Beauty

‘We want to challenge the definition of beauty. We believe the beauty have become too narrow in definition. We want to defy the stereotype that only young, blond and tall are beautiful’. Dove profoundly runs their CFRB (Campaign For Real Beauty) over the world, whereby they choose to use real women, which define as non-setting up of image, or original natural beauty and use in the campaign advertisement, focus on cultural issue, US receive great feedback from the public, company believe US market are growth matured since consumer are able to take words easily, for an example, Dove recent advertisement in US, as below, The company design the advertisement in the sense of alternative, it’s consider a strategy to target female market, according to research which conducted by Dove Company (U. S. Obesity Trends, 2009), overweight and obesity problem is still slightly increasing every years, Dove define it as a good market opportunity, in order to fit into the market, campaign like ‘Stand for something big and deliver it’ actually running in United State, the main purpose is to telling their consumer, do not concern able the problem of overweight, do not hide, Dove are here to tell audience, they are beautiful because they are not pretend to be beautiful.

Finally, the concept of the whole campaign by revealing the problem, get a very good respond from the public, Dove acting as personal caring to everyone, and prospectors are thinking Dove is stand on consumer side, feel and understand their problem, PR department does evaluated while post-event stage, generally Dove company concluded aiming obesity population will typically increasing their sale. The problem of translation and expression is still occur from years 2005-2008, advertisement below, European country opinion toward freckled skin do not receive pretty much positive value upon itself, the advertisement in the testing stage actually using the word freckled instead of flawed, but some kind of rejection appear on the market, PR and in-house agency for Dove company immediately conduct a focus group on differences country, they found out, the word ‘freckled’ ndirectly offending women who face the problem, instant consideration given to the translator to actually look for a suitable word to replace ‘freckled’, and finally came out with ‘flawed’, post-event group survey the market opinion, the campaign achieve higher value in the view of their perspective buyer, public think the word ‘flaw’ is acceptable because the word ‘freckled’ can indirect define as a illness for skin, but ‘flawed’ is still represent a healthy status compare to the previous word choice.

Western and eastern country contain hundred and eighties degree of different upon cultural value, Dove Company realize the same event running in US can’t be apply in Japan, 2 factors affected the trend, one is the general opinion and stereotype on judging beauty for women is totally different, secondly, Japanese education is typically different in sense of how they can think as open as European does, other than that, media selection play important rule because Japan is developed and advance in technological device, population density is higher compare to US, meanwhile the accessibility must be as high as possible, CFRB event declined at Japan while the testing stage is running at years 2005 to 2006, local advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather ASIA Pacific adapting to the Japanese lifestyle, and came out with a event so call ‘ACTIVATION’ at September 2008, due to the existing problem, Japanese do not agree on voting or judging in some weakness point that clearly can be seen or tangibility, like freckled skin, or overweight problem, so ‘activation’ is some kind of education base to telling viewer, think carefully, revealing is not a problem, Activate and generate your mind in no time! As a result, this event is still running in Japan, and it’s receiving a positive feedback from the public, and the concept of original beauty is still delivered successfully. Promotion part, Dove have more than 50 types of product launched in the market, several context and competition running in those country where Dove is able to reach the market, Malaysia promotion focus on convenience and discount or even free gift to attract buyers, and it’s work, sales is increasing, but same method failed in another country, Japan.

Beside of education aspect, behavior or I’ll define it as psychological interfere issue, advisor from in-house expert, PR conjunction with psychiatrist, expert group believe the Japan market prototype ‘free’ as ‘no quality’, Dove company work with legal advisor in order to find out the principle for Japanese’s prototyping, Dove decided to evolutes the concept of free gift as complementary base of promotion, but they start focus on re-value or reposition the brand image into something slightly above the cost, but perfect value and quality, even though this promotion did not achieve highest climate of profit, but it is good enough to create awareness and enable consumer to differentiate Dove with competitor, due to the price set is clearly can be seen.

Dove using standardization on running their campaign worldwide, but some facts have to bring in on how they standardize everything worldwide, difficulty on controlling everything is still one of the issue Dove company concern about, Dove company held the main official website at US, because Dove headquarter is locate in USA, sub ordinary company will refer changes on what does the headquarter will do, and what their plan will run worldwide, referring to this, management style for Dove company using centralization whereby headquarter will control organization management so it can consistence with the objective set by headquarter, but decentralization applicable for sub quarter so concept of adapting to local market helps to reach the market goal.

The point briefly discuss on history, is because in the 20s century, Dove company face problem on management style for Dove soap and other product do not contain similar image, misleading consumer on Dove is a common product that look alike with others competitors, that period of time, consumer lack of ability to differentiate what is the uniqueness between Dove and competitor, Dove came out with a campaign that changed their destiny, ‘Dove Campaign For Real Beauty’ conducted at the years of 2004, at 1st running in US and Canada, where they receive high value of support from the public, Dove company decided to run the campaign for real beauty worldwide with the same kind of concept, no doubt, it work everywhere, slightly changes like language in the advertisement, color and level of women body disclosure still bothering creative team to come out with campaign without insulting talented buyer, but the main point focus on organization management style, Dove company using one kind of concept running in worldwide market successfully influence the market whereby information overload will never apply for buyer, consumer realize only one identity can be seen from Dove, which is real beauty, by using Dove product, you are one of them.

