L’Oréal USA fights back
On November 12th, L’Oréal USA’s Professional Products Division invited on-line editors, bloggers and salon trade editors to a special event at the Tribeca Grand Hotel in New York. This time, glamour, hair art and fashion left centre stage to the business ethics which have lead the company to make a strong commitment against diversion.
The problem with diversion – i.e. unauthorised distribution of professional products through non-salon retailers – is not so much that it competes dishonestly with sales you might be making at your salon, but that it poses a health risk for your clients and unaware buyers in general. You simply cannot rely on the quality of these products, because somewhere along the distribution process they were taken away from the manufacturer’ control.
David Craggs, President of L’Oréal USA’s Professional Products Division, stated: “Thanks to a highly sophisticated secondary coding system that is 100% accurate in tracking products, we have cut off diverters and over 30 million dollars in unauthorised product sales.” But the battle against diversion starts with information: “We encourage salons and stylists to educate their clientele on why they should purchase products only through authorised outlets.”
To this end, the company has created an informative 7 minute video entitled “State of Diversion Today”, which was posted live on November 13th on David Craggs’ blog as well as stylist and consumer channels such as L’Oréal USA’s websites, Facebook pages, and YouTube.
Posted on 05.12.2008