Beauty & Wellness Briefing: L’Oréal Group partners with The New York Times to shift consumer perception of beauty 

L’Oréal Group, the largest cosmetics conglomerate in the world, is on a mission to change consumer perception of beauty through a content partnership and advertising campaign with The New York Times.

The project includes three distinct parts: a new podcast narrated by Italian-American actress and model Isabella Rossellini titled “This Is Not a Beauty Podcast,” a new journalism series and digital vertical called “Face Value,” and an advertising campaign supporting both. 

The project was inspired by years of research on the consumer perception of beauty that informed a yet-to-be-published book called “The Essentiality of Beauty,” written over the past few years by L’Oréal staffers including Blanca Juti, chief corporate affairs and engagement officer, and her team. 

“I’m an anthropologist, so I understand that beauty has always been important in every time period and in every culture, but it was important to speak to multi-disciplinary teams to understand what beauty is all about [today],” L’Oréal Group’s Juti told Glossy. “And of course, it starts with a question: ‘Is beauty superficial?’ — which is what a lot of people think.” 

The book is based on data, analysis and interviews with historians, sociologists, anthropologists, doctors, beauticians and other experts, which provided insights into the role of beauty and how it impacts consumer behaviors across cultures. “The Essentiality of Beauty” has been distilled for online consumption but not publicly released in its entirety. There are currently no plans to publish the book. Today, it serves as an internal tool for L’Oréal Group’s team, which oversees prestige brands like Lancôme, Kiehl’s and Urban Decay, as well as mass lines including L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline and Garnier. 

L’Oréal Group is consistently ranked as the largest cosmetics conglomerate in the world, ahead of P&G and Estée Lauder Companies. The conglomerate reported more than $8.9 billion in revenue for 2023. 

Fresh off the completion of the book, in May, Juti had lunch with the NYT CEO Meredith Kopit Levien at the Cannes Lions Film Festival, where L’Orèal is a sponsor, and the two brainstormed the bones of the partnership. 

“We wanted to speak to those people who don’t normally think about [beauty],” Juti told Glossy. “This is not about L’Oréal; it’s to talk about beauty and the importance of beauty.” 

Juti added that the primary audience target is men and women who are unfamiliar with the economic, political and cultural role and reach of the beauty industry. 

“Part of L’Oréal’s mission is to help beauty be better understood, and the New York Times’ mission is to help people better understand the world, so it worked well together,” said Raquel Bubar, managing director of T Brand Studio International, the NYT’s branded arm that produced the podcast. 

Bubar and her team started working on the project in January, with podcast production running through the summer. The NYT’s new vertical “Face Value” launched in May. “Face Value” is part of the NYT’s digital Style section and features banner ads from L’Oréal Group, but it’s independently managed by the NYT editorial team. The vertical is populated by features that intersect with beauty and appearance that are written by reporters covering science, tech, business, sports, health and technology, among other beats. 

The podcast’s six episodes, which air every two weeks through December, focus on similar topic intersections. The first episode, titled “Leaving a mark,” centers on the role of beauty in politics and history. Host Rossellini shares several personal stories to accompany breakout segments told through in-depth conversations between NYT journalists and Michelle Obama’s longtime makeup artist, Carl Ray; anthropologist Lars Krutak; and world-renowned, 107-year-old tattoo artist Apo Whang-Od.

On October 1, one day after the podcast’s first episode was published, the podcast ranked in the top 100 global podcasts at spot 95, according to Chartable. 

One thing the podcast won’t discuss or promote, however, is L’Oréal’s lineup of brands or range of products. “It’s supposed to be very unbranded,” the NYT’s Bubar told Glossy. “[L’Oréal is on] a mission to talk about a topic, rather than themselves. [L’Oréal will] have other ways to talk about its products and its services, but this isn’t it — and that’s what’s cool about it. It’s going to encourage a lot of people to listen without being turned off by being sold something. [Instead, listeners are] being sold truth, clarity and some interesting ways to think about a new subject.” 

Whereas “This Is Not a Beauty Podcast” falls under the publisher’s custom content and is created with L’Oréal Group’s input and goals in mind, “Face Value” is an aggregation of ongoing stories independently created by the NYT’s editorial team. 

“It is a whole new body of journalism that New York Times journalists are [tackling] focused on how beauty is involved in other types of culture,” said Bubar. “It’s very separate [from the branded podcast]. … We have a church-and-state approach.” 

Recent content topics found on “Face Value” include coverage of teen beauty trends, cosmetic surgery and the self-care practices of older Americans. Banner ads that accompany this content kick readers to a landing page on L’Oréal Group’s website featuring insights into beauty’s role in society through topics like the natural hair movement, self-expression and acceptance. 

L’Oréal Group and the NYT plan to measure the success of the podcast through listenership, with early results impressing Juti and Bubar. The first episode has seen more than 7,000 downloads, which, statistically, places it in the top 1% of all global podcasts. According to L’Oréal Group and the NYT advertising department, the corresponding campaign garnered more than 45 million total impressions and a 2.56% click-through rate on the “Face Value” landing page. 

The pod is being promoted through audio spots on top NYT podcasts like “The Daily” and “Modern Love.” The NYT is known for its podcasts: Both “The Daily” and “This American Life” consistently rank as top global podcasts. 

The New York Times is one of the most-read media outlets in the world, with more than 10.8 million paid subscribers today and nearly 2 billion readers in 2022. In August, the publisher reported a 13.6% increase in profit to $104.7 million for its fiscal quarter ending in June. A bright spot was digital advertising revenue, which jumped 7.8% year-over-year to reach $79.6 million, while print advertising fell 10% to $39.6 million.

