A digital communication strategy for La Roche Posay

PLANT YOUR BRAND A digital communication strategy for La Roche-Posay

Elize Van Laer Laurien Desimpelaere Glenn Vindevoghel Debbie Vaes Elise Taelman

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 2 3 4

Desk research - Analysis and trends of the health & beauty market

- Marketingtrends

- Distributiontrends

- Product category trends - Competition-analysis - Positioning of La Roche-Posay

- Beauty and personal care brands in general

- Beauty and personal care brands in pharmacy - Remarkable innovations of La Roche-Posay and the market

4 4 4 4 5 6 8 8 9 10

Analysis of the resource pack - Business performance - Product portfolio - Market share and potential growth - Analysis of the positioning & image of La Roche-Posay - Target demographics - Communication channels

- Online

- Offline

11 11 13 16 18 19 20 20 20

Survey - Why a survey?

- Analysis

- Demographics

- Results

- Implications

21 21 22 22 22 27

Case description - Marketingobjectives - SWOT-analysis - Market segmentation - Target audience and analysis - Positioning

28 28 29 31 33 34

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

5

6 7

Strategy - Introduction - An app... But why?

- We present to you: Mr. & Mrs. Posay!

- “Content is fire... Social media is gasoline.”

- How do we launch the application?

- Facebook - Instagram - YouTube - Blogs - Snapchat - Increasing likes and content - “ Think about the parents... they passed school without google.”

- Quotes

35 35 36 37 45 45 45 46 47 49 49 49 51 53

Conclusion

54

Appendix - Table with the competition analysis and price range - Survey

55 56 59

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1

DESK RESEARCH

ANALYSIS AND TRENDS OF THE BEAUTY & HEALTH MARKET In the last twenty years, the global beauty and health market shows an average growth rate of 4,5 % a year, and 8,5 % in 2014 particularly. The success of the market is owed to globally increasing income, changing life styles (Yeomans, 2012), increasing consumer awareness towards personal health and hygiene and rising concerns regarding skin care (PR Newswire, 2015). This growth rate shows the market is stable, even in bad economic circumstances (Łopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). Consumers of beauty industry tend to be loyal towards brands. Their consumption gives them a high level of familiarity and comfort. Switching to new products would take extra effort (Zeng, 2015).

The market is also characterized by a few marketing, distribution and production categories trends. (information based on Yeomans (2012) and Łopaciuk and Loboda (2013)) Marketing trends Cosmetic companies shift their focus to the mass market.

As technologies develops, the industry is trying to take advantage of new opportunities.

They try to interact with consumers on a more ‘practical’ level: interactive social media like Facebook, blogs…

Distribution trends Market share of the non-store retailing is gradually increasing (direct-sale/sale over the internet).

Market success is defined by mass cosmetics sales. Growing awareness of mass cosmetics being almost as good as prestige cosmetics will facilitate the growth of the massive segment.

There is a rapid growth of cosmetics sales over the internet.

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1

DESK RESEARCH

Product category trends There is a growth in the skincare products sales because of the aging population.

There is a raising awareness of dangers related to sun-exposure, which contributes to the demand growth in the skincare sector.

Consumers prefer organic personal care products which are nontoxic and environment friendly. They are interested in a fair-trade philosophy: organic, natural cosmetics.

Two specific product innovations (trends) - Time saving: a response to the needs of today’s ever-busy consumer who want to limit the amount of time spent on their daily beauty routine (e.g. research to fast drying nail polish).

- Long lasting products: to have a good price-value ratio (e.g. long-lasting lipstick).

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1

DESK RESEARCH

COMPETITION ANALYSIS Based on the following brands: Vichy | La Roche-Posay | Avène | Eucerin | Cetaphil | Bioderma | Nuxe | Sebamed |Caudalie | Liérac | Bepanthol | Facial cleansing It strikes us that the prices of all the brands fluctuate between €13 and €16. They are all set to match each other. None of the brands profile themselves through pricing and there are no outliers.

Thermal water A phenomenon similar to the facial cleansing can be observed within the thermal waters by Vichy, La Roche Posay and Avène. All three of them cost approximately €8 for 150 ml.

Facial care Most prices of the brands are situated within the average category. The outliers with higher prices are Nuxe, Lièrac and Caudalie. On the other side of the axis, where we place the cheaper brands, we can place Cetaphil.

Daily care Similar to the analysis of facial care, it can be observed that the pricing fluctuates around the average. Nuxe, Lièrac and Caudalie are the more expensive brands.

Cetaphil and Bepanthol have a lower pricing.

Anti-aging It can be observed that for the most part the products within the anti-aging assortment is more expensive than the other assortments, and that for all the brands.

Anti-sebborhoeic All the brands can be situated within the same price range, only Cetaphil and Bepanthol maintain lower pricing.

Make-up Again we observe that most brands are situated alongside the average pricing range. More expensive make-up products can be found with Lièrac and Caudalie.

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1

DESK RESEARCH

Suncare All brands range between €15 and €20. Only Lièrac maintains higher pricing.

Body-care Brands with lower pricing are Cetaphil, Bloderma, Sebamed and Bepanthol. On the other side of the spectrum we have Caudalie and Lièrac, they have a higher pricing.

Wound healing The pricing for products in this category is lower for Avène than for the La Roche Posay Cicaplast products.

Body hygiene We can situate Cetaphil, Bioderma, Avène and Sebamed in the lower price range.

Any outliers with higher pricing than the average cannot be observed.

Deodorants The prices for deodorants fluctuate around €9 to €10 without any outliers.

Attachement nr° 1: table with the competition analysis and price range.

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1

DESK RESEARCH

POSITIONING OF LA ROCHE-POSAY Beauty and personal care brands in general

€€€

Bottom of mind

Top of mind

€

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1

DESK RESEARCH

Beauty and personal care brands in pharmacy

€€€

Low level of recognition

High level of recognition

€

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1

DESK RESEARCH

REMARKABLE INNOVATIONS OF LA ROCHE-POSAY AND THE MARKET At the source of the brand, there is a unique thermal water with therapeutic properties.

