone listening. This would not be possible without all of you and without the guests that we've been able to have on the show. So just huge shout out and thank you. And for anyone that's listening

that wants to, you know, contribute to the show. You've maybe got an idea, you've got a question. You can always leave a comment for us on YouTube or send me a DM on LinkedIn or even on Apple or Spotify. You can leave a rating and review and you can leave a little note of what your question is or what you're thinking about or any feedback you have for us. We're always trying to make the show better. And again, I'm just so grateful to all of you for listening. And, yeah, can't wait to see what's in store for us in the future. It feels like there's about a billion podcasts out there. So there's really a lot. rankings mean a lot to us. So thank you so much. I totally echo that, Lacey. And having said that, we will let you get to this interview. So without further ado, here's Darian Kennedy, chief digital and

marketing officer professional products division with L'Oreal. Darian, welcome to the podcast. I'm so excited for you to be here. Thank you for having me. Yeah. So just to give a quick intro to our audience, would you mind sharing where you're coming from? I think everyone will recognize the brand name. and what you do. I work at L'Oreal USA. I'm the chief digital and marketing officer for the Professional Products Division. So I have the great pleasure of working with nine of our beautiful professional brands, Redkin, Matrix, Caristos, L'Oreal Professional, Biolage, Pureology, Mazzani, Pulp Riot, and L'Oreal Technique. So hopefully some brands that some of the listeners and viewers have used. I would love to hear a little bit more about your background

before you got to L'Oreal. What drew you to the space you're currently in? And how long have you been there? I have been a L'Oreal for 25 years. So in January, I just celebrated that. I know a long time. Congratulations. It's amazing. Thank you. Thank you. And I worked in public relations and communications prior to going to L'Oreal through internships mostly. So I am a Lourke. all baby pretty much. So most of my career has been there. It's just an amazing company. I was trying to think about like what has kept me there. And, you know, for me, it's always like, I'm a learner. I love to learn. So within the space, no matter what area I've worked on and starting in communications, moving into digital, e-commerce, data, media, all the different areas, I've always had the

ability to learn, find new opportunities. I've been an early adopter myself. and I've been able to bring a lot of that to the work that I do in the company. So I think for me, it's what's kept me here for 25 years is that ability to continuously learn. You know, I'm amazed, like companies that are usually this large, this established, innovation can be slow, but it sounds like the way you're describing your career, you've been able to have the opportunity to, like, be a part of a lot of cool initiatives. As a company that's over 115 years old, I think, you know, we do have this great balance of entrepreneurship too. People are able to really lean and drive their own destiny, both from a

career perspective and figure out what is that next move for themselves, but also the way that we go to market with our brands. It truly is a company that's driven on people and innovation. Yeah. Wow. And I want to dive into a little bit more about how you guys have gone to market and the different places that you guys play. A lot of people hear L'Oreal and they might think, you know, I go to Ulta, I go wherever my favorite store is, and I purchase an item and I buy it. So we're thinking about it from this consumer's perspective. But you guys also play a different role with like B2B and I guess business to salon. Do you mind describing a little bit more about that relationship that maybe people who are familiar with your product haven't seen? Yes, absolutely. So within the

professional products division, no, L'Oreal, it's exactly what you said. We market to both the end consumer. so the person buying their product at Ulta, Sepora, Amazon, or even in the salon, as well as salon professionals. And I think with both, there's similarities and there's differences of the way that we market. What's similar is we need to understand truly each individual, what their journey is, the content that's really going to connect with them, so that we really can make sure that our brands are the most desirable and the ones that they remember. But on the B-to-B side, the relationship goes so much deeper than just products. Many of our brands like a Redkin or a Matrix or L'Oreal Professional are hair color brands. So there's the technical brands that are used when you go into the salon for services.

And salon professionals start using these brands in beauty school. So it really runs deep the relationship. And we're with them through their whole journey, whether you're just entering, the industry and learning how to, you know, get clients and start really from a, you know, entry point to a more mature stylist. Or at some point in your career, you may make a decision, you know what? I want to open my own business. I want to be a salon owner. So as brands, we're also there with them through that, offering them, you know, business advice and tools, how to manage a P&L. What are the marketing tools that you need to recruit customers? How do you

