L’Oréal Paris gets designer Sabyasachi’s touch to fortify its festive season plans

L’Oréal Paris has collaborated with leading design house, House of Sabyasachi, for the first time to showcase a blend of fashion and beauty inspired by the iconic cities of Paris and Kolkata. 

This collaboration kicks off with a festive campaign focussing on strong eye and mouth makeup accents, curated by Sabyasachi and shot on the streets of Paris, against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower with L’Oréal Paris global brand ambassador Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The L’Oréal Paris X Sabyasachi collection comprises of a range of 10 lip colors, black eye liner and volumising mascara. 

Commenting on the partnership, Raagjeet Garg, General Manager, L’Oréal Paris, said, “This union is really one of a kind and it’s the first time we have collaborated with an iconic Indian design house. Sabyasachi is one of the most sought-after design labels today and he shares the same values as L’Oréal Paris. He is the perfect partner for the brand, in our endeavour to make every woman feel worth it. Together, we aim to create something extraordinary in the field of beauty and fashion for Indian consumers.” 

Sabyasachi Mukherjee added here, “It’s been a pleasure to work on this collaboration with L’Oréal Paris and celebrate the Indian woman. Aishwarya and I go back a long way and have created iconic fashion and film looks together. So, it was a pleasure to collaborate with her in bringing forth L’Oréal X Sabyasachi vision of the new festive collection that started in India in Kolkata and culminated on Parisian streets with the iconic Eiffel Tower in the background.” 

This is the first of many more campaigns for the consumers from L’Oréal Paris and House of Sabyasachi. 

In an interaction with Adgully, Raagjeet Garg speaks more about the collaboration with House of Sabyasachi, what the two parties will bring to the table, using social media extensively for the latest festive campaign and more. Excerpts: 

What is the strategy behind tying up with House of Sabyasachi for the festive collection?
Globally, we have collaborated with a lot of international designers. When we were considering collaborating with an Indian designer, we wanted a designer who was true to the Indian spirit and stood for women empowerment in the way he or she displayed in their own campaigns. Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s name came up unanimously. He is someone who is known for his festive and wedding collections in India. When we looked at the brand ethos, we found a lot of similarities in the brand values – both are very premium, they talk to a very self-confident woman, and they have their own distinct identity. When we talked to Sabyasachi, he was equally enthusiastic about such a collaboration. 

What is the marketing strategy for the festive collection?
The entire campaign was unveiled on Sabyasachi’s Instagram on October 8, 2018, where we revealed more than 15 assets at one go. Prior to that, we had a teaser campaign where we asked the people to look out for a special reveal by L’Oréal and Sabyasachi featuring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at 9 pm on October 8. Aishwarya, too, revealed the entire campaign on her social handle. This helped us gain a lot of traction and we have already reached over 10 million people in India and abroad. 

After the campaign on Instagram, we will go on television very soon as well. 

McCann Worldgroup India is the creative agency behind the campaign. 

How has L’Oreal’s growth been in the last one year?
We have been growing in double digits and we have been growing very well. We are very happy and confident that over the years we have been able to continue the same drive and growth in the country. 

Which markets have contributed significantly to L’Oreal’s growth in India?
We have garnered growth across platforms and across the country; we are not restricted to a particular city or Tier. We are still a young brand, even though we have been in the country for a while. I think the journey has been beautiful and we hope it continues across the country. 

When it comes to categories, it depends on the age group that you are talking to. L’Oreal Paris is one brand that caters across consumer segments. We have a range of products in hair care, hair colour, makeup, and skincare. In hair colour, we have Excellence Crème, which is for consumers who have more than 50 per cent grey and they are looking for a perfect solution. At the same time, we are also talking to a consumer who is in her 20s and wants a clay mask on skin care or is just looking at for a routine product. Then there are consumers looking for the perfect makeup solution, where the age-group ranges from 15 years to as old as you think. 

Thus, depending on the product, we provide a solution. Therefore, it is very difficult to say what is actually driving growth. We have been able to drive growth across categories. 

What has been the role of e-commerce in driving L’Oreal’s growth in India?
E-commerce has undergone a beautiful journey in India and I think it is still in a phase where the journey has just begun, especially for the beauty portfolio and the beauty market. We have partnered well with all our e-tailer platforms – be it Nykaa or the other e-tailers that exist. 

What about your men’s range?
We have the L’Oreal Paris Men’s Expert range of products. However, it is restricted to our online business and some of our offline business as well, that is why you see very little of it. 

Please tell us about your empowerment initiative.
It is an ongoing initiative and one that the company has been at the forefront of for the longest time. It is an initiative that we are doing at a corporate and brand level. Beauty and science are values that L’Oreal really wants to build on and as a company we really want to pursue that journey and we are very committed to that journey.