It is the only thermal water containing a high concentration of Selenium and cannot be copied. There are several therapeutic properties demonstrated by clinical studies and published in peer-reviewed journals of dermatology: anti-free-radical, antiirritation, healing, soothing and relieving and a unique composition.

At the heart of the brand, there is the La Roche-Posay thermal centre. It is the number one dermatological thermal centre in Europe and treats 8000 patients each year, among them 30% children. The treatment provides relief for those who are affected by inflammatory diseases such as eczema, psoriasis and burn sequelae. Since 2009, oncology patients benefit from the qualities of La Roche-Posay Thermal Centre in rode to manage cutaneous side effects of cancer treatments, restoring comfort and improving quality of life.

All of La Roche-Posay products are paraben-free.

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2

ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCE PACK

BUSINESS PERFORMANCE In Belgium, La Roche-Posay is the leading brand recommended by dermatologists, leaving Avène and Ducray behind.Having dermatologists as brand fans is an ideal way to convince customers about the effectiveness of La Roche-Posay products. Besides, La Roche-Posay is also the number one brand when it comes to the amount of sold products in all point-of-sales, with Louis Widmer and Vichy on respectively second and third place. This indicates consumers tend to take La Roche-Posay’s products over other similar products and it also illustrates the visually good presentation of La Roche-Posay in point-of-sales. Additionally, the brand was able to grow four per cent in only four years (market share from 11,4 % to 15,3 %).

In Western Europe, La Roche-Posay is ranked 13th in the skincare market and is third in the dermocosmetics market. In this region, the brand achieved second place in the branch of thermal water, facial cleansing, daily care and sun and body care.

In Brazil, La Roche-Posay is doing even better: with having more than 31,7 % of the market share in the branch of anti-wrinkles the brand is number one.

LA ROCHE-POSAY RANKING Western Europe, Dermocosmetics market per category Facial cleansing

N° 2

13,3% Market Share

Thermal water

N° 2

14,7% MS

Facial care

N° 3

8,5% MS

Dailycare

N° 2

15,8% MS

Anti-aging

N° 7

4,4% MS

Anti-seborrhoeic

N° 2

18,7% MS

Make up

N° 3

11,6% MS

Suncare

N° 2

13,9% MS

Bodycare

N° 2

6,3% MS

Wound healing

N° 3

13,8% MS

Body hygiene

N° 3

6,4% MS

Deodorants

N° 7

3,8% MS

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2

ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCE PACK

LA ROCHE-POSAY RANKING Skincare market, all channels Worldwide

N° 25

Western Europe

N° 23

Eastern Europe

N° 27

Latin America

N° 8

LA ROCHE-POSAY RANKING Brazil Brasil, Dermocosmetics market per category Facial cleansing

N° 2

25,5% Market Share

Facial care

N° 1

19,5% MS

Hydration

N° 7

2,9% MS

Anti-wrinkles

N° 1

31,7% MS

Anti-seborrhoeic

N° 2

15,3% MS

Suncare

N° 1

22,1% MS

Bodycare

N° 4

6,5% MS

LA ROCHE-POSAY RANKING Other zones, dermocosmetics market Eastern Europe

N° 2

10% MS

Asia

N° 4

5,7% MS

Canada

N° 2

11,6% MS

USA

N° 7

2,9% MS

Africa Middle East

N° 3

10% MS

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2

ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCE PACK

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO Oily, acne-prone skin Effaclar − Skin care: 4 products − Specific care: 2 products − Cleanser: 2 products

Atopy, dry skin Lipikar − Specific care: 1 product − Bodycare: 2 products − Cleanser: 4 products

Psoriasis, rough skin Iso-Urea − Specific care: 1 product − Bodycare: 1 product

Intolerant, allergic-prone skin Toleraine − Skin care: 5 products − Cleanser: 2 products

Redness-prone skin Rosaliac − Skin care: 5 products − Cleanser: 1 product

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2

ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCE PACK

Dehydrated & sensitive skin Skincare − Hydraphase intense: 7 products − Hydreane: 4 products − Nutrictic intense: 3 products Cleanser − Sensitive skin: 7 products Deodorant − 1 product

Skin aging Redermic C − Pure Vitamine C: 3 products Redermic R − Pure Retinol + linoleate retional: 2 products Substiane − Pro-Xylane: 5 products

Pigmentation Pigmentclar − PhE-Resorcinol: 3 products

Irritated skin Cicaplast − Skin care: 2 products − Specific range: 2 products − Cleanser: 1 product

Hair, scalp and face Kerium − Hairloss: 2 products − Scalp Seborrheic Dermatitis: 3 products − Face Seborrheic Dermatitits: 1 product

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2

ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCE PACK

Sun-sensitive skin Anthelios XL − Face protection o Comfort: 3 products o Ultra-Light: 3 products o Anti-Shine: 3 products − Children protection: 4 products − Body protection o Comfort: 4 products o Ultra-light: 3 products o Light: 1 product o Sports: 1 product − Specific areas protection: 2 products

Corrective make-up Skin relief and colour imperfections − Toleraine Teint − Toleraine Teint Fluid Corrective Foundatoin: 6 shades − Toleraine Teint Mineral Compact-Powder: 4 shades − Toleraine Teint compact-cream: 4 shades − Toleraine teint corrective pen-brush: 4 shades Sensitive eyes − Respectissime: 4 products Sensitive lips − Novalip duo: 15 shades Fragile nails − Silicium: 15 shades

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2

ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCE PACK

MARKET SHARE & POTENTIAL GROWTH From 1950, the pharmacy channel attracts many actors in Europe such as Vichy, Eucerin, Avène and La Roche Posay.Today, we can distinguish 200 health and beauty brands in Europe, which share a target, a distribution and a business model. Generally, we can say that the dermocosmetics is a dynamic market, which is accelerating year after year (+16% in 5 years).

