L’Oréal Retail Media Case Study - From Supplier to Strategic Partner

(How L’Oréal rewrote the rules of retailer engagement)

The Challenge:

Retail media partners were receiving fragmented briefs and inconsistent messages. L’Oréal needed to move beyond one-way product pushes and show up as a strategic partner, not just a supplier.

The Approach:

We built a data-led retailer engagement model, enabling L’Oréal to bring real value to JBP negotiations by showcasing the audiences they could activate — and the commercial results they could drive. This was based on a closed-loop data process, integrating CRM, Google, Nielsen, and retailer platforms.

Key Moves:

        • 🔁 Created a feedback loop showing the value L’Oréal’s marketing delivered to retail partners (audiences, basket size, conversion)

        • 🧠 Developed the “Policy-to-People” playbook to simplify comms (Brand → Shopper → Retailer)

        • 🤝 Coached brand teams to build smarter joint business plans (JBP) with Boots, Amazon, Superdrug

        • ⚙️ Optimised execution in real-time using L’Oréal analytics and retailer signals

Results That Mattered:

        • 📈 +19% increase in retailer-funded digital placements

        • 🌍 Strategic format adopted across 4 European markets

        • 🧩 Framework now used as internal best practice for Retailer Storytelling 2.0