L’Oréal, Lidl and John Lewis: 5 things that mattered this week

L’Oréal unveils a smart hairbrush at CES

This week, L’Oréal targeted the luxury market and turned to the Internet of Things with its latest innovation, a smart hairbrush that it says will allow its Kérastase brand to connect directly with consumers through more personalised marketing.

The unique technology, which was launched at the Consumer Electronics Show 2017 in Las Vegas, uses algorithms to score the quality of the user’s hair and to monitor the effects of different haircare routines.

It offers advice and recommendations, which the brand hopes will persuade more of its customers to head to the salon to perfect their barnets, with certain treatments only available in store.

Vincent Nida, general manager of Kérastase, believes the product will have a huge impact on the beauty industry in terms of diagnostics and augmented reality, two things that are essential to the brand as a leader in the beauty industry.

“It is our most personalised innovation yet. We believe there will be hundreds of thousands that will buy it,” he told Marketing Week.

Brands missing out on £820bn opportunity by not pushing sustainability

Sustainability should be top of marketers’ agenda if they want to increase their sales numbers, according to a study released by Unilever.

The research highlights a third of consumers want to buy sustainable products and would purchase more if their benefits were made clearer.

It found that 33% buy a product because they believe it is doing social or environmental good. While one in five say they would choose a brand if its sustainability credentials were made clearer on packaging or in marketing. That equates to a £817bn untapped opportunity, according to Unilever, given that the size of the marketing for sustainable goods is £2.1tr.

The research backs up previous claims from Unilever that sustainability is becoming an increasingly important part of consumers’ purchasing decision. Chief communications and marketing officer Keith Weed has previously admitted there is a “say-do gap” but the survey suggests this is closing.

John Lewis bolsters marketing team

Congratulations are in order for Becky Brock, who will be taking up the role of director of marketing at John Lewis in March, a job not for the fainthearted with many retailers seeing John Lewis’s camapigns, including this year’s Buster the Boxer, as the pinnacle of festive marketing.

Brock will be reporting to customer director Craig Inglis and is the retailer’s first marketing director since Inglis’s promotion to the expanded role of customer director in September 2015.

She will be responsible for all aspects of the retailer’s marketing strategy and will take on the leadership of the CRM, digital, brand and category marketing teams.

John Lewis says Brock will bring a “wealth of experience” to the role having worked previously with brands such as Homebase, Edrington and Unilever.

A spokeswoman for John Lewis confirmed to Marketing Week that the role was created after Inglis stepped up to become a board director. The brand’s head of marketing Rachel Swift is still at the company and other roles remain in place.

Lidl reveals ‘Big on quality, Lidl on price’ strapline

Lidl unveiled a new campaign and strapline this week, ‘Big on quality, Lidl on price’, as it looks to reinforce its quality positioning and build on its strong growth.

The campaign, created by TBWA\London, launched on Wednesday (4 January) in print ahead of its TV debut tonight (6 January). The series of ads focus on Lidl’s claim that shoppers’ money goes further when they shop at Lidl by honing in on key ingredients to make a popular meal.

The strapline sees the discounter directly compare its products with those of its supermarket rivals on both price and quality and was first revealed on a number of its customer emails, with the phrase replacing the well known ‘#LidlSurprises’.

However, the discounter said #LidlSurprises does still have an “important role” in its marketing strategy with Lidl “stress testing what appears to be a ‘real’ surprise when using it in future communications”.

“Our products have always been famously great value, and this campaign really highlights just how much more shoppers can get for their money at Lidl, without ever having to compromise on quality,” says Claire Farrant, advertising and marketing director at Lidl UK.

Maltesers unveils braille bus poster as it puts inclusivity at heart of the brand

Following its Paralympic Games campaign which featured people with disabilities, Malteasers has placed its focus on putting inclusivity at the heart of the brand as it this week unveiled a braille bus poster.

The outdoor ad launched in London on Wednesday (4 January) and is part of its ‘Look on the light side’ campaign. It uses model-made Maltesers as braille to tell the true story of a blind lady waiting at a bus stop who accidentally got on a fire engine instead. To make it accessible to all, it includes an audio description and a translation hosted on its Facebook page.

The brand believes diversity sells and that its focus on disability and inclusivity has been a success commercially, creatively and from a societal point of view, with its Paralympic Games campaign being its most successful campaign in the last eight years.

“This is just the beginning,” Michele Oliver, vice-president of marketing at Mars Chocolate UK tells Week. “Diversity and inclusivity are at the heart of the brand and what it stands for and you should expect to see it in big or small ways in everything coming from the brand from now on.”