If we analyse the position of L’Oréal on the European market, we can see that two of their brands take a large part of the market. Vichy and La Roche-Posay account for more than 18% of the European dermocosmetics market.

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2

ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCE PACK

2014 Dermocosmetics market

SELL OUT Group

Total

% MS 2014

% evol

100%

5,3%

Vichy

L’Oréal

9,9%

1,3%

La Roche-Posay

L’Oréal

8,5%

12,9%

Avène

P. Fabre

8,5%

6,9%

Eucerin

Beiersdorf

4,6%

4,4%

Cetaphil

Nestlé

2,8%

15,1%

Bioderma

Naos

2,3%

13,4%

Nuxe

Nuxe

1,4%

5,3%

Sebamed

Sebapharma

-

-

Caudalie

Caudalie

1,2%

7,6%

Liérac

Alès

1,4%

4,6%

Bepanthol

Bayer

1,1%

10,0%

Focused on La Roche-Posay, it is the N°25 worldwide, N°13 Western Europe, N°27 Eastern Europe and N°8 in Latin America. La Roche-Posay worldwide, accounts for 8,1%.

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2

ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCE PACK

ANALYSIS OF THE POSITIONING & IMAGE OF LA ROCHE-POSAY La Roche-Posay reflects some important values, which are explained below.

La Roche-Posay is the number one dermatological thermal centre in Europe. With the thermal centre, it treats 8000 patients each year and the treatment provides relief for those who are affected by inflammatory diseases such as eczema. These centres stand for protection and safety. They show this value in their marketing strategies.

At the source of the brand, there is a unique thermal water with therapeutic properties.

This thermal water has a high concentration of Selenium, which is unique and cannot be copied. This unique thermal water shows the importance of the naturality of La Roche-Posay products.

La Roche-Posay is also known for its health management. A great example in this area is La Fondation La Roche-Posay (which was created to encourage dermatological research), atopy schools, corrective Make Up Workshops,‌.

With this foundation, it is also clear that La Roche-Posay trusts in science and strive for the best innovation for their products.

They work with a holistic vision. This reflects in their product portfolio where you can find products for the entire body and for different target groups.

The value of vitality and youth is important because La Roche-Posay strives for positive, energetic and happy people.

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2

ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCE PACK

TARGET DEMOGRAPHICS The target group of La Roche-Posay are customers, mainly with a sensitive skin, who are looking for effective and safe products, with a good quality/price ratio, and the advice of a health professional (pharmacist, dermatologist, paediatrician…).

We can summarize this target group as ‘The Health Conscious Consumer’.

La Roche-Posay aims to people from all ages (from 0 up to 100 years old).

Women occupy, with 27% worldwide, a large part of the health and beauty market.

La Roche-Posay does not only aim at people with dermatological problems, but also at people without specific problems who just want to protect and take care of their skin.

Some key words that reflects these consumers, and can also be seen as the main values of La Roche-Posay products are: protection, naturality and safety, holistic vision, health management, performance, trust in science, youth and vitality.

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2

ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCE PACK

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS (ONLINE & OFFLINE) Online − Website − Facebook − Twitter − Youtube − Instagram (different accounts / country) − Newsletter − Movies (e.g. become a skin checker) − App o Coucou Doudou LRP (iOs, Android)) o Ma Peau Sensible (iOs, Android) o My Skin Passport (iOs, Android) − Online shop in US Offline − Point-of-sales (drugstores, Spas and medispas, dispensing doctors, e-boutiques, pharmacies, parapharmacies, wholesalers, acd boutiques...)

Decoration in store − Samples − Fidelity card − Promotions (http://www.mazarine.com/la-roche-posay/) − Flyers/posters − Samples − Actions (e.g. kids can design their own bottle) o

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SURVEY

WHY A SURVEY? Before we can get started with our digital strategy, we had to do a thorough analysis of our target group. We had to get a certain insight in the buying motives just as in the needs and desires of the selected audience.

To reach and get an insight in our target group, we decided to set up a survey. It is an easy way to get in touch with a lot of people, for sure the people between the ages of 15 and 25 who are online all the time. We spread the survey via our Facebook-page and to our personal contacts. The participants are mostly known to our company so we can say it is a convenience sample. To get them motivated, we decided to raffle a cinema ticket among the participants.

We based our survey on previous research in the care industry, because those surveys have already proven their worth. We combined several questions of various surveys, customized them for our own research and added questions about the digital dimension. The goal was to get an insight in the target group, the buying motives, the needs and desires and how we can reach them digitally.

We will use the results and insights of our research as the foundation to make a digital strategy.

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SURVEY

ANALYSIS Below we will provide the results from the survey for the youngest age group, being between 15 and 18 years.

Demographics - 92 % female - 58 % is 16 years old Note that our sample consists of 26 subjects, so we have to be careful with generalizing the findings.

Results Off all subjects, 92 % uses beauty and personal care products.

77% is responsible for purchasing their beauty and personal care products, for 54% their parents make the purchases (multiple response question).

Below graphics about daily use (deodorant as must used), important characteristics (quality as most important), and point of sale (supermarket) of beauty and personal care products.

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3

SURVEY

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3

SURVEY

Vichy is the leader when it comes to brand recognition of all brands sold in pharmacies with 89% followed by La Roche Posay with 50%.

Most subjects know La Roche Posay through family, 31 %. 27 % know about La Roche Posay through their pharmacy. Followed by 23 % who uses the brand.

15 % buys products within the category of greasy and acne prone skin. 19 % within the category of dry skin.

Of all subjects, 19 % feels cared by when using the products of La Roche Posay. 15 % feels fresh.

27 % would recommend products of La Roche Posay to their friends, while 19 % of them would recommend it to their family.

The most prevalent image of La Roche Posay is that of a qualitative brand with 35 %, followed by the image of an expensive brand with 19 %.

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3

SURVEY

The most frequently used social media channel is Facebook (92,4 %), followed by Snapchat with 84%.

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3

SURVEY

YouTube channels have the highest percentage of daily visits with 31 %, followed by beauty blogs with 15 %.W These seem to be the two most important channels for this age category.

