To conclude a successful 31st edition of Brandstorm, L’Oréal hosted the grand final of its global immersive learning competition on June 16 at Viva Technology in Paris. From 92,000 participants, 10 finalist teams have been selected, coming from Brazil, Chile, France, India, Kenya, Middle-East, China, Taiwan, Spain & Portugal and Malaysia. The Top 3 finalists pitched in front of L’Oréal’s senior executives at leading tech conference Viva Technology, where the Brandstorm 2023 winner was announced live.
The annual program, powered by Agorize, sets out to activate early talent around the world to make an impact that will be felt in the future. The 2023 Mission: “Crack the new codes of beauty. your playing field: AI, AR, VR & the Metaverse” challenged young innovators to submit their ideas for creating the beauty of the future, with sustainability and inclusivity in mind. Participants simultaneously entered a EOCCS*-certified learning journey, L’Oréal enabling them to acquire real-life business skills through teamwork, access to digital tools and learning materials.
*EOCCS – EFMD Online Course Certification System”
Realizing change in the beauty industry
L’Oréal Brandstorm is one of the biggest innovation programs of its kind. It is one of the pioneers of global business games. Since its inception in 1992, more than 600,000 students and young entrepreneurs have participated. In 2022 alone, more than 83,000 people from 65 countries registered to attend.
L’Oréal calls for ideas and entrepreneurial talents that can make a lasting impact on the beauty industry. Participants entered a 20 week-long program of e-learning and developed their ideas with support from local L’Oréal experts.
Innovation programs like Brandstorm offer essential insights into a brand’s core existing and future audience. It reveals which topics, products and offers interest their audiences, but equally as important, it illustrates their expectations of the brand. With generations like Millennials and Gen Z, this is an increasing must for those that intend to continuously engage with their customers. These expectations can cover a broad range of topics, think of diversity and inclusion, impact on climate change and digitalization. Some of them have been cleverly integrated in Brandstorm.
Collective intelligence fosters innovation and efficient recruitment
While not the main objective, L’Oréal engages so many talents through Brandstorm that it hires many, beyond the winning teams, at one of the L’Oréal offices.
Brandstorm illustrates the effectiveness of innovation programs to attract talent and assess their fit to the company. All through engaging them on future-defining topics and strengthening the employer brand over an extended period of time. It is a true example of leveraging collective intelligence to become a company that is built to last. According to Universum World’s Most Attractive Employers, this initiative contributes to making L’Oréal one of the most attractive brands.
“Every year, between 150 and 200 people are hired by the Group thanks to Brandstorm. The competition has considerably evolved to better meet the expectations of the young participants, as well as the Group’s current recruitment needs and its position as a Beauty Tech Company, which requires an increasingly wide range of skills and diversified profiles.” – Jean-Claude Le Grand, L’Oréal Executive Vice-President Human Relations
Those interested in following Brandstorm 2023, can access their website here.
In June 2023, L’Oréal announced ‘Caring 4 Beauty’ team as the winner of Brandstorm 2023, L’Oréal’s global, immersive learning competition for youth under 30. ‘Caring 4 Beauty’ won for their concept, URMODEL, inspired by the theme, ‘Crack The New Codes of Beauty’, referencing technology’s growing influence across the beauty industry.
Agorize is proud to support this initiative with its innovation management platform connected to a unique community of 5 million innovators. Founded in 2011, Agorize helps global enterprise companies accelerate the innovation process from concept to full-scale implementation. Agorize’s 300 clients uncover value-creating ideas and talent using the most comprehensive innovation management platform, connected to a community of innovators and supported by a team of experts.
