L’Oréal exec Ali Goldstein on growing the ‘Women of Worth’ initiative to boost brand love

“The tagline ‘because I’m worth it’ was created 50 years ago in a sort of revolutionary moment when women didn’t have the primary voice,” Ali Goldstein, president of L’Oréal Paris USA, told Glossy. “And that tagline speaks to the purpose of our brand, which goes much deeper than selling beauty products.”

Philanthropy falls into a broader CSR bucket and is an increasingly important part of scaling a beauty business. According to a report released in 2021 by Harvard Business School, 77% of consumers surveyed are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world a better place. “Consumers are looking for brands that have great products, but they’re also looking for brands that do a lot more,” Goldstein said. 

CSR is also valuable for employee retention: In that same study, 70% of employees say they wouldn’t work for a company without a strong purpose and 92% of employees who work at a company with a strong sense of purpose say they would be more likely to recommend it to a job seeker from their community. 

The Women of Worth program centers around 10 non-profit leaders from across the U.S. who are given the “Women of Worth” award for their ability to drive positive change for some of the nation’s most pressing issues, according to L’Oréal. Selecting which cause to support can be a challenge for brands, but L’Oréal is able to tailor each year’s cohort around issues impacting women today. 

“The causes [we select] truly reflect what’s happening at the time, but it’s really about going into the communities and helping women who are helping others,” Goldstein said. To select and vet the winners, L’Oréal worked with a non-profit called Points of Light, a group that organizes philanthropic work. 

Honorees are awarded $25,000 to continue their work, which is up from $10,000 when the program started, as well as mentorship from L’Oréal execs. This includes travel to NYC to meet the team, and networking opportunities between execs and previous winners.

This year’s cohort includes groups that support women experiencing domestic violence, fight disparity in school programs, and provide resources for cancer screenings and trauma-informed services. Standouts include Danelle Umstead, founder of Sisters in Sports Foundation, which empowers women with disabilities to find belonging in sports; Hillary Cohen, co-founder and CEO of Every Day Action, which redistributes unused meals to aid those facing food insecurity in Los Angeles; and Jahnavi Rao, the founder and president of New Voters, which engages high school students in politics through nonpartisan near-peer mentorship. 

Just before Thanksgiving, the L’Oréal team brought its execs and its celebrity faces together with the 10 recipients of this year’s award. The event took place on November 21 at the Neuehouse event space in Hollywood, California and brought out L’Oréal spokespeople Helen Mirren, Aja Naomi King, Elle Fanning, Cara Delevingne and Andie MacDowell, all of whom presented the awards. The event honored their stories and created a wave of brand love online. Digital event coverage included photo roundups and features in publications like Forbes, Yahoo, Just Jared, Essence, Extra, Jing Daily, WWD, Footwear News and MSN. 

Goldstein measures much of the success of the program through anecdotes, or what L’Oréal describes as “extra financial metrics” — that is, things that are hard to quantify. One anecdote she told Glossy centered on the increase in women reaching out to the awarded non-profits for help. For example, Laura Pahules, the founder and president of Control Alt Delete, has seen inbound emails go from 30 per day to 50-60 per day due to awareness. Control Alt Delete is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering survivors of domestic violence by providing one-time crisis response assistance to escape domestic violence situations.

“The [$25,000 grant] money is helpful, but they also need help driving awareness,” said Goldstein. Through a partnership with Warner Brothers, L’Oréal created dynamic videos about the non-profits which were published on YouTube. The videos, as well as all other marketing materials, do not feature specific products. The goal, Goldstein told Glossy, is to grow a meaningful connection between the brand and its philanthropy year-over-year. However, L’Oréal does gift products to the winners to distribute as needed and as they see fit. This can include gifting at their non-profit or community events, for example. It’s a win-win for L’Oréal, which can provide resources for its cohort and seed products to new customers.

A new offering for L’Oréal this year is a partnership with Global Giving, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization that collects and distributes philanthropic donations. It will help collect donations from consumers. Consumers can give via a link on L’Oréal’s site and any donation is distributed evenly between the 10 winners. 

