L'Oreal, a leading beauty and cosmetics company, has recently expressed its ambition to more than double its Indian business and banks its bank in the rapidly growing beauty market led by burgeoning middle-income households. L'Oreal's Global Chief Digital and Marketing Head Asmita Dubey is based at Paris headquarters and shaping beauty behemoth's marketing and digital strategy when the AI wave is disrupting industry and consumer behavior. In exclusive chat BusinessLineDubey jumped into the rapidly evolving Indian market where consumers use more subtle beauty languages and L'Oreal uses the way they use AI to engage more deeply with consumers.
L'Oreal was bullish in the Indian beauty market. How is it evolving and how are you taking advantage of this possibility?
We are very bullish and optimistic about India due to the rising middle class, already with 237 million addressable targets and are growing rapidly. Indian society is evolving in a variety of areas, among other aspects, in terms of growth in abundance and gender equality. Consumers are using more subtle language for beauty for the accessibility promoted by digital platforms, which has led to increased expertise in terms of routines and ingredients in the Indian market. While premiumization is occurring, the market is expanding overall, so value is also focused on.
For beauty consumers, four of five of today's top touchpoints are digital. So this is a market where we are innovating in a variety of areas. Speaking of driving awareness and seeing the increase in adoption of connected televisions can actually help consumers see all kinds of content, especially slang, and promote more engagement. At the same time, social commerce is growing domestically, and WhatsApp is huge in India. This is unique to markets like India and Brazil. And there's content you can shop for. Fast commercial transactions are on the rise. All of these areas have evolved. At the same time, we are using India's large open innovation ecosystem and are beginning to work with Indian startups.
How are AI, Generator AI and Agent AI restructuring your strategy globally? Are you launching something specific to the Indian market?
AI is disrupting consumer travel and marketing value chains. We are fully committed to our social-first brand building strategy. We work with over 70,000 influencers to leverage AI to provide more immersive experiences for consumers. When consumers are overwhelmed by the increase in options. L'Oreal Paris has launched a personal beauty assistant powered by Agent AI, which provides all product knowledge in a conversational way. The L'Oreal Paris beauty genius answers all consumer questions and gives personal diagnosis and recommendations. Already, nearly 400,000 conversations have been taking place on US sites. This allows for greater engagement with consumers, increased average basket size, and achieved even higher conversion rates. We will also partner with Meta to bring Beauty Genius to WhatsApp. We're still going into detail, but we're considering launching it in India.
How is AI reshaping consumers' buying behavior? And what kind of innovation are you bringing to that space?
There are changes in consumer purchasing behavior. NOLI (“Nobody Me”) is the first AI-powered multi-brand marketplace startup founded and supported by L'Oréal Groupe, reinventing how people discover beauty and shop. Nori draws on the L'Oreal Group's unparalleled beauty technology leadership, century of beauty expertise, and extensive knowledge of beauty science and consumer insights. It functions as an AI beauty matchmaker that can get through noise. Using powerful AI diagnostics and tools built from over 1 million skin data points, and analyzing thousands of product formulations, NOLI deciphers each user's beauty profile and matches product recommendations delivered to your door. Noli will unveil the AI refinery in collaboration with Nvidia AI Enterprise software, built with Nvidia AI Enterprise software and available on Microsoft Azure.
There is growing calls for an ethical and responsible framework for AI. What is your opinion?
We develop specific expertise in AI. To ensure reliability, there are seven principles that govern AI products that are put on the market. They need to monitor humans. They must be fair to ensure there is inclusiveness and expression. It should be more transparent than anything. When creating materials, formulas, products, backgrounds, backshots, or all this content featuring codes and beauty possibilities for new beauty. However, we do not use AI-generated face, body, hair or skin to enhance the benefits of the product. Ensure that we adhere to all responsible media and advertising guidelines, including influencer marketing. We are the global beauty company, the fourth largest advertiser in the world, with a portfolio of 37 brands. We are committed to using new technology responsibly.
Several markets around the world have witnessed markets that slow and calm consumer sentiment. How can digitalization help shape your marketing strategy during these unstable times?
For a variety of reasons, there is a mix of consumer confidence indexes all over the world. On the one hand, the market has experienced minimization, while on the other hand, value remains a core driver beyond price range. Therefore, we offer products and brands that offer a variety of price suggestions. We have brands for all age groups, all sociodemographics, all categories, and we do beauty for everyone
In this scenario, digitalization democratizes access to beauty and enables personalization. We can also tailor our locally relevant and resonate with our audience and cultural and social language. Therefore, technology allows for the spread of culture and creates new cultures. Like what you'll find in the short video culture, or influencer culture, led by Tiktok and Reels. This allows you to interact with more people in a more relevant and more personalized way. Our goal is to use all these levers to focus on unparalleled consumer engagement.