Of all subjects 40 % actively seeks information online about products on a regular basis.

85 % never buys beauty and personal care products online.

12 % would buy La Roche Posay products online through a webshop if they had the chance.

77 % would install an app that serves as an personal skin care coach.

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3

SURVEY

Implications The share of subjects using beauty and personal care products is high, so it is an important market. Price of these products is an important factor for this age group seeing most of them are responsible for buying the products. Nevertheless that price is important, the quality of the products and their own skin type are important factors in the decision process of buying beauty and personal care products.The findings state that youngsters see La Roche Posay as qualitative, but expensive at the same time.

This may be a problem as most youngsters buy beauty and personal care products themselves. As La Roche Posay is commonly known through the recommendations of family and pharmacists the brand is recognized, however Vichy is more known in the category of brands sold in pharmacies. The most common skin conditions in this age group is either a greasy, acne prone skin or dry skin.

Youngsters use social media a lot. Facebook is number one in daily usage, followed

by Snapchat and Instagram. This indicates a big opportunity in our online marketing strategy: since they are considerably active and present on these channels it is easy to reach them.

A big group actively searches information about products online, yet only a small part actually buys beauty and personal care products online. With the help of proper efforts, this implies there is still a good fortune in stimulating these youngsters to buy online. The idea for an app that would serve as a personal skin care coach gains high support. Given the high appreciation for the personal skin care coach app and the fact that this age groups seeks information about beauty and personal care products online it may be a good idea to implement La Roche Posay product information in the app.

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4

CASE DESCRIPTION

MARKETINGOBJECTIVES

1

The general brand awareness of La Roche-Posay in our target group (youngsters between 15 and 18 years old) has to increase significantly within six months after the launch of the application.

2

La Roche-Posay has to become top-of-mind to youngsters between 15 and 18 years old, a raise of 30 %.

3

The turnover generated by youngsters between 15 and 18 years old has to increase with ten per cent within a year, after the launch of the application.

4

The amount of people responsible for the purchase of beauty products in a household, has to grow with 10 % within three to four months. The goal is that parents motivate their children to use the products of La Roche-Posay.

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CASE DESCRIPTION

SWOT-ANALYSIS

- Unique ingredient: thermal water from the La Roche-Posay fountain.

Strengths

- High quality medical product recommended by dermatologists.

- Known by an ‘older’ generation (parents).They can reflect their knowledge about La Roche-Posay to their children.

- All kinds of skin are covered in the product range of La Roche-Posay.

- Part of a bigger company: L’Oréal.

- Strong market position.

- Expansion of the market segment.

Opportunities

- Quick growth of target audience.

- Health and beauty products are very important nowadays.

- Large group of dermatologists who support La Roche-Posay and offer the product in their practice.

- A ‘cool’ mother-brand: L’Oréal.

- People look for explanations of illnesses and symptoms online.

- Technology (many options to reach the target group).

- The market enjoys experiences.

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CASE DESCRIPTION

- The products are expensive, have an expensive image.

- The products have difficult names.

- (Extremely) big product range.

- The distribution is not adapted to the needs of the present society (e-commerce).

Weaknesses

- The products are not ‘cool’.

- Limited distribution channels.

- ‘Cool’ competitors.

- Skin lesions are a sensitive subject.

- Technological possibilities to avoid online advertising (ad block).

- The market is saturated because of the high number of digital platforms.

Difficult to reach the complete target audience.

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Threats

- Financial limitations in certain segments of the target group.

4

CASE DESCRIPTION

MARKET SEGMENTATION The segmentation is based on age. We chose the element ‘age’ because La Roche-Posay wants to reach youngsters between 15 and 25 years via a digital way.

15 - 18 year

We divided this age group in three categories based on the educational system and the changes this can cause in family-situations and financial budgets.

Secondary school kids.

These youngsters have parents who are responsible for the purchase of beauty products.The parents buy products which they think are good for their children’s healthcare.

The children can have some influence on the purchase of some products. They motivate the parents to buy certain products.

19 - 22 year

College/university kids.

These youngsters are between financial dependence and independence.

Depending on the family setting, financial budgets, living situation… they will decide who is responsible for the purchase of beauty products.

If the parents are responsible, they will often buy products that their children are familiar with, or that they think are appropriate.

If the youngster is responsible for the purchase, they will have to deal with a more limited budget This segment starts at the age of 19 because most students start at college or university in the year they become 19 (except for the students who need an extra year for secondary school). The maximum age is 22 because an average student needs around 4 years to complete their study.

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23 - 25 year

4

CASE DESCRIPTION

Job-applicant/employee Most students graduate around the age of 23. Then they start looking for a job or start working immediately. They are responsible for the purchase of beauty products (unattached from their place of residency, living with their parents or independent). They have a more limited budget because they need to make a lot of financial decisions (purchase of a house, car…).

Additional remarks While developing this segmentation, we took into account the normal traject/path students follow in our society.

There are some exceptions.

- Students who only follow an extra course of 1 year after secondary school.

- Students who start working at the age of 18.

- Student who follow educational programs of longer than 4 year (doctor, dentist…)

- Students who quit college or university.

- Students that are able to complete their study in 3 years.

- Students with different financial budgets (the extreme wealthy or poor people) -…

Within our strategy, we will develop something that will take into account those groups of youngsters.

La Roche-Posay will be able to expand the strategy to all the target groups.

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CASE DESCRIPTION

TARGET AUDIENCE & ANALYSIS L’Oréal wants to create a digital strategy with a focus on people between the age of 15 until 25. This is a big audience which we cannot easily reach with one campaign.

We did a research and based on the outcome, we decided to focus on the youngsters between 15 and 18 years old.

This groups is intensively active on several digital platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Those platforms are necessary to spread the word about the application we want to develop. We can develop the best application in the world, but without a good campaign and strategy, people will never know it exists.

This also concludes the integration of Google AdWords and this strategy can easily be expanded to other audiences (between the age of 19 and 25).