For an example, Dove company headquarter in US have the strongest controlling power to communicate with others sub-corporation so sub-corporation will follow their plan to held any event, Phillippe Harousseau, creative director of Dove company in US, said that, challenging women basic perception require a consistency of strategy flow to exactly reinforce audience mind, once perception toward a brand, product or services consistence with the management style, it’s easier for them create a creative event which define the uniqueness of the product, eventually if the event will running worldwide. Appendix Article for Dove Company Its just some basic idea how does Dove Company discuss on the concept, article below observe discussion on ‘The Women’ as principle to running any campaign.

Advertisers have long linked up with Hollywood by placing their products within films or trotting out stars as their official sponsors. But some companies are now going a step further, investing directly in movie productions in the hopes of striking even deeper connections with film audiences. In what could be the latest trend in the financing of independent films, Unilever brand Dove has agreed to invest $3 million  about one-fifth of the budget  into “The Women,” the first theatrical movie by Diane English, the creative force behind the hit television series “Murphy Brown. Dove look is real, but does it inspire?

Popular culture is in a tizzy of a debate over the female physique and the way in which it is depicted. Much has been written about the broad concept of beauty and its role in cultural politics, but the current conversation has narrowed the focus, from the woman as a whole to her individual parts: thighs, rear end and stomach.

The brand opened up a new facet of beauty care services that was associated more with market and state-of-the-art hospitals, where customers opted for these services under the supervision of doctors who had specialized in cosmetic surgeries/interventions. Would the differentiation between the first-time users of a beauty parlor and the loyal customers of a parlor offer insights that Kayak would find useful? Issues related to services management as well as customer value and customer loyalty were relevant to Kayak’s competitive strategies.

Although the customers of a beauty parlor could be demographically efferent from Kayak’s customers, the commonality of the benefits related to the beauty services offered were the same. The challenge for Kayak was to use the insights from the customers in a related category of beauty parlor services in developing its category that did not face direct competition. etc Traditionally, beauty care products in India had been limited to herbs and homemade products. Only soaps, hair oil, shampoos, and talcum powder from the organized industry had been able to penetrate the Indian market.

However, with a teddy increase in the awareness of hygiene and personal grooming across urban and rural India, several beauty and personal care categories gained momentum. In India, marketing activities generally involved popular celebrities, and traditionally highlighted aspects such as elimination of body odor and dandruff, improved oral health, and the prevention of infection. This further boosted the demand for beauty and personal care products. No The Indian beauty care industry grew rapidly in a few years with the penetration of premium beauty care products and services.

The rising disposable income and the hanging lifestyles of Indians led to a boom in the beauty and personal care industries. The India skin care industry, for instance, was forecast to grow at 9% compounded annual growth rate (CARR) during 2009-2014. 1 Major fast-moving consumer goods brands such as Hindustan Milliner Limited (HULL) and Procter and Gamble (P&G) aggressively expanded their product portfolios, distribution networks, and marketing activities in this segment. With the proliferation of beauty and personal care categories and brands, customer awareness of the different types of products and brands increased.

The consumption of beauty products and services mimed to have experienced significant growth. 2 The emergence of brands such as Marco’s Kayak Skin Clinic, Lake Beauty Salon, BLOC, Shania Hussein Herbals, Covariance’s Limited, Green Trends, Keen, and Jawed Habit Hair & Beauty POOH) could be attributed to this trend. The boom was evident: HULL was opening up a new Lake salon almost every week, and GHB had grown from 37 parlors in Staying ahead of the game: How companies are adapting to the changing face of beauty, Euro monitor, November 2010, http://www. Remuneration. Mom/staying-ahead- of-the-game-how-companies-are-adapting-to-the-changing-face-of-beauty/report, accessed October 3, 2011. 2 Beauty business set to boom, http://economists. Initiatives. Com/news/news-by- industry/cons-products/fashion-/-cosmetics-/]leery/beauty-business-set-to-boom/ artilleries/8921457. SMS, accessed on July 1 2, 2011. S. Rammers Kumar, Anode Deja and Seed Hussein prepared this case for class discussion. This case is not intended to serve as an endorsement, source of primary data, or to show effective or inefficient handling of decision or business processes.

Copyright 2012 by the Indian Institute of Management Bangor. No part of the publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (including internet) – without the permission of Indian Institute of Management Bangor. This document is authorized for use only by SANDY SANDWICH at MDI Management Development until November 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp. Harvard. Deed or 617. 783. 7860. Exploring Category Benefits for Brand Building: Kayak and the Beauty Care Market Page 2 of 9 2006 to 225 by the end of 2010.

The boom in the Indian beauty market was also able to attract large multinationals, such as Jean-Claude Beguine with annual revenues of ever 150 million Euros, to set up parlors in India. 3 The predominantly unrecognized, locally run beauty parlor market was being replaced by branded chains such as Lake, which was changing the face of this industry in the country. These branded beauty parlors were the leaders in a new era of trained parlor personnel. They offered services based on global insights and professional products that incorporated the latest international technologies.

