Study On L'Oréal Brand Strategy In China

As China's door to the outside world opening wider,many international cosmetics brands have flooded into the Chinese market,driving the rapid development of China's cosmetics market.Advantageous opportunities are often accompanied by fierce competition.Although in recent years,some local brands have succeeded in occupying some market share,local cosmetics companies still lack competitiveness comparing with international cosmetics giants.Companies can not just rely on products to win in the current market,and the long-term close relationship with consumers is important for them in order to maintain the competitive advantage,so companies must recognize the importance of brand.Brand is not only the logo of companies,products and services,but also an intangible asset that reflects the comprehensive strength and operating level of the company.Brand strategy is a long-term plan for the development of a successful brand in order to achieve specific goals.Brand strategy is the essential condition for companies to achieve rapid development.Therefore,it is of great significance to study the brand strategy of famous companies.L'Oréal is the largest international cosmetics company in China's cosmetics market and currently ranks first in the global cosmetics industry.As the leader of the global cosmetics industry,L'Oréal has more than 500 brands worldwide,with business activities operated in more than 150 countries and regions.L'Oréal entered Chinese market in 1997,currently has more than 20 well-known international and local brands in China such as Lancome,Biotherm,Kiehl's,L'Oréal Paris,Maybelline New York,YUESAI,etc.L'Oréal's success lies not only in applying its multi-brand strategy,but also in the development of the unique "brand pyramid"structure,bringing together various brands at all levels and occupying the market in an all-round way.This paper mainly studies L'Oréal's brand strategy in China,and offer inspirations and suggestions to local cosmetics companies based on the successful experiences and existing problems of L'Oréal.This paper is composed of six chapters.Chapter ? is introduction,which mainly introduces the research background,research method and research significance,so that the reader can understand the context structure of the paper more clearly.China's cosmetics market is full of huge potential and fierce competition,therefore in order to stand out in this market,companies need to realize the importance of brand.Chapter ? is literature review which includes foreign research and domestic research.Foreign research on brand and related theories has undergone three stages,namely,the stage of classical brand theory,the stage of modern brand theory,and the stage of contemporary brand theory.Many famous theories are proposed during these stages.Domestic research on brand and related theories,however,began relatively late.Chapter ? introduces the theories that will be used in this paper.In this chapter,the concept of brand and brand strategy was explained,followed by the analysis of related brand theories,including the brand positioning theory,brand image theory,brand extension theory and integrated brand promotion theory.The definition of related concepts can lay the foundation for the following discussion.Chapter ? is the case study selecting L'Oréal as the research subject.There are mainly three parts in this chapter.The first part briefly introduces L'Oréal's overall situation and global values.The second part illustrates L'Oréal's development in China and the implementation of sustainability.The third part is the most important part of this chapter,L'Oréal's brand strategy in China.In this part,a comprehensive analysis of brand positioning,brand image,brand extension,and brand promotion has been carried out based on the classical brand theories and STP analysis.Chapter ? is analysis and suggestions,the main body of the paper.The first part firstly analyzes the macro-environment of the China's cosmetics industry based on the PEST analysis.Then it analyzes the micro competition situation and the future trend of China's cosmetics industry based on the Porter's Five Forces Framework.The second part summarizes the successful experiences of L'Oréal and points out the existing problems in L'Oréal brand strategy.Finally,based on the status quo and future trend of the entire industry,as well as the advantages and problems of L'Oréal brand strategy,this part provides inspirations and suggestions combined with related theories for the future development and internationalization of local cosmetics companies.Local cosmetics companies should take the essence and discard the dregs from international cosmetics giants by putting emphasis on R&D to produce high quality products,establishing brand characteristics rather than lowering prices,building "brand pyramid" and clear positioning,comprehensively implementing effective brand strategies and CSR,and going out for internationalization.Chapter ? is conclusion,pointing out the major findings and limitations.The cosmetics market in China has broad prospects and huge potential.Although local cosmetics brands have been suppressed by foreign ones,they are gradually revitalizing,and the key of revitalization is brand strategy.In the end,the author mentioned the limitations,offering advice on future research in related fields.Through the methods such as case study and analytical models,this paper analyzes from the perspective of brand strategy and takes L'Oréal as an example.By analyzing the international cosmetics giant,this paper summarizes the beneficial development experiences,and provides reasonable advice for China's local cosmetics companies based on brand related theory,hoping to provide theoretical guidance for later research and practical inspirations for local cosmetics companies.