It attracted our attention that this target group is very active online, besides the social media. Most of them visit a website, blog or YouTube channel about personal care every week of month. The research also found that these groups make use of ‘Doctor Google’, which means they look for (care) information and solutions online.

We found one (big) opportunity in our research. The majority of our target group (92 %) is active for more than two hours daily on a smartphone. So we asked them if they were willing to install an application that is a personal coach for the skin. 75 % is willing to do so.

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CASE DESCRIPTION

POSITIONING Accountability position matrix: beauty and personal care brands in general - Based on the question (‘Q7 What brands of personal care products do you know, even just by name?’) we included a top of mind axis (bottom of mind vs. top of mind).

- Based on the question (‘Q7 What brands of personal care products do you know, even just by name?’) we did a price comparison of all brands mentioned.

We included a price range axis (cheap vs. average vs. expensive).

Accountability position matrix: beauty and personal care brands in pharmacy - Based on the price comparison between all brands sold in the pharmacy, we included a price range axis (cheap vs. average vs. expensive).

- Based on recognition asked in the survey, we included a recognition axis (low vs. high).

In the matrix beauty and personal care brands in pharmacy we concluded that Bioderma, Avéne, Eucerin and La Roche Posay are all centered in the matrix. This implies that these brands are direct competitors. They are in the same price range and they have the same quality. More specifically La Roche Posay and Avène both provide thermal water.

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STRATEGY

INTRODUCTION It is time to reveal what we have been working on for those previous 34 pages. All our research leads to this...

THE STRATEGY Based on the desk research, the survey’s results, our brains and a lot of energy, this strategy is what La Roche-Posay is looking for. It is digital, young, innovative but still implements the core of La Roche-Posay. This strategy aims to reach a whole new digital generation. This generation has to know that skinprotection is essential. They have to become the parents of tomorrow, the ones who want the best care for their child and advise undoubtedly La Roche-Posay to their family.

Let us enlighten you.

Cheerful regards, the PIT-members!

Elize

Laurien

Glenn

Debbie

Elise

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STRATEGY

AN APP.... BUT WHY? When youngsters are asked which brands, sold in pharmacies, are familiar to them, 50 % of them indicate La Roche-Posay. It seems the brand recognition of La RochePosay is quite good. However,Vichy is recognized by almost nine out of ten youngsters, ranking first. That is why it is important to firstly focus on increasing brand awareness amongst youngsters. Indeed, youngsters primarely need to get to know La RochePosay and subsequently, they should gain a favourable attitude towards the brand.

Only then, there is the ability to increase sales.

Moreover, it is of great importance to take into account youngsters’ parents. Although almost 80 % of the youngsters purchase their own beauty and personal care products, in more than half of the cases, parents are also responsible for buying these products for their children. Given the fact that parents mostly have an income, contrary to their offspring, it is a great opportunity to target them in this online marketing strategy as well. Indeed, parents always try to make sure their kids have the best care, and in this sense, La Roche-Posay may meet this need by the fact the brand provides qualitative, caring products. Furthermore, especially youngsters are price sensitive as they can only appeal on pocket money. Again, parents may fill up this gap by purchasing beauty and personal care products for their children.

It should also be mentioned that 85 % of the youngsters never buy beauty and personal care products online, which doesn’t give a lot of support to set up an online web shop. Yet, four out of ten actively seeks information about beauty and personal care products on a regular basis. This stresses the fact that youngsters are eager to learn more about health caring brands.

So, how to make youngsters aware that La Roche-Posay is a great brand for their skin conditions? How to convince parents of purchasing La Roche-Posay products for their children? In this online marketing strategy, the key element is gamification.

Nowadays youngsters are considerably attached to their smartphone. Additionally, they are great fans of exploring apps: almost 80 % is willing to install an app that serves as a personal skin care coach. Hence, La Roche-Posay may anticipate on this by launching an app which eventually (1) creates brand awareness and (2) stimulates them to buy the their products, or at least try to convince their parents to buy them. However, before this can be achieved, youngsters should be triggered to use this app. Therefore, the app should be fun, easy to use, and fast.

In what follows, the app’s features will be extensively explained.

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WE PRESENT TO YOU: MR. & MRS. POSAY! Our digital marketing strategy for La Roche-Posay is based on an app named ‘ Mr. & Mrs. Posay’. Through this app, a higher brand awareness for La Roche-Posay will be created. This is necessary since the research stated that the brand awareness for brands like Vichy is higher in comparison.

The app is based on the principle of gamification.

After downloading the app, users can either sign up through Facebook by linking the app to this account or through their e-mail address. When signing up through Facebook, information like name, gender and age is automatically gathered. This information can be collected in a database and be usefull in the future for other marketing purposes. Also the user can benefit from this because since marketing will become more personalised. However, the app will not have any authority to publish anything on user’s wall. When users sign up through their e-mail address they will have to provide information like their name, gender and age themselves.

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After creating an account, the user can customize his or her own avatar. They can choose the eye colour, hair colour, skin colour, clothes, their jaw shape, nose and mouth. Then they will have to indicate what their skin type is through some questions.

Skin types include: dry skin, oily skin, sensitive skin, normal skin, combination skin (dry or normal cheeks with oily T-zone). Afterwards they also have to indicate the specific problems their skin suffers from: acne, flaky patches, eczema, psoriasis, burn wounds, couperosis or no problems.

Even though most La Roche-Posay products are designed for specific skin problems like eczema, psoriasis, acne, etc. the app (and certain product ranges) can still be used when this is not the case. When users indicate they don’t have any specific skin problems they will receive the following message: “Good, but it remains important to take good care of your skin to avoid problems in the future and to keep it healthy!

That’s what this app can help you with.

Get ready to learn more about your skin :-)”

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In the case of specific skin problems users will have to indicate the places on their avatar where they suffer and also indicate the intensity through the use of a slider.

After doing this they will get the following message: “No panic, this app can help you take care of your avatar’s skin and yours.