really look at, you know, operating costs and POS systems, stocking inventory. So as a company, we really pride ourselves on being that partner for a salon to become successful, every stylist. That is such unique position to partner with them in that way, where it's not just, oh, here's a product, go sell it or go use it, right? It's like, oh, we care about you holistically. we want your career to grow. If you shift from here to here, you move from one salon to a different one. Like, we're still here to support you. Oh, your customer base went from five people to 50. What does that look like? How do we support that? That's really exciting. But I'm curious, how do you get in, you know, early on with people? I mean, you talked about beauty schools. But how would you be able to break in to this market that can be a bit saturated when we're talking about beauty products? There's a lot of other opportunities. So how are you guys kind of like standing out, getting your voice heard, your brand. seeing early on so that you can build those kinds of relationships that do end up running so deep. So some of our brands have relationships with beauty schools. So again, they're there at that entry point. But I think for us, it is being the full service brands. So, you know, what attracts

people to our brands is the superior product. Absolutely. They know if they're buying a L'Oreal product, they're going to get the best that's on the market. We bring innovation forward. We test. We do everything. We, you know, really also lean into the education that they need in order to use the product. So if we're putting color in a somebody's hands, it's not just about giving them color and having them figure it out, but we deliver the education that they need, how they formulate. We have customer service. We have technical guides. We have formula finders. So everything's at their fingertips to really make them successful. I always go back to one of the tablines that Redkin has, one of our top brands in the industry. And for them, it's how do we really deliver on our

promise? And it's all about learning, earning, and living your best to life. And I think that is what we try to bring forward for every salon professional in the United States. Oh, I love that. And so that kind of goes back to this. You talked about like brand promise, this like brand story that you guys are curating. Can you talk me a little bit about what is the story of L'Oreal? What is the story of your brands? And how do you kind of deliver that message to whether it's your salon folks that are using the product or the actual consumer that's purchased in it off the shelf? Within our brands, we have nine brands. Each one of them have a very distinct purpose. With Redkin, it plays in four categories. So hair color, hair care, styling, as well as men's. We have Mazzani, which is really for your

textured hair client. Purology is all based on sulfate-free and color care. So even though we only play really in the lane of hair, each brand has its own swim lane and unique position that we bring forward to the end customer. And you see that through all of our flagship websites, all of our advertising, it's really about what that point of difference is from a product standpoint that's supported. it's interesting because a storytelling component of this, right, for each individual brand is kind of playing out, okay, this is the pain point. This type of brand can solve for.

This is the challenge that we can support you with. Or this is the exciting moment in your life that we can be a part of. Right. And it all, but you're breaking it apart brand by brand. You're not trying to just say like, oh, everyone can solve everything. It's like for this specific thing, you want this. For this specific thing, you want that. So I do find that very unique because I see some brands get really convoluted where they have multiple different. stories they're trying to tell and it doesn't make sense and it starts to get incohesive and like as a consumer it's hard to figure out oh like do I need you for this or need you for that so how did you guys kind of go about deciding this is how we tell these stories or I guess just like talk me through

the team conversation you guys are having internally around like this sort of storybuilding yeah I think for us I think there's this whole idea of storytelling and brands becoming the the tellers of these stories and they do it through a number of different ways. right? It's what do we want to put forward as a brand? What is that branded content, the story that we want to tell and how do we want to tell it? A great example of that I think is on the Redkin brand recently. In September of 2024, they signed Sabrina Carpenter. Yeah. So amazing. So amazing. Moving at the speed of culture, like perfect timing for all of it. but for us as a salon professional brand it was super important not only to sign Sabrina

but we also developed and signed her hair colorist as well as her hairstylist so really having both the professional side as well as the consumer side so where consumers see Sabrina is she she represents our acidic bond concentrate for red can better bang is what we you know what the campaign name is and you see it through you know linear as well as digital out of home and that campaign's been running for a bit. But on the flip side of it, we work with her colorist and stylist to get her formula, how she gets that beautiful blonde hair. And that's the information that we're giving to salon professionals. So, you know, what color line, what's the, you know, the developer that she's using, what is the technique and going much

deeper. So we always try to unify these two moments and these two stories and bring them together as professional brands. So I think for us, that's such a unique way. But I think it goes beyond the stories we want to tell too, right? As brands, we also know that consumers and creators are telling their own stories. And we've really started to think about, you know, how do we insert ourselves into those? What stories should we be a part of or what stories should we not? And I think it goes back to having this very clear frame for each brand of not only where you will play and what you will insert yourself into, but where you won't. Like, this is not right for us. Yeah. So I think that has been a really big conversation around storytelling. And just this last year,