The NYT hopes to increase its subscribers to 15 million in the next three years. 

Rossellini’s role as podcast narrator was a strategic decision. The 72-year-old actress and model was the face of L’Oréal-owned Lancôme for a decade before being fired at 40 years old for being too old, a story she recounts in episode two. 

“Twenty-three years later, she gets a call from Lancôme again, this time from the new CEO of the brand, who says, ‘We want to work with you again!’” Juti told Glossy. “Now the head of Lancôme is a woman who understands that you don’t want to look young — you want to look great for your age. … And Rossellini [began to work with L’Oréal again because she realized] how the world has changed.”

Executive moves: 

• On November 1, Mary Carmen Gasco-Buisson will become the new CEO of Unilever’s Prestige division, which includes brands like K18, Tatcha and REN. Gasco-Buisson’s CV includes Pandora Jewelry, where she was CEO, as well as P&G. She will replace Vasiliki Petrou. 

• Michelle A. Peluso is the new CEO of Revlon, effective November 4. Previously, Peluso was the chief customer and experience officer for CVS and has held executive roles at IBM, Citi and Gilt. She replaces Elizabeth A. Smith, executive chair of the board, who has been acting as Revlon’s interim CEO since August 2023 when Debra Perelman stepped down.
• U.K.-based digital retail group THG has appointed Amy Fisher as CEO of its beauty division, which includes Cult Beauty and Lookfantastic. Fisher’s CV includes Lola, Wander Beauty and Stila. 

News to know:

• On Wednesday, E.L.F. Cosmetics announced its expansion into Sephora Mexico, marking the brand’s first distribution deal with the LVMH-owned beauty retailer. E.l.f. products will be available both online and in Sephora Mexico stores starting this week. That includes its popular franchises like Power Grip, which includes primers and setting spray, and Halo Glow, which includes highlighting and contouring products. “We listen when our community speaks, and we heard you loud and clear, Mexico! This partnership between E.l.f. Cosmetics and Sephora Mexico is a milestone moment for both companies, and we couldn’t be more excited to join forces in a market with incredible opportunity,” Jennie Laar, E.l.f. svp and chief commercial officer, said in a statement.

• Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka is the face of Maybelline’s new campaign “Brave Together.” The campaign is timed to World Mental Health Day on October 10 and encourages those struggling with their mental health to seek help.
• U.S.-based beauty distribution company Amerikas has acquired the skin-care brand Skyn Iceland from Swiss and French investors. The group plans to reposition the brand as a Nordic beauty solution and increase its distribution, which currently includes Anthropologie, Bluemercury and Dermstore, among other retailers. 
• Spa-inspired body-care brand Bliss has partnered with luxury ride-share company Alto to promote its “passenger princess” five-piece car kit, which includes sunscreen, lip balm, eye masks and hand cream in a travel bag available DTC from Bliss for $39. Free kits will be distributed to passengers through a Bliss-branded Alto car in the Dallas market this month. The 360-degree campaign also includes social giveaways, ride discounts and a Spotify playlist. Bliss is owned by AS Beauty, parent company of beauty brands like Laura Geller, Julep and Mally.

• Hailey Bieber’s Rhode has tapped Claudia Schiffer as its new ambassador. The supermodel’s first campaign centers around Rhode’s new Barrier Butter, a multipurpose balm that can be used on the face or body.
• By the end of the year, L’Oréal Group will sunset French beauty brand Decléor, which centers on essential oils, as the conglomerate focuses on clinical skin care. L’Oreal Group acquired the brand from Shiseido in 2014 as part of a $241.5 million deal that also included Carita professional hair care, which is distributed outside of the U.S.
• Merit, the color cosmetics brand launched in 2021 by Katherine Power, founder of WhoWhatWear and Versed skin care, will expand to fragrance this month. The brand’s first perfume, called Retrospect Extrait de Parfum, was created with IFF perfume house and features notes of vanilla, pear and jasmine. It will retail for $92 at Sephora starting on October 22.

Stat of the week:

Most holiday shoppers plan to spend as much money as last year, with some shoppers planning to spend more, according to a holiday shopping survey released by market research company Circana last week. Based on the study, the firm predicts shoppers will spend more on prestige than mass beauty offerings with sales surges expected from high-income households with children and teens under 18, demonstrating the power of Gen Alpha on beauty sales. The group also predicts a softening of beauty holiday sales for households making between $100,000-$150,000 annually. 

In the headlines:

The skin-care guru who sold out to Unilever and lived to tell the tale. What’s the winning formula for a loyalty program? Teen boys have elaborate skin-care routines, too. Unilever is overhauling European home-care supply chain, executive says. What it’s like for a brand to change its name — or fight to keep an embattled one. A first look at Chanel’s Christmas pop-up at Harrods. Ines Di Santo and Bobbi Brown team up for a bridal beauty kit. How a pop-up store for Nicki Minaj’s nail art brand ramps up Shopify’s celebrity strategy.

Listen in: 

Content creator and Cyklar body-care founder Claudia Sulewski joins the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss taking on investment from The Center, rebranding her 1-year-old line and expanding to new categories. 

Need a Glossy recap? 

Brands continue to invest in TikTok despite a potential U.S. ban. Who’s winning the 40-plus beauty market? Messi already sells everything from luxury bags to sneakers — can he build a $100 million fragrance brand? When should brand founders start taking salaries? Luxury is refocusing on aspirational shoppers, per the latest M&A deals. Return fees are unpopular with consumers — what are the alternatives?