This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
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L’Oréal Paris is betting on “The Devil Wears Prada 2” through an official partnership that spans TV ads, OOH advertising, social campaigns, consumer eventing and product placement in the film.
“We have an entire ecosystem built around [the film],” L’Oréal Paris president Laura Branik told Glossy. “It truly is about connecting the intellectual properties using this big cultural moment that goes way beyond product placement; it’s a true 360-degree co-marketing campaign.”
L’Oréal officially announced the partnership in March through a commercial that debuted during the Oscars, which drew more than 17 million viewers this year. “It was a huge, huge success and [created] huge buzz,” Branik said. “We also dropped it on social [media] that night, and we had more than 7 billion impressions in one night.”
The commercial starred L’Oréal Paris spokespeople Kendall Jenner and Simone Ashley, set in the movie’s fictional “Runway” magazine offices. Similar commercials were released in the subsequent weeks starring L’Oréal spokesperson Isabella Rossellini and actress Pauline Chalamet, who joined the franchise for the sequel alongside Ashley.
Branik’s 360 vision for the partnership also includes NYC events, including influencer access to the NYC premier, plus social campaigns, commercial and an OOH experience within select theaters to sample L’Oréal Paris products. “It’s true storytelling [using] out-of-home,” Branik said. “It’s not just one image that you will see, but [instead] a sequence of different images.”
Branik and her team are promoting three best-selling products through the film and campaigns: Colour Riche lipstick, Infallible Setting Mist and Extensionist Mascara. The products retail for $10.99, $13.99 and $15.99.
“It’s the first time we’re doing something so big,” Branik said. “We have done product integrations before, but this is a whole new level for us.”
Branik sat down with podcast host Lexy Lebsack to walk through all of the details of the campaign, ways its success may lead to similar investments for L’Oréal Groupe and best practices for navigating product placement.
On selecting “The Devil Wears Prada 2” for its biggest film partnership yet
Branik: “Beyond just pop culture, [the film franchise] has these deep values of finding your voice. If you feel beautiful, you feel unstoppable, which is very L’Oréal Paris. And also it has a bit of history — not as long as a history as L’Oréal Paris, but there is history there. There’s nostalgia there, and the core target group is also a millennial who has grown up with this movie — an older millennial that is exactly our core target, especially for makeup. So it was really a perfect fit for us.”
On a successful product placement strategy
Branik: “In general, the strategy [we used here] is much more product placement, and the storyline happens more in the surround sound. In these types of movies, the idea is not to construct it around the product, but instead to make the product seamlessly fit into the movie. That is more the strategy in the movie, and I think that’s also what consumers perceive as more natural and more authentic. And authenticity, and having an authentic voice is super important for us, because otherwise it doesn’t feel right and doesn’t feel seamless. … The role of a movie is not to promote a product. If there’s a natural fit that is very authentic and that feels natural to the storytelling, then [OK]. I’m not obsessed about placing my product in a movie. Honestly, I think if there’s a fit great, I think it can still work even if there’s no product in the movie. … [When] the brand speaks about their product, and it’s an advertisement, and you can make that more entertaining than making entertainment an advertisement, … then you’re not hiding in a way that I think consumers feel when you hide your intention, or when you try to squeeze something into a universe where it doesn’t fit.”