we added some new positions within the team. And we actually named them storyteller. That's the title. Yeah. People get see the job description that you know exactly. what it is. But it's for individuals to be able to really say, like, okay, we're going to insert ourselves into this story. How do we do it? Do we create our own content? And these storytellers are creators themselves, so they can do it themselves. Or they help us work on a brief where then we brief a number of creators to start creating that content for us. So I think that's the way we're really trying to lean into storytelling as a brand. How does this compare to, you know, 20 years ago when you started at L'Oreal. Is this something that you guys have, you know,

done religiously for 20 years? Or is this something that sort of in the last couple years you've decided is really important? No, I would say there's definitely been a shift. I mean, you know, for a number of years, I think it was definitely about pushing your message out to customers and consumers, right? This is the story we want to tell. I think what's changed tremendously is really listening to what our customers want, but in real time and being able to react. So, you know, I mean, you think back 20 years ago, we hosted focus groups or we'd go in market or do store tours or secret shoppers where we'd start to like really think about and understand what was happening, whether it was in retail or in the salon. Today, through tools and people. Like,

we, we understand in real time what people are saying about our product, how they were responding to campaigns or messages that we're putting out. So I think the speed and agility is what's changed, you know, tremendously over the past 20 years. Do you see any predictions for the next year or two in terms of like brand storytelling? Maybe you can tease some of the stuff that you guys are working on or just in general advice for our audience on, you know, hey, maybe I work with a brand. I work for a company. We're trying to figure out the right way to tell our story. Are there any things that you would say like this is where we're looking and we're not looking here anymore, where maybe we would have, like, you know, done focus groups.

We're not doing that anymore. Instead, we're investing into a data strategy because that informs what we can do here with brand storytelling, for example. Yeah, I mean, I think we're just at the beginning stages of really where this is going to go. So, you know, right now I think a lot of our cues come from social and a bit of ratings and reviews as well. But I do think in the future, there's going to be so many more areas where we, we, we, we, pull in, you know, that feed or that inside and have more of a holistic view. So, you know, I think it's more about the number of sources and the speed that's really going to help us change. Sustainability is something that's come up a lot on our podcast about how can you build a brand

that is more sustainable. It's something that consumers are caring a lot more about. So L'Oreal being a global brand that you are, multiple different brands under the umbrella, how are you guys thinking about sustainability. What's been working? What are you really excited about in that space? So as a company, we're doing a lot in this space. But one of the things that actually just recently happened, on June 16th, we had World Refill Day and our brands in the Professional Productions, Carastas and L'Oll Professional, played a part in this. And it was an opportunity for us to really talk about refills through a creative campaign. So asking people to really join this movement so that we could show this collective positive impact. But it's a really exciting

initiative. And you're going to see a lot more of our brands follow with more refills in the coming months. And did get a lot of good response from consumers? Like they love this idea for refills? Absolutely. I mean, I think for us, it's definitely the area that we want to go in. We know consumers. This is something that they want to participate and be part of the positive impact that we're making. So, yeah, so a lot more to come. But we did. We saw really positive results. Yeah, no, that's great. Rose, I'm going to tee you up here. Is there anything else around brand storytelling that you want to get into? It's cool to talk to legacy brands. And we talked to somebody recently that compared a legacy brand and that's a big company to like turning a really big ship

where like sometimes you know it takes a minute so i think it's really cool that you guys are over 115 years old but you are you seem very fluid and with the times so i wanted to ask i guess about whether that comes down you think to like an operating model or leadership or you know how other legacy brands can learn from L'Oreal? As a company that has such a long history and has been a leader in marketing and the number one beauty company in the world, I think sometimes, yeah, there's this sort of how do you change, right? There's so many layers.

We are in this matrixed company. How do you make decisions and do things quickly? And I think what L'Oreal has done incredibly well, is there. openness to take risks. And I think that's what allows us in this world today to have the confidence in the direction we're going. And each individual and employee knows too, like, okay, you know what, where they can push and what they can do. So I think it goes down to leadership, really embracing a mindset of risk taking that really gives the teams the confidence to say, you know what, we are going to push into this area or we are going to try this. So, you know, there's been for a while we've had a

lot of conversation around social media too, right? Okay, again, what trends do you play and what trends do you don't? And like I said, I think if you have a clear frame and you understand each brand and where they can and can't go, it's a great guide. But then even within that, you have to trust your gut. And I think that, again, leadership's support for that is what makes that a reality. Beauty and wellness especially is so personal and vulnerable and cultural. So I love hearing you talk about, I don't think we've talked to many people have talked about where to insert yourself and where not to and how they're just as important. When you guys are deciding those things, are you, you're having like a quarterly meeting where you decide like this is how,

this is our framework. This is how we're going to play for the next, you know, six months to a year. Or is this a more regular monthly touch base that you're doing this? And then how are you distributing that information to your team? Like once you've decided that, what's the storytelling you're doing internally to make sure everyone in your team is also in line on that? So they feel like they're really understanding this is how this brand speaks, plays, performs, shows up. For our brands, many of them are global brands.