KAYAK SKIN CLINIC The approximately INNER 7,000-core (1 core = 10 million) organized and unrecognized hair and beauty industry was growing at a CARR of 35%. The industry was estimated to reach a potential business of INNER 30,000 core by 2015. Personal hygiene products (soaps and shower products), hair care and skin care products, color cosmetics, and fragrances were the key segments in the Indian beauty care industry (Exhibit 1). The skin care segment was relatively smaller than the personal care segment. The anti- aging cream segment alone, which was only 2% of the skin care market, had been growing at a rate of 90%.

The increasing number of educated and working women in the corporate world was a major driver for this rapid growth. What made this industry even more fascinating was that even with the high growth rate, the Indian market was largely untapped, compared to other developing markets. In comparison, a developing country such as China spent ten times more on skin care, six times more on cosmetics, and twice more on hair care on a per capita basis (Exhibit 1). It is also worth noting that India had the highest percentage of women in the age group of 25-44 years, which was the key segment for the beauty industry. These figures and facts indicate the huge unrealized potential of the Indian market. Given the vast attention of beauty care services in the country, customer perception about the value related to the delivery of services, customer loyalty, and brand perception were important from the perspective of any branded or unbranded offering in this category. In December 2002, after conducting extensive research, Marino identified an emerging need in the market that translated to an aspiration to look and feel good.

On furthering this understanding with the customers, a more focused need that was still untapped was identified: that of having flawless skin that looked good naturally. Thus, the first Kayak Skin Clinic was launched with the single-minded objective of delivering flawless skin solutions customized to Indian skin using the latest technology. In 2011, Kayak had opened 81 clinics spread across 26 cities in India, 18 highly successful clinics in the Middle East, and 2 clinics at Dacha in Bangladesh. In May 2010, Kayak acquired the aesthetics business of the Singapore-based Dermal Ark Asia Pacific Pete.

Ltd. (Dermal Ark). The company expanded its portfolio with the launch of more services such as lip enhancement as well as fairness and hair removal services. Kayak Skin Clinic had a number of services and solutions such as skin beauty, skin concerns, laser hair reduction, and anti-aging. Their product range included over 40 skin, hair, and body products for women and men. Kayak offered 360 degree skin care solutions that included advice on proper diet and exercise regimens. All the services offered at Kayak Skin Clinic were designed and supervised by a team of over 250 dermatologists.

The services were carried out by certified skin practitioners who had undergone more than 300 hours of training. The services were US FDA-approved and tested in-house, and conformed to the highest international quality standards. All the services were competitively priced, starting from INNER 1 ,250. Kayak had over 600,000 satisfied customers. Kayak conducted frequent in-house training programs for its skin practitioners and dermatologists. Once in six months, Kayak held training-UCM-refresher courses for its staff to keep them up-to-date with the latest skin care techniques that were available internationally.

Its team of dermatologists also participated in the in-house Continuing Medical Education (CAME) program, where international doctors met to discuss various trends in the field of skin care. Beauty bet: JOB plans to set up shop in India, http://economists. Initiatives. Com/ beauty-bet-]CB-plans-to-set-up-shop-India/artilleries/1773980. SMS, accessed on July 122011. 4 Outlook personal care industry: An Indian perspective, Data Strategic Management Group, http://www. Test. Com/download/article/Personal_Care_Chemicals. UDF, accessed on September 12, 2011. Page 3 of 9 PHILOSOPHY OF KAYAK 5 Kayak was divided into six service verticals, namely, Skin beauty, Skin concerns, Hair- free, Anti-aging, Bridal, and Kayak Men. Unlike other retailers, Kayak had not adopted the franchisee model. The company owned each of its clinics, because Kayak Skin Clinic believed in providing consistent services across the country. The philosophy at Kayak was governed by the single value of placing the customer first at all times. The word “Kayak” in Sanskrit meant “body. Kayak was all about personal confidence through expert skin care that seamlessly blended looking good with feeling good about one’s inner and outer selves at all times. The emphasis, therefore, was on highly customized and personalized services that were best suited for the Indian skin. The services were provided in a state-of-the-art clinic with a Zen-like ambiance. The core values of Kayak Skin Clinic were: Customer First: Spirit of Partnership: Keeping the customer in focus and partnering to deliver skin care solutions.

Doing what was in the best interests of the customer; business interests would follow. Openness: Allowing diversity of opinion by listening to members without bias. Sharing information both good and bad, and having a sense of trust and respect for each other. Ownership: Having a “my Kayak” mind-set. What would I do if I were the owner of the business? Displaying seamless behavior across the organization when necessary, rather than drawing boundaries of unction’s/grades in the interest of the organization. Exhibit 3 presents some of Kayak’s print advertisements.

They give an idea of how Kayak tried to differentiate itself from regular beauty parlors by consistently emphasizing its technology, the expertise of its dermatologists and skin experts, and so on. Kayak Skin Clinic could be called a chain of cosmetic dermatology clinics. It was a pioneer and thought leader in the skin care services space in the country. It offered its clients tailor-made, result-oriented, safe, non-surgical skin solutions, with the latest and most suitable technology available in the world. These services were impolitely administered by dermatologists.

Any beauty or skin care brand/service could be considered as competition for Kayak. One of their biggest competitors would be individual doctors and dermatologists who offered one or two specialized services. It was in this context that Kayak needed to use the commonality of the category benefits to develop its brand, especially among loyal customers. KAYAK’S APPROACH TO OBTAIN INSIGHTS ABOUT THE CATEGORY BENEFITS In an emerging market such as India, personal and beauty care has attracted the attention of consumers in several ways. There have been several products and services in this sphere.