Help your avatar with taking care of his/her skin and we will provide you with loads of tips and tricks :-).”

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As stated before, the app is based around the principle of gamification. Not only is the avatar an implementation of this principle, but users can also play small games to earn badges. These games include: - Putting on make-up and nail polish - Popping out pimples - Depending on the weather, they will get specific tasks to fulfill: when the sun is shining, users will have to make sure their avatars are wearing sun protection.

- Getting their avatar out of a burning house to prevent burn wounds - Catching as many falling La Roche-Posay products as possible in a basket - Cleaning as many faces as possible within a set time - ...

It is important to mention that the games can be played over and over again.

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With the help of these games users will be able to earn badges they can pin on the clothes of their avatar. After each game, the relevant products will be mentioned and it will be possible to add them to a personal wish list. They can create this wish list by adding products described in tips, tricks and used in the mini-games.

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When the person allowed the app to locate their location while being active, GPS location will be shared. This way it is possible to display all points of sale close to the person.

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A complete overview of the functionalities can be found in the home screen.

Through Facebook there is also access to events one is attending. That way the skin coach in the app can give practical tips like: (Example is made for a person with a sensitive skin) “You are attending a party Friday. Awesome! We hope you have something nice to wear. Make sure you don’t forget to take care of your skin either.

Use make-up for a sensitive skin.”

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“When you come home, don’t forget to take of your make-up and clean your face, it helps to prevent wrinkles.”

The content of the notifications will be based on the skin type the person indicated will editing their avatar.

After these tips they will be able to view the recommended products and add them to their personal wish list.

In the app they can also create their own calendar or import the calender from their mobile phone. For example, they can schedule their holiday trip to a sunny destination. That way the app can also give advice regarding sunscreen and so on.

The tips will be directed to protecting your skin, depending on the kind of trip you are taking.

In order to avoid annoyance that originates from too many notifications the users will be able to set the level of notifications he/she wants to receive.

The app is available in the App store, Google Play store and the Windows store.

It will be updated regulary. The avatars will get Christmas clothes when december arrives. When it is someone’s birthday, the avatar will congratulate the user.

It is also possible to update the app when you aim at other target groups. For example, the avatar will grow older when someone older then 20 is using the app.

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“CONTENT IS FIRE...

...SOCIAL MEDIA IS GASOLINE.�

- Jay Baer

How do we launch the application?

We will use social media to tease, launch and promote the application. The results of our research show us that youngsters between 15 and 18 years old actively use social media. That is why we want to use this in our digital communication strategy.

Facebook Facebook has now over one billion people actively using the platform every month.

Facebook Advertising is an easy way to target people by age, gender, location and interests. The audience can be narrow (youngsters) or broad (youngsters and their parents). Facebook makes sure that people only see relevant advertisements based on their personal interests and characteristics. It is an efficient and powerful way to reach customers. This social platform is most frequently used on a daily base as by 92,4 % of the youngsters between 15 and 18 years old.

La Roche-Posay has an active Facebook-page with over 2.4 million likes. It uses the platform in a great way, as the brand posts regularly and reacts on people asking questions in the comment section. We want to make sure La Roche-Posay maintains this activity.

Next to the regular Facebook-page, there are several options to advertise: - Boost your posts - Promote your page - Send people to your website - Increase conversions on your website - Get installs of your app - Increase engagement in your app - Reach people near your business - Raise attendance at your event - Get people to claim your offer - Get video views Source: www.facebook.com

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Via the advertising possibilities, the La Roche-Posay Facebook page can reach a bigger audience, with of course specific characteristics in mind. The youngsters are easiest to target, based on their age. The parents are more difficult, as not all parents have the same characteristics and not all adults have children. That is why we want to base this on family-information that is shared on Facebook. It is possible for users to link their profile with family like: parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, nephews, etc. With this information, we can specifically target parents with children in a specific agecategory.

Instagram Instagram has over 400 million monthly active accounts and is part of the Facebook company. This explains why the advertising option is linked to a Facebook account and has the exact same options to target an audience.This visual platform is important because 81 % of the youngsters between 15 and 18 years old uses it on a daily base.

La Roche-Posay has an active Instagram page with over 80,000 followers. We suggest the same advice as on the Facebook page: keep this profile active and interact with the audience when required (answering a question for example). The content cannot be the exact same as on Facebook, because every platform has to offer something unique. We suggest to post high quality pictures in which the brand is integrated. This will expand the social media experience of the followers.

Besides the regular page, there are several options to advertise: - Image ads: this looks like a normal picture in the newsfeed. Only the word “sponsored” and possible call-to-action-button give away that it is an advertisement - Video ads: video advertisements can be up to 30 seconds in length - Carrousel ads: the limit is four images and you can add a link that is put under the “Learn More”-button - Link ads: this type is mainly intended to redirect traffic from Instagram to your own website. There is a call-to-action-button built-in in the image, which makes the entire image clickable. For Link ads, you can choose from these call-toaction-buttons: Book now, Contact us, Download, Learn More, Shop Now, Sign Up and Watch More.

- Mobile App Install ads: this is the best choice to get your application more downloaded. Here, the entire picture is clickable and redirects the user to the app-store. The call-to-action-buttons are the same as with the Link ads.

Source: https://business.instagram.com/advertising/

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The target possibilities are the same as on Facebook. That is why we suggest to use them in the same way on Instagram.

Youtube YouTube has one billion active users each month. In our target audience, people between 15 and 18 years old, 31 % says to visit YouTube channels daily and 35 % at least monthly.

La Roche-Posay has its own YouTube channel with over 3600 subscribers. There is a problem: the channel has only content in the French language. Because of that, it is difficult to reach a broad, international audience. We highly suggest to make a new channel with English content, but there is another way. It is possible in YouTube to deliver subtitles. We suggest to add at least the English translation so people can still watch the content and understand it.

As for the advertising possibilities, there is this: - Display ads: appears right of the feature video and above the video suggestions list. For larger players, this ad may appear below the player. It can only be seen on desktops.

