L’Oréal in Austria, Germany, Switzerland

2023 saw the introduction of a new organisation for the DACH countries (Austria, Germany and Switzerland). By leveraging synergies and expertise available across this new structure, L’Oréal will be able to better serve a region that is already Europe’s leading beauty market, thanks to strategic investments in brand innovation and activation.

Kenneth Campbell

General Manager, DACH

L'Oréal DACH is ready to unleash its potential as a growth engine for Europe, operating as one team across three markets and focused on delighting consumers and customers. The new cluster organisation will allow us to accelerate investments in brands and capitalise on the outstanding quality of our Austrian, German and Swiss talents, thus strengthening our leadership in one of the most competitive beauty markets in the world.
  • 1st L’Oréal leads the beauty market in Austria, Germany and Switzerland
  • No.1 cosmetics company for sustainability
    Winner of the German Sustainability Award

Accelerating in a dynamic market

L’Oréal created a new DACH (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) organisation in January 2023 to accelerate growth across a dynamic hub of around 100 million consumers. Organised as a cluster, operations in these three countries bring together more than 2,900 employees at six sites, backed by a regional production and distribution powerhouse and centres of expertise in key areas such as digital, market intelligence and IT.

2023 proved an exceptional year for L’Oréal DACH, driven by remarkable growth in Consumer Products and Dermatological Beauty Divisions. L’Oréal is well positioned across all channels, taking advantage of its omnichannel model in a region dominated by retail brick and mortar outlets, but with a rapidly expanding e-commerce market.

L’Oréal DACH has successfully leveraged the synergies of its new cluster organisation. Through its revenue growth management programme, teams have adapted pricing and go-to-market strategies, investing in brands with strong market potential. This agile approach has increased profitability as well as enabling L’Oréal to keep outperforming the market, despite a high inflationary environment.

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Data-driven innovation and activation

Fuelled by growing consumer demand in the mass market for makeup and more sophisticated skincare and haircare routines, L’Oréal brands have increased their market share through product innovation, valorisation and successful O+O activations.

Achievements in 2023 include the introduction of new skin serums from Garnier and L’Oréal Paris, new makeup launches like Surreal Mascara from Maybelline New York, the premium launch of the L’Oréal Paris Elvital Bond Repair haircare range and significant acceleration in hair colour and MIXA bodycare sales.

L’Oréal’s DACH cluster has capitalised on its media expertise and data-driven culture to launch impactful activations across connected TV, social media, gaming and retail media. Leveraging new technologies, teams can now activate campaigns faster and better tailored to business needs –fuelled by cross-brand expertise from L’Oréal’s digital marketing organisation. A standout example from 2023 was the NYX Professional Makeup collaboration with the film Barbie and its 360° activation, which achieved high-impact connection with audiences across all consumer touchpoints. Furthermore, L’Oréal was the first beauty player in the DACH market to create campaigns on Netflix and Disney+ as well as an in-game experience within The Sims Mobile.

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Expanding our digital beauty footprint

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Sustainable production and distribution

L’Oréal’s plant in Karlsruhe, Germany, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2022, specialises in skincare and haircare products. It is one of the Group’s largest mass market production facilities, manufacturing some 1 million products a day for brands such as L’Oréal Paris, Garnier and L’Oréal Men Expert. 90% of production goes to meet growing demand in Europe, and notably in the DACH markets; the remainder is for export. Investments in technology, a strong health and safety culture and a committed environmental focus have ensured a consistently high level of performance and industry recognition, including three consecutive Gold Awards from the UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

L’Oréal was awarded the German Sustainability Award in the Cosmetics Company category in November 2023, honouring the Group’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and drive circular processes for improved conservation of water and other resources. By the end of 2023, all four sites in Germany had reached 100% renewable energy and are engaged in local biodiversity initiatives; at the Karlsruhe plant, a project is underway to double the water recycling capacity by 2025. The award also spotlighted L’Oréal’s leadership role in accelerating sustainability by joining forces with strategic suppliers and customers as part of the L’Oréal for the Future sustainability programme.

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