In September L’Oréal Group reported 6% sales growth to reach $32.2 billion in revenue for the first nine months of the year. The group saw $41.18 billion in revenue in 2023.

Executive moves:

• Nutrafol, the popular hair growth-focused supplement brand acquired by Unilever in 2022, has a new CEO. Cindy Gustafson will be promoted to CEO starting in January. She has been the company’s CMO since 2023 and will replace co-founder Giorgos Tsetis as CEO.
• Erica Dunivan is the new CMO at the fragrance brand Phlur. Dunivan’s CV includes vp of marketing at hair-care brand K18 and roles at AbbVie, which owns Allergan and SkinMedica, as well as Estée Lauder Companie-owned Too Faced Cosmetics.

News to know:

• TikTok is one step closer to being banned in the U.S. after a panel of judges upheld the previous ruling that parent company ByteDance must sell to an American company before January 19 or be banned from the U.S. Stay tuned for more coverage this week on Glossy.
• Spanish retailer Zara has partnered with the hairstylist Guido and the world-renowned fragrance nose Jérôme Epinette to create three new hair perfumes. The scents retail for $15.90 in Zara stores and online and are available now.
• Pop star Harry Styles and fashion brand JW Anderson have teamed up to create a limited-edition capsule collection of fashion and beauty items. The collection includes clothing, accessories and nail polishes branded under Pleasing x JW Anderson. The collection is available for sale now on Pleasing’s and JW Anderson’s e-commerce sites.

• American beer brand Miller High Life is the latest consumer brand to use a limited-edition beauty release to drum up publicity. Miller released a $40 fragrance, called High Life Dive Bar-Fume, in three coordinated drops in its digital Miller gift shop last week. The fragrances were released on December 4, 5 and 6, and each one promptly sold out. The scent has notes of beer, barstools and greasy food by way of cedarwood, patchouli, tobacco, leather and sea salt. 

• Swarovski is entering the fragrance marketplace thanks to a new licensing partnership with Coty. “We are delighted to announce our new, long-term partnership with Swarovski to develop and bring exciting new fragrance and beauty ranges to market,” Jean Holtzmann, Coty’s chief prestige brands officer, said in a statement.
• “Call her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper is launching a line of hydration products with distribution through Target. The line, called Unwell Hydration, launches January 1 and will include a single bottled beverage for $2.49 or a pack of eight for $15. The line is made by Nestlé and is focused on electrolytes for hangover recovery. 

Stat of the week:

TikTok’s top wellness search terms during the third quarter included “vitamin E gummies,” “relax gummies,” “antepartum depression,” “bright light therapy,” “hmr diet,” “heart health supplements,” “okinawa diet,” “wand massager,” “acupressure pillow” and “Abdominla massager,” according to a new report from Spate market research company. Meanwhile, top personal care-focused search terms during Q3 included “peach body wash,” “acne body lotion,” “beard cream,” “CBD body lotion,” “kids body wash,” “antifungal body wash” and “pregnancy cream.”

In the headlines:

Founder Monique Rodriguez publicly accuses a content creator of sparking Mielle Organics’ hair loss controversy. From the founder of Susteau, new platform Syndeo connects brands with behind-the-scenes biotechnology innovators. Perfumers raise the curtain on the rarified process of bespoke fragrance-making. Oura launches symptom radar to detect early signs of illness. Beauty brands’ influencer marketing itinerary shifts to wellness retreats and events over lavish trips. 

Listen in: 

Beauty of Joseon founder Sumin Lee joins the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss the South Korean brand’s upcoming retail expansion in the U.S. and strategy for combatting counterfeiters.

Need a Glossy recap? 

Ulta Beauty’s Q3 sales increase is led by men’s and unisex fragrance. Makeup brand Merit just launched earrings — here’s why it makes sense. Retailers are making a play for brand dollars, but advertisers aren’t convinced just yet. Why Estée Lauder is leaning into football. The budding big business of personal shopping. How will a second Trump presidency impact the sexual wellness industry?