One recent addition to this category is the services of Kayak that is medically anchored. It is interesting to find that in several markets and product/service categories, consumers prefer a range of offerings or delivery mechanisms to obtain the benefits of the category. For example, for urban transport, there are two-wheelers and four-wheelers; for hair care, there are hair oils and creams; for knowing the time, there are both watches and mobile phones; and for skin care there are creams, lotions, soaps and gels, and cosmetic surgeries.

Beauty care has evolved in India from making use of homemade products to obtaining the revives of well-known brands. Although socioeconomic status and chirography’s of consumer groups may influence the type of offering/delivery mechanism, the case is written from the viewpoint of the marketer who would like to learn about consumer loyalty through a substitute in the category. Kayak’s services and beauty parlor services are meant for different types of consumer segments.

Kayak, being at a stage in the market where it does not face much of direct competition owing to the emerging nature of the category, the brand would like to know if there can be lessons earn from a service that is related to its services. For example, the hospitality aspects, ambiance, response of the service providers to the needs of the consumer (in this instance, consumers in the beauty care segment) and what differentiates a loyal consumer from a new consumer are dimensions that are common to both Kayak’s services and beauty parlors: they may vary in their styles and approaches. Kayak Culture, Kayak Philosophy, www. Clinician. Com, accessed on September 13, 2011. Note: Additional information about Kayak Skin Clinic was provided by Grammar Sahara and. Audit Chad of Kayak Skin Clinic. Page 4 of 9 What should a “self-concept”-centered service category in a market do to obtain inputs in a category that has evolved little? The case’s survey was triggered by such a question and beauty parlor services were selected for the purpose. This point can be illustrated as follows.

Benefits of beauty care Self-concept of the customer Self-concept of the consumer Beauty-based services Dimensions of customer loyalty Beauty parlors Kayak’s services (new offerings forming a subcategory) Differentiation between new and loyal consumers Dimensions of loyalty Insights Differentiation between new for Kayak ND loyal customers METHODOLOGY OF STUDY The objective of the study was to compare the value perception of first-time customers and loyal customers of beauty parlors in order to obtain category insights that Kayak could use.

We were interested in finding out how an emerging category (technology-based beauty care in the consumer market and not in the conventional medical market) in an emerging market without direct competition can obtain insights from a related category (beauty parlors) that offers the same core benefit of beauty care. This context (emerging category, related category with the same core infinite as the emerging category and the emerging market in the Indian context) was a unique one and the case focused on a learning that would be useful to Kayak in terms of understanding the behavior of “first-time” consumers and loyal consumers.

The value perception needs to be built around the customers’ experiences of the service at the service provider’s premises. The questionnaire had a scale related to several components of the service experience as shown in the three sections of Exhibit 2. Responses were collected from the residents of three Indian cities, namely, Bangor, Hydrated, and Delhi. The data collection was done in June and July 2011. Data from 50 first-time customers and 50 loyal customers of beauty services were collected.

Ponds’ Concept of Ideal Beauty through Its Product Ponds White Beauty It is a common knowledge that in several cultural products, such as movies, advertisements and other texts, women have become the center of focus most of the time. We all know that advertisement is one of the most important factors for both commercial and non-commercial companies, especially for commercial companies. If the companies do not advertise their products, the society will not pay attention to the products which are sold and the company will not be able to reach their goals.

That is why companies must have their own way to market and promote their products to be able to compete in the global bussiness competition. They have to market their products and reach the “goal target”, but it is not easy though. By giving what people desire for, advertisers have the best chance of arresting attention and affecting communication to the viewers. Many advertisements broadcast in media especially television have created such notions. Advertisements are trying to build a mind set towards women to buy their products.

Some of them are showing the things which are being sold, for example the packaging, the picture or the function, and some of them are trying to drive the customer’s mind. Nowadays, one of the most appealing phenomena is the promotion of whitening products. This kind of product has been widely spread out all over the world, mostly in Asian. The advertisements indirectly give the viewers a concept that underlines the concept of beauty; which is white is beauty. This notion appears to be quite influential for women, Asian women in particular, to buy their products.

One of the most popular whitening products in Indonesia is Ponds. There are a lot of types Ponds products, however mostly are still focusing on enhacing women’s skin tone. Ponds Institute have established a lot types of whitening series; starting from Ponds White Beauty until the new one, Ponds Flawless White. The text that is going to be discussed in this essay is Ponds White Beauty commercial that is published in India. In every commercial, Ponds understands that it is women’s nature to always want to look and consider beautiful.

Eventually, the definition of beauty has been ruled by the media, so those who follow the ideal beauty concept will be considered as beautiful. For most women who lived in a country that once was colonized by white people, beauty means white. Since most Asian women are colored-skin (dark skin), Ponds’ offer of “self-transformation” effectively enlarges the individual to include significant others and must become an extension of the personality and status of their occupants. If we related to historical background, we can draw red line through this kind of ideology of beauty.

Most of Asians are colonized by the Western people. Most of Western people are white, then the feeling of inferiority is seen through this. Self-confidence of the women in Asia has been eroded; they would do anything to enhace their skin tone since they believe that being white will make them “superior”. They can define the superior as any kind of meaning but this superiority is only a vague impression. However, most of women do not realize this vague impression; they still keep living in the world of imaginary that stated white is better than color.

