L’Oréal plots digital drive
L’Oréal has appointed Julie Thompson as its first digital director to oversee its luxury brands as the company looks to ramp up its online presence across its portfolio.
Thompson, who was previously vice-president of digital and CRM for Lancôme, will offer an “umbrella perspective” of all the digital activity across its luxury brands including Lancôme and Shu Uemura, the company says.
The health and beauty company previously had digital heads for its consumer and hair care businesses but not its luxury division.
The appointment comes as L’Oréal, which also owns the Elvive and Garnier brands, prepares a digital push across all its brands.
It has also appointed media monitoring company Mymarketmonitor to evaluate online conversations. The company will review English-language blogs, social media channels, chat rooms and online editorial for conversations about L’Oréal brands in the UK as part of a global push to move its media auditing beyond print.
L’Oréal says it will initially be a “listening and watching” exercise but that the data it gathers will go on to inform its marketing and PR strategy.
Emma Dawson, L’Oréal communications director, says: “As a corporation we haven’t monitored digital conversation and the time has come for an online strategy across the business. We need to have much more visibility about what’s being said about our brands online.”
She adds: “Both our PR and marketing teams will be looking at how it comes together and how we can develop our strategy from a 360-degree perspective and maximise activity across both functions.”