So our global teams are really the ones that are putting together. What I would say is this frame? What are the lanes? what do we want to be known for? What are those moments that make sense for the brands? And then each local market, so for me, for the U.S., we take that for each one of the brands, and then we interpret it to what makes sense for the United States

and for our brands represented here. So, you know, that's sort of our starting point. When it comes to where and how we play, it is a daily conversation. So, yes. So, again, we have teams that have their finger around the pulse. They're tracking all of the conversations on social in real time. They're looking at trends. They're identifying each trend to say, okay, is this trend sustainable? Is this one that's

going to be gone tomorrow? And then they bring it to the brand to say, okay, Kerasas, this is what we're seeing. How do you want to play? Do you want to insert yourself? We recommend X, Y, and Z. And we move pretty quickly. I mean, most of these trends, we really try to get within market within 48 hours. We regroup. We evaluate. We learn. And then we bring that further upstream to inform our next decision. So this is all happening pretty much in real time, just like social media is. And I think it's important for us to stay with the pace. And our CDMO for L'O. L'O. L'O. L'O.U.S.A. sort of coins the phrase moving at the speed of culture. And that's what we're really trying to enable. Yeah. That's great. I mean, so many companies want to do the whole set it and forget it.

where it's like, oh, okay, this is our six-month plan. We're going to, like, you know, the Super Bowl's coming up. We'll have an ad there. We'll already plan all this. Like, you know the big cultural shifts that are coming, right? We can predict those big things that people will be watching or doing. But you can't because there's so many things that just come up and happen. And somehow that thing became a mean.

And somehow that thing, you know, broke the Internet. And now this has millions and millions of views on YouTube. So it's, you can't hack that. That just requires a team that's dedicated to it constantly. looking at it and saying, yes, we need to insert herself. No, we don't. And to the point of risk that you mentioned, there are risks involved with that because sometimes you end up on the wrong side of it or sometimes you don't engage with a thing when you should have maybe. Or you do engage with it and it turned out to be fad. So there's like, you can't get these things right 100% of

the time, but you have to be playing the game in order to appear at all. Definitely. We had over in December, Caristas, which is one of our premium luxury brands, was mentioned on one of the real housewives. Wow. Real high swaths of Salt Lake City. One of the figures on the show spoke about one of the products and she mispronounced the name of the products. But it took off and it was this viral moment. And it did. And very quickly, we needed to mobilize and the team did a phenomenal job. Mobilize understood how do we engage with this? It's happening right now. How do we develop a relationship with this individual? She's using the product. And then we took it further into advertising and worked with Bravo. So agree. I think there's no set it and forget it today.

You have to really be able to react to things that are happening. And I think those are the things that resonate the most with consumers because they come from an authentic place. Yeah. Yeah, it's not, it's like you're actually here with me witnessing the show. You watch the show or you're, you know, seeing the meme. Like, I, I trust you now as a brand because you're speaking my language. Sometimes scaling means giving your people the backup they need to crush the big stuff. That's where Agent Force comes in. Agent Force gives your team a smart digital workforce that actually gets work done. These AI agents answer customers, route requests, and hand off complex issues to humans seamlessly. All with the full context of your Salesforce CRM. They're not guessing. They're

not hallucinating, they're acting on your data and the rules that you set. The result, faster service, less chaos, and your team gets to focus on work that truly moves the needle. All momentum, no burnout. Visit Salesforce.com slash agent force. So, I mean, speaking of that from the consumer's perspective, how is this playing out for you all? You're seeing great reception. People are loving it. Like, what does that actually look like results-wise? Like, if you're, you know, talking with your team, you're like, oh, this worked really well. What are you saying like what does that mean what does well mean yeah absolutely i mean we look at a number of metrics so we look at obviously like social engagement sheriff influence so looking at that but then

also sales we also talk to our retail partners and salons to understand this happened this moment in time did you see more people coming in looking for the product so we really try to keep all forms of communication open to really understand what the impact of each one of these are and again they're different, right? Some, we knock it out of the park. Others, it's like, okay, did it move the needle? Did it not? There's other contributing factors. But, you know, we know it's an important place for us to be. Our customers in salons are engaging with us more. And we're building this community. And I think, no matter what, whether or not a campaign hits at this moment or not, it's going to help us in the future understand where to go and what's next. Yeah, that's great. You know, it brings up