They enjoy being exposed by the lie of media, in this case advertisement. Moreover, Ponds always uses the issue of the sacred link between beauty and romance. It can be seen from the comercial that the man is interested in the woman who is dancing cheerfully, since he has been staring at the woman before. Thus, when the old lady says that to him, he hardly belives her. Instead he asks, “How do you know? ” The old lady reply, “Look at the glow! ” The word “glow” means shines so bright.

Our feeling is reflected on our face; when we are in a good feeling, our face will look bright and shiny, it also works otherwise. Getting married usually identical with joyful and happiness, the bride will be looking shiny, therefore the old lady relates the woman’s glow with the possibility that she ight be the bride. Then there is a woman’s that says, ““Actually it’s Ponds White Beauty Skin Lightening cream with detox vitamin that gives you nourished pink glow. ” On the top left of the scene, we can read “Fall in love with the nourished pink glow. The underlined words are bigger than the non-underlined words, it shows that Ponds wants to emphasize on the benefit of the product (which is nourished pink glow on its users’ face). However, if the sentence is related to the advertisement, it can be assumed that the man does not actually fall in love with the woman, instead he falls in love with her ‘nourished pink glow’. Or it is the ‘nourished pink glow’ from the product that makes the man falls in love with the woman. We cannot conclude without regarding the product since the product is there and is shown to us.

The promotion of this commercial successfully hegemonizes the society (in this case the viewer, particularly Asian women) that if they use Ponds White Beauty Detox, they will be looking beautiful for they have white skin and rossy cheeks. The viewers are made to believe that the man is not actually falling in love with the woan, instead he falls in love “with the nourished pink glow”. Here, Ponds tries to convey that beauty is not only white or pale white, but white with rossy color on the cheeks. Hereby, Ponds claims that only them who can give the pink glow to the customers.

The customers do not realize that it actually leads them to the system that legitimates their subordination since the ideology that Ponds conveys here is promoting what so-called “universal beauty” that is based on ‘western culture”. The Western still becomes the rulling class, especially in its ex-colonized lands. What can be seen from Ponds commercial is the rulling class domination vs. The ruled class through imaginative representations The media in this case the commercial may be conceptualized for maintaining the ideology and thereby hegemonize the society.

If there is a woman who bought the product as she is trying to get beautiful face (white with rossy cheek color on it), then the ideology that lies behind the product is hailed successfully. The messages in the described commercial itself hail the hypothetical viewer as a young woman who tries to get her love back. Then the commercial also hails her as a consumer who successfully proven the effectiveness of the product. The message seek to make the viewers recognized and accept particular forms of ideology, which are to sell the product and also to sell an ideology of “universal white beauty” along with romance.

It can be seen how ideology is able to survive among those people who are following and believing it. Althusser’s ideological theory does allow for resistance to ideology, and the hypothetical women who watch Ponds ad may do so. The slogan of Ponds “Pond’s understands that a beautiful skin is always important to a woman” underlies the easiness of imposing the ideology that only Ponds can make you feel beauty. In some ways, the whiteness concepts of this cosmetic can be related to racism, since it is direct or indirect saying that white is better than “not white”. It is another form of racism where the mass media resents hegemonic concept of beauty (white skin) while claiming that racism is a thing of the past. Ideology is all around us, no one can escape ideology. Even when an individual wants to free himself or herself from any ideology, they are actually adapting and adopting another ideology. An understanding of its attributes and mechanisms, in the context of mass communication and other realms, may aid us in evading its influence, or using it to our ends. Ads as part of cultural production is the primary bearer of ideology because it reaches so many people in what seems to be an innocent form: entertainment.

When we are being entertained in this case with the ads, our guard is down and we are in the most welcoming mode for any ideological programming. Cultural studies has been forced to rethink both idea of a single “dominant ideology” and the idea that that “dominant ideology serves the interests of those in power. *** REFERENCES Gray, Jennifer B. Althusser, Ideology, and Theoritical Foundation: Theory and Communication. The Journal of Media and Culture. Vol. 3 No. 1. 2005. Ponds. Taken from http://www. unilever. co. id/ourbrands/personalcare/ponds. asp. accessed on 17 March 2009.

L’Oreal and the Globalization of

How did L’Oreal become the world’s largest beauty company?

What was the role of acquisitions in the growth?

The global strategy of Loreal started first from European countries like Austria, Italy, and the Holland providing hare care and hair color products. After the launch in the USA, they decided to expand their market share by mainly M&A of many similar but way smaller companies. With proper acquisition strategy over the years, they finally became the largest company in beauty industry. L’Oreal offers consumers worldwide “American” and “French” concepts of beauty.

Are there any limits to the national beauty images it can globalize? There may be some limits for Lorear to go more ‘worldwide’ even if they have huge branches and offices over the world. I think it may be related with ‘racial issues’. The society for ‘minority’ is changing faster than ever before, but still, the ‘majority’ of American and European countries are white but Asian, African American, and Hipic. Thus, if they really care about optimal ‘globalization’ in all ways, they should probably consider making their diversified strategy in other markets (minorities)

What are the global opportunities for Kiehl’s? What are the limits, if any? Even though Kiehl’s were taken over by Loreal through M&A, their products are not easily found at many stores, unlike there are so many producsts of Lorean in any store. And this is mainly because their products line are simply expensive targeting luxury market, so I think if they really want to go ‘global’ they should find proper way to make their products easily available to the customers through mega-stores like walmart, or target.