- Overlay ads: semi-transparent overlay ads that appear on the lower 20 % portion of the video. It can only be seen on desktops.

- Skippable video ads: these ads allow viewers to skip ads after five seconds, if they choose. Inserted before, during, or after the main video. This can be seen on desktops, mobile devices, TVs and game consoles.

- (Long) Non-skippable video ads: non-skippable video ads must be watched before your video can be viewed. This takes 15 or 20 seconds, depending on regional standards. The long version can be up to 30 seconds in length. These ads can appear before, during, or after the main video. This can be seen on desktops and mobile devices.

Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/

Now, having the ability to advertise is one thing. We also need to know how we can target: - Demographic groups: choose the age, gender, and parental status of the audience you want to reach.

- Interests: pick from available categories to reach people interested in these topics, even when they may be visiting pages about other topics.

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Affinity audiences: raise brand awareness and drive consideration with your TrueView video ads by reaching people who already have a strong interest in relevant topics. o Custom affinity audiences: here, you can create audiences that are more tailored to your brands, compared to the broad, TV-like affinity audiences. o In-market audiences: select from these audiences to find customers who are researching products and actively considering buying a service or product like those you offer.

- Video remarketing: reach viewers based on their past interactions with your videos, TrueView ads or YouTube channel. If you have linked your YouTube account to your AdWords account already, YouTube can create custom lists automatically.

- Placements: target unique channels, websites, or placements within them.

For example, you can target an entire high traffic blog or the homepage of a popular news site. Placements include: o Channels (YouTube Partner Channels) o Videos (YouTube Videos) o Sites (Display Network – includes YouTube.com as a publisher site) o

- Topics: target your video ads to specific topics on YouTube and the Display Network. Topic targeting lets you reach a broad range of videos, channels, and websites related to the topics you select. For example, you target to the “Automotive” topic, then you ad will show on YouTube to people watching videos about cars.

- Keywords: depending on your video ad format, you can show your video ads based on words or phrases—keywords—related to a YouTube video, YouTube channel, or type of website that your audience is interested in.

Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/

So, how can we apply these target possibilities to La Roche-Posay?

- Demographic groups: YouTube offers the ability to target based on age and parental status. This is exactly what we need, compared to the target-options we used in Facebook and Instagram. That way it is possible to target parents and youngsters based on their age in an effective way.

- Interests, topics and keywords: we can target based on skin care or even health problems in general, but also beauty for the make-up products. When using this, we will reach a much broader audience than only the demographic targeting.

- Placements: we can target a high traffic blog about skin care or a popular youngster website.

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Blogs

Another option is to ask bloggers and influencers to use the application and talk about it. They could write an article or make a video and share it with their fan base.

This is interesting because 15 % of the youngsters between 15 and 18 years old says to visit beauty blogs every day and 19 % on a monthly base.

Snapchat It is the second most used social platform: 84 % of the youngsters between 15 and 18 years old say they use the application on a daily base. There is no option to use Snapchat in a commercial way to push content towards a specific audience (yet).

We could make an account and use it as a pull-platform, but that would take away the attention of our core-idea: the application. The cost and effort to create content for this platform wouldn’t weigh up to the benefits, since content is only displayed for 24 hours on Snapchat. That is why we will not integrate it in our strategy.

Increasing likes and content So how can we integrate social media in the digital communication strategy of La Roche-Posay? It is important to firstly increase the likes, before La Roche-Posay focuses on sharing content. Then the next question pops up: how can La RochePosay increase the number of likes?

In order to motivate people to like La Roche Posay on social media the company can set up a campaign where every new like of their page results in a charity donation.

The same goes for downloads of the ‘Mr. & Mrs. Posay’ app. More concretely, La RochePosay will donate € X (amount can be decided) to a charity organization.This charity organization will be their own Atopy Schools. In this way, the brand can increase awareness regarding skin conditions. La Roche-Posay can set up a whole campaign around “For every like, X euros to charity”. After the number of likes has increased, the brand can share content via those social media pages, reaching a high amount of people (including youngsters and their parents). We truly believe including a charity will motivate people to like brand pages.

But now, what content do we want to deliver through the several social media platforms? We surely cannot forget our central goal: to tease, launch and promote the application.

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We want to create a clip with our application-avatar in the lead. There will be a male and a female version and it will go like this: the avatar wants to socialize with friends and do fun things with them. But it feels sad and unsure because of skin problems. That is when it decides not to participate in social life anymore. It goes to the bathroom instead to check how bad its skin is. There it sees a La Roche-Posay product that can help it with its skin problem. It tries the product and makes him feel better and more confident. It becomes happy again and decides not to let its skin problem take him/her down. It will participate in social life again and do all the fun stuff it wants because it feels happy and confident again.

In a later stage, we can expand this clip with a continuation where the avatar gets to know someone. It falls in love but the other avatar has the same problem: a skin problem that makes it very unsure about itself. Then the one avatar can help the other out by giving a La Roche-Posay product to help solving the problem. In the end they are in love and have a happy life together.

All of the above has to be integrated in one digital plan before the launch to make sure it succeed.

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“THINK ABOUT THE PARENTS...

...THEY PASSED SCHOOL WITHOUT GOOGLE” The results of the survey showed us that the parents are mostly responsible for buying beauty- and healthproducts for our target group. As we also stated in our SWOTanalysis, the parents ‘teach’ their kids what products to use.

So it is of great importance to integrate the parents in the strategy for La Roche-Posay.

They have to be a skin-checker for their child (cf. Campaign with Dalmatian puppies).

And the app will help them to become a good skin-checker.

To reach the parents, we have worked out a online and offline plan.

Offline The app will be promoted in different points-of-sale because it is the parents who go to the pharmacy to buy new products. The problem is that they most of the time go with a prescription and don’t look around to see if they need something else. They have a certain goal when they enter the pharmacy and that is not always ‘buying products from La Roche-Posay’.

