On Day 2 of the Glossy Beauty & Wellness Summit, held this week in Huntington Beach, California, Erica Culpepper, L’Oréal Group’s general manager for Carol’s Daughter, Softsheen-Carson and Thayers Natural Remedies, broke down her approach to owning the brand story. Leveraging the right influencers and tapping into brand-relevant conversations on digital platforms were among the key strategies discussed. See below for more on Culpepper’s takes on the tactics.
On the brand narrative on social media:
“I don’t think anybody can say they are controlling their brand narratives anymore.”
“Prior to social media, you definitely had much more control than you have now.”
“Consumers have a lot to say about everything, and we have to allow that conversation to happen naturally and organically, and not try to control the narrative.”
“We do a lot with comments [on social] — but it’s only when something is not true that we come in and try to dispel.”
On celebrities and influencers:
“This is something that I do not compromise on, ever: I do not want to work with any [influencer] who is not passionate about the brand. If you don’t want to work on my brand, I don’t want you to work on the brand, either. You have to believe in the brand 100%; that, for me, is the No. 1 criterion [for working with someone]. I don’t care what age you are. I don’t care what show you’re on. I don’t care how many followers you have. If you don’t love these brands, then no; no, thank you.”
“[Authentic] relationships make a difference — because then, when they create the content, they create it from a place of meaning, care and passion. They come up with their own ideas and the different things they want to do.”
“You have to allow [partner influencers] to come up with their own voice.”
“We have to be where the consumer is, and we have to be a part of those conversations. So we are there with the ‘skinfluencers’ and we are there with the derms — who are ‘skinfluencers’ themselves, just in a different way. And I love to work with micro-influencers; they have a different hunger and passion.”
On launching L’Oreal Group’s first Reddit campaign:
“We had to go somewhere not everybody was. TikTok is supersaturated. … Yes, I am increasing my investment on TikTok, but I’m also trying to discover new platforms that are less saturated, and Reddit was the perfect opportunity to do that.”