another question in my head around loyalty, where, you know, we talk a lot, or at least historically, the conversation in loyalty has been like loyalty points or like you've spent this much dollars and you get this thing. Or, you know, I've always loved Ulta because when I go in there, they give me like the little samples and you're like, oh, you know, and suddenly you fall in love with this product, you would have never ever tried on your own because they gave you the sample. So what does loyalty look like for you all? And how are you building that? Besides just, you know, being active in this cultural way. And would you say that loyalty has changed in the last couple years? Definitely. You know, I think today a true loyalty program delivers like exceptional value. So and it needs to be

meaningful and the customer, the unuser needs to understand what they're getting. So a few years back, we launched a multi-brand loyalty program for salon professionals. It's called level loyalty. And it's not just about points, to your point. And it's a strategic investment by us to the salon community. And for us, it's really about empowering salon professionals with education, with tools, and premium products. And all of this is to really help them elevate their professional capacity, which translates into increased customer satisfaction,

trust, and loyalty. So you're absolutely right. I think, you know, when we look at loyalty today, it's not just about redeeming points for a product, but how do we really give salons what they need that's going to help them be more successful and make more money? We talked a lot about education. So far, you've mentioned that several times about training and making sure that, you know, the salons are familiar with the, not just familiar with the products, but that they know how

to, you know, use them properly. But a lot of that is, what's interesting to me about that is like that training is a applicable to other products as well, right? Of course, there's like, this is how we use our product. But, like, some of the stuff like how to apply hair dye is going to also teach, they could use it feasibly that knowledge for other products. But because you guys are the ones teaching them, I feel like there is just like this relationship and trust built. That I don't know. I just, I feel like that's super high value and, like, you couldn't replace that. So could you talk to me a little bit more about these just training programs and exactly what that looks like and how you started to build those relationships? Definitely. You know, I think when it comes to training. There's high value training like you mentioned. And then there's the personal trust and the personal connection. And I think in order to be successful today, you have to have both, right? You have to have an education like ecosystem that really delivers education when somebody needs it, right? Like so I need to search for something. I have a client in my chair. Let me see what the formula is and things like that that they can use day in and day out. But then I think with layers on top of it,

and I think this is what is the sticky piece and what makes our brand so special, is that connection to our artists and our hairdressers that, you know, between the two of them. So we have a network of artists that go in on our behalf and teach salon professionals. And a lot of these are like rock stars and celebrities in their own right within the industry. And, you know, they engage with salon professionals through live sessions, community building, and hands-on programs. So, you know, a salon could decide to use their loyalty points to bring in one of the top, you know, artists for purology into their salon to teach.

And these are the moments that I think are so incredibly special. And they go a really long way. Again, it's a people-to-people business. When you sit in a salon chair, it is about that relationship. So there's that human side that exists. And I think even on the education side, that's what really drives our business forward, is that human connection. And that human connection is augmented, though, by it sounds like really good technology. Because if I'm sitting in the chair and I'm like, I want Sabrina Carpenter's blonde hair, right?

if it took 10 minutes from me to navigate through this, you know, website to find the right formula to do da-da-da, you know, that's not a good experience. And it makes this relationship between stylist and person in the chair not as great. So I think what's equally as interesting is that you have this technology that is sounds like it's great. It's able to be utilized in real time, teach people outside of, you know, salon, normal hours. So yeah, I think that that's, it's interesting point, too, that it's not just, it is person to person, but the technology being helpful, like actually helpful, makes that even better. Definitely. I mean, we see that so much through like diagnostic tools, right? So you think about it. It's you go

into a salon as a client. You sit down in the chair. And part of that, like relationship and the first interaction has always been a consultation. So the stylist, you know, comes up behind you and they really relied on their visual assessment. They would touch the client's hair, and the client would explain to them their concerns. I feel like my hair is weak or it's thinning, but it was that dialogue. Hair diagnostics have now provided a new level of objectivity,

precision, and education to the conversation. So it never will replace a stylist, but I think it actually enhances that in such a big, way. And it also results that the client now has a much deeper understanding of the hair because a lot of times these consultation tools come with a screen and a visual. So again, really seeing what it is, oh, this is the area and the stylist can walk them through it. I think the other really exciting thing about it too is that it also has like a progress tracker. So if you go and you're like, okay, I want to go blonde, right? It would take a bit to get me.

me blonde. Yeah, yeah. And you would be able to track over time what that is. Okay, like, you know, the first time I go in, they light into this. The next time I get a bit lighter and like what that journey would be. So it's almost a visual proof of that. And I think in total, it just elevates the experience within the salon. It makes it more professional and also the professional authority of the stylist that's sitting there using the tool. So, I think tools like a digital consultation really just enhance and take a salon visit to the next level. It also builds excitement over time, right? Because something like that does take time to do that transformation.

