L'Oreal's Temporary P-O-P Fashioned for Attention

"What we hope to accomplish with promotional displays is product trial," says Laurie Houlihan, director of promotional purchasing and production for L'Oreal Inc.'s cosmetic and fragrance division. "A woman is introduced to and buys a mascara from a counter display, and we hope when she comes back to purchase it again, she'll go to the wall and look for it there."Houlihan directs the development of promotional displays for all L'Oreal cosmetics, fragrances and skin care products. Her efforts are in sync with those of L'Oreal's permanent merchandising department, headed by Paul Kolenik, assistant vice president of merchandising.If "the wall" is considered the primary display location for L'Oreal products in the store, then an on-counter, promotional display is an equally important secondary site. (L'Oreal's newly introduced permanent display wall, System 2000, was featured in the March P-O-P Times, Page 20.)Houlihan says product promotions are planned annually by L'Oreal's marketing staff, and on-counter displays are most often part of those plans."We know in advance that we're going to have, for example, a spring shade promotion or a mascara month, where all the mascaras will be promoted on a display on the counter," she explains. "So I know in advance what is planned for the year, but often there will be some changes or additions, such as new products."In that case, promotional displays serve to trumpet their arrival. "A month before a new product is launched, we'll have a trial-size display to create some excitement and get people to try it," Houlihan says. And again, the hope is that repeat purchases will be made at the shelf or the wall.Display themes tie in closely with L'Oreal advertising. For spring, a "Rethink Pink" promotion was planned, emphasizing pink shades in lip and nail products.Seasonal EffortsShade promotions are held four times a year: spring, summer, fall and holiday. Houlihan says L'Oreal's advertising agency and in-house creative department are also involved in promotion planning. As a result, the same images used in advertising will appear on the display for a promotion."It's important that consumers see a visual in a magazine and then again on the permanent and promotional displays in a store," Houlihan says. "It reinforces our image."On a plastic counter display, that image must be presented in a small amount of space. "If it's too large, accounts will throw it away," Houlihan points out. "But we always try to have an upscale-looking unit that shows off the product, because the display is really there to make the product stand out."Unlike permanent displays, L'Oreal's promotional displays are considered successful when they last only a short time in stores. If they sell out in a month, L'Oreal is pleased, and the displays are not usually refilled.In addition to plastic counter units, L'Oreal provides its accounts with other promotional merchandising materials as well."Our biggest promotional push is at Christmas," Houlihan says. "We have a lot of gift sets at that time, and we'll supply accounts with shelf paper and endcap signs, and recommend that they use them on an endcap. We do that frequently for our fragrances, Vanderbilt and Chaps, that have several promotions throughout the year."Account SpecificL'Oreal also frequently tailors promotions to specific accounts. Houlihan says a merchandising technique popular for those now are "sidekicks," space-saving corrugated cardboard units that hang from the side of an endcap. They can be designed to hold fragrance packages, cosmetics or Plenitude products. "In some cases, we're combining Plenitude and cosmetics in one unit," she adds.The design and development of a promotional display can take up to several months, says Houlihan. "A lot of account presentations are made six to nine months before delivery," she explains. "So we have to have displays in the development stage to show accounts then, so our sales force can sell them in."Retailers as well as L'Oreal's own sales force offer input on display design, but Houlihan relies on her suppliers most heavily for help with a display's design. Given preliminary sketches, vendors will come back with models that are refined until a final design is selected."Sometimes we'll come up with a [design] and try to carry it through the whole year. That way, L'Oreal has a consistent look on the counter for the year," she notes.Houlihan says she uses a few main suppliers repeatedly, primarily to hold down tooling and manufacturing costs. Promotional displays for skin care and cosmetics products created last year by two often-used L'Oreal suppliers, Ultimate Display and Display Producers, won a total of five awards for the company in the 1991 POPAI OMA competition.Display runs for L'Oreal's fragrance, skin care and cosmetics promotions range from 10,000 to 15,000 depending on the type of promotion, Houlihan says."I think over the past few years we've been using more [promotional displays]," she says. "We've wanted to have a presence in drug stores, where there are so many impulse purchases."A second location is extremely important," she explains. "It's a way of making sure you're in front of the customer."

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

You May Also Like

AD Retail Media’s Transition In-House

L’Oreal Paris Gives Walmart a Hair Purifying Exclusive