American Beauty Jessica Jackson (Thompson) Interpersonal Communication Alfred Wilfong November 19th, 2011 I chose to watch the movie American Beauty. I have seen this movie previously, and enjoyed watching it again. An interpersonal conflict that I identified in the movie was between Kevin Spacey’s character Lester and his wife Carolyn, played by Annette Bening.

In chapter nine of our text, Daniel Dana suggested four factors that must be present for a disagreement to be considered a conflict: two parties are interdependent, both parties blame the other, on or more of the parties are angry or emotionally upset, and the parties’ behaviors are affecting their relationship with each other and others. (Dana, 2011) Carolyn was very ambitious and Lester was having what one would call a mid-life crisis.

They both had very poor communication skills. Given they were married they were interdependent, they blamed each other for any and all issues in their relationship, they were both angry, and their behaviors were not only affecting their relationship with one another, but their relationship with their teenage daughter, who seemed to loathe her parents. They both handled their conflict differently. Carolyn began to have an affair with a business rival.

Lester, after black-mailing his boss, takes a job at a fast food joint, starts lifting weights, and obsesses over his daughter’s friend. As I stated earlier they did not communicate well with one another. At dinner if they weren’t yelling at each other they were speaking to each other at all. Outside of intense couples therapy they needed to work on empathizing with one another. Lester should have told his wife about being laid off, and they could have worked through that trial together.

Carolyn should have never had an affair, and instead expressed her frustration with Lester and they could have worked through her frustrations, together. Their hostility and conflict was just growing in the movie. It never seemed to lessen. They had no positive feelings in their conflict as well. They usually responded to anger with anger or anger with silence. Lester, Carolyn, and their daughter need to communicate more effectively. They can do this by listening to one another needs, empathizing with one another, and responding effectively.

Images in the media today illustrate an unrealistic and even dangerous standard of ideal female beauty hat can have a powerful influence on the way women perceive themselves. The popular culture influences our ides of femininity to the extent that we hold high expectations of a women’s appearance. Society is driven to judge or neglect a woman if they don’t kick a certain way because they compare them to the unrealistic models seen on magazines, television, music videos, and so on. The media impacts the ideas of femininity to the extent that women are portrayed as sex objects who exist primarily to service men, or as weak individuals.

To initiate, mass media is a powerful tool that is used to impact TTS audience in various ways. For instance, when I’m surfing the internet shopping for clothing in websites such as (Forever 21, Hollister, or H & M,) the models I perceive are usually extremely thin. When I look at the model info the height of the model tends to be about 5’8″ or taller and the waist is typically between 23 and 25. The models shown are always wearing a size extra-small or small, and they always appear very young and beautiful.

They have perfect facial features and many times have colored eyes. They never display a model wearing anything bigger than a size small almost as if earring a size medium or anything bigger is unacceptable. The ideal expected body is also perceived in beauty pageants such as the Latin show “Muenster Bella Latin. ” Beauty pageants like these push women to exercise a great deal and follow strict diets in order to meet the ideal weight. In one of the episodes that I watched a girl was eliminated simply because she was about two or three pounds over the expected weight.

Common women are compared to these ideal models and society believes that in order for a woman to be sexy or attractive they must resemble these models. As a result, any women are disappointed with their bodies and are forced to exercise excessively, suffer anorexia or other eating disorders because they are obsessed with the idea of thinness. Not only are women disappointed with their bodies, but also fear aging and they are driven to various methods such as surgery or anti-aging creams in order to maintain a young appearance.

In addition, advertising adds to the ideal image that is expected of woman. Advertising is a powerful force that surrounds us and influences us subconsciously on a daily basis. Advertisements use Photos and create artificial images of women, and women in real life attempt to measure themselves against those images. It gives women the idea that there’s only one way to look good and receive the attention they want or deserve. For example, bikini or lingerie advertisements always have extremely thin woman hinting that a thicker girl would not look good wearing that.

Not only does advertising promote the ideal image of a woman, but it also influences the idea that women are just sex objects, and that they are the weaker sex. In many occasions advertisements utilize sex appeal by illustrating naked omen or men who are in control over a woman. In “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt,” Jean Kilojoules asserts that “Male violence is subtly encouraged by ads that encourage men to be forceful and dominant, and to value sexual intimacy more than emotional intimacy’ (422).

What Kilojoules states is that men believe sex is more significant and they forget the sentimental value. It is easier for men to identify women as an object because they justify their violent behavior, and if they perceive a woman as an object they overlook the fact that they have feelings and emotions. Moreover, music is another factor that influences ideas of femininity particularly in a negative way. The lyrics used by rappers constantly degrade women by referring to them as “pitches” and “host”.

Women using their bodies and sexuality to get what they want are what make these words acceptable. In the passage “From Fly-Girls to Pitches and Host”, Joan Morgan writes “but many of the ways in which men exploit our images and sexuality in hip-hop is done with our permission and cooperation” (459). What Morgan states, is that females will be willing to expose their dies in a music video or allow rappers to degrade them simply to make money or get attention. There are countless songs that degrade women such as the song “Pitches anti chit but hoes and tricks. The name of the song is a phrase that is repeated multiple times throughout the song as if once were not enough. Tag, the artist of this song sings, “Got this bitchy named Tar, she let me buck her in the car, / Like Kim Sardinian she wane be star. ” These lyrics suggest that women are good for sex, and deserve no respect. The worse part of the particular songs is that women listen to them or dance to hem at clubs because they enjoy the beat of the songs, but they are not conscious of the demeaning lyrics.