I'm going through Envisaline right now. So what really got me excited was watching on screen the 3D model, like the teeth change in real time. And I'm like, oh, that's what's happening. So it's like annoying for the next six months that I have to deal with this whole thing. But I keep looking at it on my phone of like, but this is where I'm going. And so I can imagine, right, where it's like you've got, you know, blonde hair or whatever it is that you're working on. I want softer hair. Maybe I've got some sort of like skin something going on and I, you know, I'm working on that, right? Like being able to have something that you can reference at home or share with your friends to be like I'm excited about what this is going to look like or feel like.

That's huge. I mean, it takes that salon experience and brings it home with you in some ways. Yeah. And it can go further too. You know, a lot of the consultation tools, you get your progress to replace. and then you're like, okay, this is the ad whole care. This is how you should use it. You know, through a lot of the tools that we also provide stylists and salons, they're able to follow up through email, send recommendations, remind somebody to come back in for their next appointment, you're due. So it really does complete the full journey and I think strengthen that relationship between the end consumer and their stylist.

I remember the first time I was able to text my hairdresser and I was just like, you know, I had something go on with my scalp. And I was like, hey, what type of shampoo or conditioner would you recommend? And then she did research, like, genuinely. She's like, I looked at my tools. This is what they would recommend for this. And so she sent me the link. She's like, you can order it this way or you can come in and I'll have it ready for you and you can pick it up.

And, like, that ability of like, I could have waited six more weeks until I was just sitting in a chair and asked her. But I could actually engage with her in that moment and get what I needed right then. It was phenomenal. And ever since then I'm like, I'm sticking with you. you're my stylist. Like, you're the one that will treat me right. It is. It's a great relationship between the client and the stylist. With all this technology too, I'm wondering, as you were talking about the formulas, which I, you know, I don't know anything about this. I haven't gotten my hair dyed in so long, so I don't really remember what it's like. But I'm imagining there's

probably some opportunities for tools that leverage AI to help with this. Are you guys using any kind of, I don't know, AI or maybe even just advanced automation tools or something to support with helping come up with what formulas would work best for someone? We haven't gone there yet, but I think where we are integrating beauty tech in a much bigger way, and it kind of goes off of one of your examples is the Kerasas case scan. We also have a great example with the L'Oreal Professional Airlight Pro. And, you know, I think these both sort of illustrate where beauty innovation is headed. So with the K-scan, it's an advanced AI smart camera that's designed for a diagnostic of your hair and scalp.

So it's a tool exclusively in kerosah salons, but it provides a comprehensive diagnosis of what's going on. So it could say scalp conditions or dandruff, irritation or redness. So all of those different things. And then it would provide a recommendation of what you need, which could include your at-home care, almost like you texting your stylist, but also in-salon services that actually may help as well. So again, bringing people back into the salon

for something that's really tailored to them. So that's one way that I think beauty tech and innovation has really moved forward with one of our brands. The other exciting one is the L'Oreal Professional Airlie. Pro. So it's a hair dryer. And it's advanced science for better results, healthier hair, and environmental consciousness. So it's connected to an app. And you can actually set it to your own. So it would know if you had wavy or quilly hair, you could adjust the temperature. And depending on what attachment you put on it, so if you put on a diffuser for curls, it would automatically know

what attachment you put on and bring the temperature down to what that needs to be. So a very smart device. And I think these are two great examples of where beauty and technology are really headed. That's so cool because then you go into the salon too and you could have different, like, I just took care of someone with curly hair and now I'm taking care of someone with straight hair and I'm switching out the device and I'm just letting, like, you can use that so effectively in the salon. And you don't have to, like, of course you want to know the knowledge because you are the stylist,

but you wouldn't have to necessarily remember exactly what temperature. you need because the tool would help augment that and do that for you. We all expect fast service now, but inside most companies, speed is still a struggle. It's the approval chains, the handoffs, the who owns what debate. Agent Force cuts through the mess and actually takes action. It talks to your customers, crushes tasks, and keeps things flowing, all based on prompts and rules that you set. So your customers aren't waiting and your team isn't stuck in the weeds.

