Bachelor students participate in L’Oreal brand marketing challenge

Bachelor students got a taste of brand marketing for internationally-renowned cosmetic company L'Oreal in this semester's Introductory Marketing course. MODUL University Vienna was selected to be a partner for the ‘’L’Oreal Brandstorm 2015’’ contest brainstorming challenge, which charged undergraduate students in their second or third year with developing a product and brand image brand for the L’Oreal-owned Lancôme brand of skin care, make-up and perfume.   Students were urged to put themselves ‘’in the shoes of an international marketing director for Travel Retail’’ to imagine a new retail experience for Lancôme to attract new customers and enhance the ‘’travel retail’’ experience for this particular brand. The travel retail market is of huge importance for retailers, consisting of business undertaken in all the shops located in duty free areas or any areas dedicated to travellers: airports, downtown duty free shops, airlines, cruises. For the first step, students had to consider the global shopper perspective, analyze the market and the travel retail channel, and the Lancôme brand, identify trends, and define what opportunities they see for it in travel retail. Thirty-five MU teams of 2-4 people presented their pre-case study preparation in class, and four were chosen to participate at the campus finals with two L’Oreal representatives as judges. The winning team of Vivian Tsolakis, Maria Purtscher, and Thomas Jandejsek, aka ‘Marketing Magic’, will participate in the Austrian finals in May, and should they triumph there they will participate in the international finals in Paris. “It has been a great pleasure and experience to participate in the L’Oreal Brandstorm Project 2015. Preparing for the competition at the campus was a tough challenge, however it has enabled us to realize that the best reward that one could ever imagine is to get recognized for all the efforts and dedication at the end,’’ says one of the students. ‘’My group members and I are very grateful to be given the opportunity to participate in the national finals in May and we are looking forward to a more challenging second round.” However before they take on the national finals, they will attend briefing days with L’Oreal executives and prepare a case study. This task entails imagining ‘’a new and unforgettable retail experience for Lancôme’s Travel Retail shops to attract and loyalize new customers.’’ We wish our team the best of luck in their preparations and at the finals!