If women themselves listen to these songs it gives society the idea that they can refer to women in such a way. Due to the fact, because women are degraded in this manner, men believe that women are only good for sex and they fail to love them. Yet some readers may challenge my view by saying that popular culture has a minor influence on society’s ideas of femininity. It’s not so much the media but typical gender stereotypes that impact our ideas of femininity. Gender stereotyping begins t a young age, and little girls believe only girls should wear pink or only girls should play with Barbie’s.

Many hold stereotypes that women should look a certain way in order to be identified as a woman. People hold stereotypes that women must be classy, and not trashy. Indeed, stereotyping plays a significant role, but as we grow older it’s not so much about the gender stereotypes but rather about what surrounds us on a daily basis that influences our ideas. Once you get older individuals can decide to ignore or put their gender stereotypes aside, but popular culture is something that Anton be ignored by any means.

Popular culture is everywhere go, and without a doubt it’s the primary factor that impacts our ideas. Furthermore, there are various steps that the popular culture can take in order to improve the perceptions of women. For instance, beauty pageants should have models that are more like the average woman who are not extremely thin. Beau’ pageants should choose contestants based on their talents rather than their appearance. Advertisements should be appropriate, and not objectify women because they are human beings. They should eliminate advertisements where women are practically naked.

In addition, they should not Photos the image of women in advertisements, but rather display the true image of the model. Women need to speak out about how degrading it is to be insulted in music by rappers, and the songs should be banned from the radio. Women should not agree to be degraded simply because they want to be in the music video of some popular rapper. Females must stand up for themselves in order to be treated with respect. In conclusion, even if We tried to ignore it the popular culture constantly influences our ideas of femininity.

If the media was not so powerful society would have more realistic perceptions of femininity. Women should be valued for who they truly are because there’s so much more to femininity then just a physical appearance or sex objectification. Females are sensitive individuals who have feelings and emotions, and deserve to be respected. A woman should not be judged if she does not look a certain way because nobody is perfect, and we all have flaws. Females are not Barbie dolls with a perfect little waist or the ideal face, they are real life individuals.

In the United States of America, citizens possess the privilege to enjoy the freedom of speech and the freedom to express their views and feelings under the protection of the U. S. Constitution. However, there may be a point at which freedom of speech is abused or escalated to an unethical level that may be harmful to the well-being of society, particularly the youth of today and the future leaders of our world. Over the years, the question “should parents be concerned about the portrayal of teenage girls in the media? ” has become a significant controversial moral issue in society.

The portrayal of teenage girls in the media is a controversial moral issue because of the cultural sensitivity and the perceived intrusiveness of the subject. This issue primarily concerns the excessiveness of sexual content and unbecoming images of young women exposed through the media. Needless to say, this question leaves many parents ill at ease. Images, perceived norms and new trends are consistently being set for how young girls and women must look, act, think, and feel in order to be successful and accepted in today’s society.

There has been an ongoing debate concerning moral actions that need to be taken to regulate the appropriateness of age sensitive material being permeated throughout the media. Media is everywhere; it is in classrooms, advertisements, movies, televisions, magazines, newspapers, the internet, the workplace, and in homes all over the country, and it continues to infuse the world and our lives. Media does not only sell tangible products, but also morals, values, concepts of life, and success, and to some extent normalcy (Killing Us Softly 3).

Whether positive or negative, consciously or unconsciously, media affects each and every one of us every day. Young girls are being exposed to a supposed ‘ideal’ image of female beauty through the years of media exposure. For example, the notion that the most important thing to a young woman should be her physical appearance is an idea that is acquired at a very young age. Even before a girl reaches puberty, she is already aware of her physical appearance and the effect it has on her stand in society. Extreme and unhealthy amounts of guilt and shame can follow if the young woman does not achieve that perception (Killing Us Softly 3).

Many people in America’s society believe that the media’s unethical behavior is to blame for influencing and even producing some of the nation’s growing problems among teens, such as eating disorders, increased participation in sexual activity, pregnancy rates, rape, increased alcohol consumption and drug use. Others, however, feel that society should not blame the media for the inappropriate behavior and that lack of discipline and morals among teens in today’s society, but rather blame the parents and educators who influence and guide those teens.

The majority of parents hold the media responsible for the corruption of the morals of teenage girls. They believe that the media’s widely unrealistic and unhealthy depiction of young women and what they are supposed to look and behave like in order to be socially accepted and respected has allowed and encouraged teenage girls to become overly consumed in achieving this supposed ideal. Sadly, it has left many girls confused, in danger, or even dead.

Supporters of this position argue that “the mainstream corporate media construct sex and sexuality in ways that limit and hamper girls’ healthy sexual development” (Durham 12). They trust that there is more evidence that the messages teenage girls are getting about sex from media are harmful rather than helpful (12). Intervention began to be a growing demand from the public audience. One potential resolution to this moral issue is to continue revising and producing television and movie ratings that are current, relevant, and constructive to the current images spread through the media.