Speed isn't just a nice to have. It's a competitive edge. And Agent Force helps you deliver. at 24-7. Learn more at Salesforce.com slash agent force. Yeah, and this tool is also available for consumers to purchase. So, you know, for yourself, you could just, like, put in

your settings, so it would know exactly what you need. Yeah, oh, man. As someone who struggles with, like, every time I go to, like, use the flat iron, I'm like, wait, what heat setting? I always forget, I'm always Googling it. Like, always, I'll keep forgetting. I would love that to have it just built in. Because I need that. I need that.

It's such an interesting conversation to be a fly on the wall for. And it's so interesting, too, because L'Oreal is B2B and B2C. And in an interesting way, AI can't replace a human being dying, cutting, or nourishing human hair. Like, I don't care how far we go. I'm not letting a robot touch my head. like that is for my stylist only and I mean similarly too as we've talked about hair is so personal it's a vulnerable experience you know everybody has a story about going into a salon and walking out with maybe not your favorite hairdo or you know they cut your bangs too short or dyed your hair

the wrong color so it's just a very vulnerable experience and you've you have to be tapped into culture to know how to be a part of conversations publicly So I'm wondering if that informs your and your colleagues' perspective on AI and the way that you're approaching that whole conversation because I think this industry is unique in terms of a conversation with AI. I 100% agree. Like I don't see AI ever taking the place of a stylist or, you know, I think that will always remain. It goes back to what we said earlier. It's about that human connection, right? Like, it's about that relationship, the deep trust, the knowledge that they bring forward.

And it is a true expertise. And, you know, even when we see, like, what motivates people to make a change or to do something, a lot of times they're looking for an expert opinion, right? They want to know from an authority. And that's what our stylists and our colorists are. And, again, a lot of what we do is to help our stylists and colors be the best that they can be. they can deliver these amazing results and experiences for salons. I think where AI is going to come into play is more on the side of a tool to help

advance and enhance that relationship. So, you know, we see a lot of virtual try-on tools, right? You see them all over the place, not just in beauty, but now in fashion, on websites, all of it. And I think the idea there within the beauty space is a lot of people use these tools. but they bring them in and they show them to their colorist to say, hey, this is what I'm thinking. And the colorist takes that as inspiration, but they may tweak the color and make it a little warmer or cooler based on your complexion and some of those things. So I think all of it enhances the

relationship between the two, but it'll never take it away. Yeah, I love that. It reminds me of something Lacey says often actually, which is like technology plus people. Like you're not taking, There's no subtraction. It's just, you know, technology, AI aiding in that human to human interaction. Definitely. Especially when it can improve that relationship. Is that just like, yes, of course, sitting down and getting my hair done, like luxurious experience. Love it. Every time I go in, I'm like, yay, I'm here. But the thing that can make or break a relationship is all the stuff before or after that as well. Right. So before that, if I didn't get the reminder text that I was supposed to be there on time or I didn't know cancellation policy and I needed to cancel 12 hours before, but it's a 24 hour cancellation policy. And like, now I'm surprised because no one communicated that to me. Like all these logistical things that like, to be honest, artists and stylists may not be the best at because they're really good at all of this and all the beauty, but maybe not the like, how do I run the business or how do I think about communicating with my customers really effectively? So providing them all

the training tools, technologies to support with that stuff. So they can focus on just being the best stylists that they can be. That's exactly like the dream scenario and that's the like future, the scientific, sci-fi feature that I'm hoping for it. Definitely. I mean, and that's exactly. And I mean, beyond the products and the education, we also really look at companies that can be part of our offerings to salons. So whether it's marketing services, you know, providing content for our salons to use across the board, making things turn key for them. So they can. spend the time with their stylists and the artistry and the creative side that they love. So if we can help them with all of the logistical and different things, yes, I mean, that's a

huge advantage for them. And that's something that we really try to do. And we do a lot of work to really look at who are the right companies. Who would we say we endorse? Because we want to make sure that things work and operate smoothly for our salons and stylists. And, you know, within in the professional market. There's a lot of different types of salons and stylists. You have large chain accounts that have multiple locations. You have single location salons. You have stylists that manage their own business and rent a chair or work in a suite. So these are all customized based on what each one of those need. And I think it goes back to how we think about our digital path and communication to each one of these. It's really about understanding who they