It is clear that La Roche-Posay has to stand out between all the other POScommunication from other brands. That is why we want to integrate the app in pharmacies and other POSs. First of all, we want to make them aware that there’s an app. We want to put stickers on the windows that will present the app via Mr. and Mrs. Posay.

An example:

create your own Mr & mrs posay character!

LA ROCHE POSAY

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We also want to place shelfs with ipad in the pharmacy where the app will be presented. While waiting, the kids and parents can try out the app. Via QR-codes it will be able to download the app immediately. There will also be flyers available for parents who don’t have the time to download the app but still would like some more information.

This way we can combine the products and the digital strategy in one place at one moment.

It is also possible to integrate this in the offices of dermatologists, hospitals and other place where La Roche-Posay is present.

Online The online strategy as explained above, is not only effective for our target group (youngsters between 15 and 18 years old). The parents can also be reached via social media.

The charity that will be sponsored through likes on Facebook is something we want to touch parents with. It is always painful to see other children suffer and you automatically imagine your child being in the same position. As a good parent, you would like to help your child. That way they are more eager to like the Facebook page, support the app and become a skin-checker for their own child.

It is generally know that grown ups have become familiar with social media and web 2.0. They are present on different platforms (Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram...) So all the actions La Roche-Posay will reach the parents as well.

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QUOTES We have already run our ideas by some persons in our target group. Their feedback, ideas and comments helped us to refine our ideas.

Some quotes...

re that u s e k a cool. Maunched. o s g “Om p will be l !” this ap ly awesome - Lisa (15) l It’s rea

“I wou messa ld like to re c get ov ges but I d eive perso na on er one notific ’t want to l ation a - Bren day.” t (17) to check p p a e th e s “I would u ight products for my r if I use the ) skin.”

- Emilie (16

use, I would to n fu is “If the app commend it to my definitely re - Sara (17) friends.”

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CONCLUSION

So the basic of our strategy is: an app supported by social media and point-of-sale communication. But it is all about the details.

We hope you enjoyed reading this strategy and that you will be inspired to develop this idea further.

See you soon!

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APPENDIX

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APPENDIX

TABLE WITH THE COMPETITION ANALYSIS AND PRICE RANGE

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APPENDIX

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APPENDIX

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APPENDIX

SURVEY Hello We are 5 students who study communication at the University of Ghent. During our master we participate in the L’Oréal Brandstorm. For this, we need your help. We kindly ask you to fill out the complete survey. This only takes five minutes and by doing this you have a chance in winning a movie ticket when you reach the end.

We guarantee your privacy and the information you provide us won’t reach any third parties.

So quickly continue and help us get to the finals in Paris!

Merci beaucoup!/ Thanks a lot!

Want to know more?

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PITcommunications/ Or surf to our website: http://pitcommunications.wix.com/plantyourbrand

Q1 Do you use beauty –or personal care products?

- Yes - No If No Is Selected, Then Skip To “What brands of personal care products do you know, even just by name?”

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Q2 How often do you use following products?

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Q4 What characteristics do you find important for personal care products?

• Brand • Packaging • Price • Skin type • Quality • Ingredients • Selling points • Image/ advertising • Other: ____________________ Q5 Who is responsible for purchasing your beauty –and personal care products?

• Myself • Parents • Friend • Someone else: …

Q6 Where do you (or this other person) buy these products?

• Pharmacy • Parapharmacy (vb. IU) • Drugstores • Supermarket • Department store (vb. Inno) • Other: ____________________ Q7 What brands of personal care products do you know, even just by name? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Q8 Which brands that are being sold in pharmacies do you know?

• Vichy • La Roche-Posay • Avène • Eucerin • Cetaphil • Bioderma • Nuxe • Sebamed • Caudalie • Liérac • Bepanthol • Other: ____________________

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Q9 Do you know La Roche-Posay ?

- Yes - No If No Is Selected, Then Skip To ‘How often do you use following devices?”

Q10 How do you know about La Roche-Posay?

• Through family • Through friends • Through advertising • Through the pharmacy • Throught the dermatologist • Because I use the products • Online (through websites, Facebook…)

• Other: ____________________ Q11 Do you sometimes use products from La Roche-Posay?

- Yes - No If No Is Selected, Then Skip To “What’s the image you have about La Roche-Posay?”

Q12 Within which categories do you buy products?

• Greasy, acne-prone skin • Allergic, dry skin • Psoriasis, flaky skin • Intolerant, allergy-prone skin • Red skin/couperose • Dried out, allergic skin • Anti-aging • Pigmentation • Irritated skin • Hair, scalp and face • Sunsensitive skin • Correcting make-up

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Q13 When I use products from La Roche-Posay, I feel…

• Protected - Safe • Natural • Young, energetic • Luxurious • Cared for • Fresh • Healthy • Hip • Pretty • Balanced • Other: ____________________ Q14 Would you recommend the products from la Roche-Posay to…

• Friends • Family • Online (eg. forum) • I wouldn’t recommend them Q15 What is the image you have from La Roche-Posay?

• Trendy • Expensive • Classic • Boring, dull • Complicated, complex • Young • Natural • Protecting • Qualitative • Other: ____________________ Q16 How often do you use following devices:

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Q17 How often do you use following social media channels:

Q18 How often do you visit following websites about beauty and personal care:

Q19 Do you search for information concerning beauty –and personal care products online?

- Never - Seldom: once a year - Sometimes: once every half year - Regularly: once each month - Often: 1 to 3 times a month - Very often: more than once a week - Daily Q20 you purchase beauty –and personal care products online?

- Never - Seldom: once a year - Sometimes: once every half year - Regularly: once each month - Often: 1 to 3 times a month - Very often: more than once monthly

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Q21 If La Roche-Posay would have an online webshop, would you order products through it?

- Yes - No

Q22 If an app would exist that acts like a personal coach for your skin, would you install this app?

- Yes - No

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Keep it green, keep it on the screen.

Master of communication science(communication management) School year: 2015 - 2016 Course: marketing communication Contest: L’OrÊal Brandstorm 2016 Group 1

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