For example, a ban on commercials and advertisements that objectify women and promote sexual behavior would be effective to alleviate these unethical teen images. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings and the TV Parental Guidelines (a TV ratings system designed to give parents more information about the content and age-appropriateness of TV programs) (“TV”) can be used “to allow parents to block out programs they do not want their children to see, based on the ratings” (“TV”) and other personal preferences.

These types of sources support and encourage media restrictions and the facilitation of providing cleaner and more appropriate television for children. Promoting a more realistic and healthy body image, lifestyle, and attitude for today’s young women through public service announcements is another form of media that advocates healthy teen behavior. According to supporters of such sources, consumer advocacy and action is a principal task in resolving this problem.

People have the power to critique, analyze, challenge, and affirm media messages, and also have the option of turning off, boycotting, and disengaging from media that denigrate or insult girls (Durham 227). Just as producers have the right to produce and distribute these messages, the public audience has the right to question and challenge them. It is both the responsibility and obligation of the American society and the government to ensure a safer, healthier, more promising nation for girls to develop and grow without negative imagery, or false and fabricated ideals being fed to them through media.

Nonetheless, these potential resolutions to limiting the indecent exposure of teenage girls in the media predictably stir up opposition. Some people believe that society should not blame the media for the inappropriate behavior and lack of discipline and morals among teens in today’s society, but rather the parents and educators who influence and guide those teens. Also, they argue that not all media is bad media, and consider the idea that adults are biased against teens.

They believe that those who oppose their belief have over exaggerated the media’s impact on today’s youth, claiming that “seeing attractive models [has] become such a familiar experience that exposure no longer produces a reaction strong enough to influence self-perception or ones general sense of hope” (Wagner 120). Meaning, that girls have become desensitized to this kind of imagery that does not psychology affect them as much as some would like to believe.

After analyzing and being influenced by both sides of the argument, the leading proposed solution to me would be to alter the ideal image of female beauty and appeal disseminated by the media, then to extensively promote and advertise an improved, healthier, beautiful, and more realistic idea of female beauty. The media’s negative imagery has had an impact on the majority of today’s youth and is noticeably a serious problem. This impact has infected the minds of young growing girls with unrealistic and dangerous notions of perfection and lifestyle, clearly leaving parents concerned.

America’s teenage generation is disregarding moral values and the practice of self-respect, faith, self awareness and the embracing of childhood experiences, and rather engaging in activities involving immoral behavior which are simply not age-appropriate. Although who can blame them, since this type of behavior has become socially acceptable due to the media’s infiltration into America’s homes and spread of images and ideals focused rebellious behavior, sexual active, parental defiance, and distorted imagery of beauty and health.

The American society should take action as concerned citizens by voicing their opinions to society and demanding a decrease of the objectification and sexualization of females in the media. Additionally, since advertising agencies are not going to immediately rid themselves of the negative unethical habits with regard to female imagery in the media, continuing to produce and broadcast understandable and accurate ratings on all television programs, movies and even advertisements is an effective way to inform parents about what their children are watching and being influenced by.

Many young girls worry about the contours of their bodies, especially shape, size, and even muscle tone, because of the belief that the body is the ultimate expression of the self and beauty (Durham 128). This kind of mentality can cause long-term physical and mental damage and can push young girls to dangerous limits. Communities should promote extracurricular programs that help young people develop self-esteem based on traits such as ability, talents, character, and academics, rather than simply physical appearance.

The need to replace sexualized images with positive images of females endorsing notions other than physical beauty is vital. The goal should be to deliver messages to all adolescents, boys and girls, which lead to healthy, safe and realistic development. Our government has an obligation to protect its citizens from harmful and dangerous things; ultimately, these things are under the government’s control. The negative influences generated by media on young girls should be taken into consideration and should be diminished, even if that means comprising the few positives.

This lasting controversy is clearly a conflict between the values of health, safety, self-esteem, and ethical choices of teenage girls on one side, and the support of logical evidence and standpoints and the parental supervision aspect on the other. While promoting positive messages to youth through the media is the ultimate plan and goal for supporting the change in images presented by the young girls about young girls, every solution can back fire.

Some may believe that attempting to transform the media is a waste of time because these corporations behind it all will not bend easily since the obvious result and reason for a lack of good conscience is loss of profits and loss of the number one selling point, sex. However, if enough people take a stand and stop buying products with discriminating and insulting ad campaigns, turn off the television shows displaying high school students having sex and doing drugs, stop allowing their children to go see the movies that encourage and reward poor behavior among teens, then a demand will not go nnoticed. This may force those corporations responsible for the media to change this rising controversial moral problem and take us one step closer to having healthier, happier, growing young girls, rather than confused, pressured, unsatisfied, and vulnerable young teenage girls living everyday of their lives engulfed by an array of poor images and trying to live up to a image that is unhealthy, unsafe, unethical, or simply just doesn’t exist.

Works Cited Durham, Gigi. The Lolita Effect. New York: Overlook P, The, 2008. Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women. Dir. Sut Jhally. Perf. Jean Kilbourne. 2001. “TV Ratings. ” The TV Parental Guidelines. 2008. 1 Nov. 2008 . Wagner, Viqi. Eating Disorders. New York: Greenhaven P, Incorporated, 2007.