are, what they need, and serving them the right tools, recommendation for them to really be successful. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, this has been an amazing conversation. I do want to round out with one question for you around like just health and wellness trends in general. So it could be specifically in hair, but I'm curious if there's anything. maybe two or three trends you're looking at that maybe as a consumer you're really excited about or as someone who works in the space you're particularly excited about. I think one of the big areas in trends is really scalp. You know, we talk, I think there's been a lot over the past few years when it comes to skin care and you really think about your scalp and it's an extension

of that. So again, that's an area that we really are focused on. We have the Carost case scam, really helps with the diagnostic and the tools there. We also have biolage, another one of our brands, that's more at a more entry-level price within the premium hair care space that plays in scalp as well. So I think that's an area that we're going to continue to hear about because it all starts at the scalp, right? So in order to really, you know, really think about your hair and your hair health, the discussion really has to start there. Yeah, I love that. Great. Well, Rose, I'm going to hand it over to you. I know we have this lightning round in here. And I would love it if you could guide us through. So our lightning round, question one is a traditional salon punch card or app-based

rewards. App-based rewards. Cut or color, tougher to reinvent. Ooh, that's a tricky one. I think cut. TikTok trend or timeless tutorial for inspiration. TikTok. TikTok or YouTube, if you're looking to the future and where content's going in the beauty space. I think when it comes to education content, YouTube. Data-driven personalization or stylist intuition. Both together. Scalp scan or skin scan. What's going to be the next big frontier?

There you go. The one beauty product that never goes out of style. Sunscreen. mean. Oh, that's such a good one. A tech trend and beauty that you're skeptical of right now. For me, I think it's the responsibility of the beauty tech developer and the brand that endorses it to make sure all things are in place. So for me, I think it's about checking the box to make sure data privacy and security is in place. We have inclusivity, accessibility, and so many more. But I think it's really thinking about those things before you bring to market. A trend you're personally obsessed with right now. I love how so many brands are creating

like these smaller spaces for their loyal customers or even creators. So you see it in so many areas like, you know, branded beach clubs or movie theater experiences. But sort of what we're saying, like that call for that third space and it's all about that brand building and being in a place you really love. So I think that's super interesting right now. Yeah, that community. You know, that community-driven marketing. I've loved seeing in-person stuff going on. It's so cool. It's a refreshing. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, back to like in-person. Yes. Is there a stylist or customer story that you'll never forget? Yes, I think for me, like, I think the stylist's stories are always the most impactful, right? Like, because you're, you're really helping people. And when you see

come to life. And I always remember this was early in my career. And a stylist told me that they were with this brand. And it was like a very emotional story for her. But it was because this brand was with her through some tough times. And they were able to help her. And she was able to buy her first home, put her kids through college. And it was about that relationship. And being there through it all. So I think those are the things that are so meaningful when you're like, wow, we're helping individuals, those are the best stories. And there's so many of them. That's amazing. That's so sweet. I'm just just thinking about, too, like people say, people joke that our hairstylists are, we're more honest with our hairstylists and we are with

therapists. It's so true. Like that, that relationship is so intimate. And it's, yeah, it's really cool. So it's like a safe space. Yeah. And the last question for the lightning round. This is a question. We ask every single guest that comes on the show. is there a particular experience you've had recently as a consumer that's left you impressed? Yes. So, you know, I was scrolling over the weekend and one of the things that popped out to me was the beauty brand. Have you heard of Mishki? I have. Yes. So they have like become this whole trends themselves. So they are doing what they're calling breaking the frame. But it's this thumb stopping content where you actually see water or they do it with like macha going from one post to the other. So it's really amazing. And now all of a sudden people are trying to recreate it, make it their own. But it's super interesting. So

it's something that like stood out just this past weekend when I was spending time on social media, which I tend to do a lot of. For those listening, we're going to drop this on the screen so you can see it actively. All right. That concludes the lightning round. Thank you so much. Thank you, Rose. Awesome. Well, this has been amazing. Where can people find you or find L'Oreal if they're interested in learning more about what you guys are doing? Is it LinkedIn? Is there a TikTok? Like, what's the best place for people to track down? What y'all are doing? Actually, both. So L'Oreal is pretty active as a company, both on LinkedIn. So a lot of what we're doing, on the innovations, different awards, both from a product standpoint, but also what the company believes

in, our sustainability efforts and different things there. And then we are very active on TikTok too. So you can see a different side of L'Oreal on TikTok. So I say check out both. Yeah. Amazing. We'll have those links in the show notes. Well, thank you so much. This has been amazing. Thank you very much.