MISA students in class with L'Oréal Italy

Innovation, sustainability, social acceleration, diversity and inclusion. These are the key words that distinguished the meeting MISA students had with Diogo Pascoal, Talent Acquisition & Campus Project Manager at L'Oréal, and Camilla Marra, Corporate ecommerce Manager at l'Oréal.

It was an opportunity for our students to learn more about the vision that characterizes one of the leading companies in the beauty industry and to see a preview of the international contest promoted by L'Oréal: Brandstorm 2023, dedicated to young innovators and the most disruptive ideas.

"At L'Oréal, we consider beauty in multiple aspects." Diogo stated at the opening of the event. "Beauty is technology, for example when we use artificial intelligence to formulate a product. Beauty is inclusion because it meets the needs of different consumers, no one excluded. Beauty is innovation, this is demonstrated by the very high number of patents we file, an average of 500 per year. And if we look to the future, beauty can only be sustainable. At L'Oréal Italy we have a concrete example: our facility recycles all the water used in the production processes."

In Diogo's words, L'Oréal's strategy for driving corporate growth through innovation and sustainability emerges, a recurring theme in the teachings of the Misa Master's program as well: in fact, participants are asked to govern corporate transformations, supporting new spurts of corporate innovation and paying particular attention to the sustainability of their business.

Camilla also emphasizes the company's strong approach to innovation. "How do we envision Digital at L'Oréal? By identifying four pillars of reference. The first is people: the position I currently hold did not exist, we built it from scratch, and today the corporate ecommerce team has 34 people.

The second is data: l'Oréal is one of the most "data driven" companies. We don't just take the data, we analyze it and based on the results we put concrete actions in place.

The third pillar is the consumer: we always try to understand what the consumer is looking for. At L'Oréal we have a team of 10 people dedicated to analyzing consumer needs, both online and through direct contacts.

The last pillar is relationships. Our goal is to develop long-term relationships based on trust, both with our consumers and with our buyers."

At the end of the meeting, Diogo presented the Brandstorm 2023 project to the students: the largest global competition aimed at 18-30 year olds and their aptitude for innovation. A challenge that invites them to freely explore new forms of engagement, customer experience, and to express and celebrate diversity and inclusion. Candidate projects must meet six criteria: innovation, technology, sustainability, inclusion, feasibility and scalability. These are criteria that reflect the relevance of the topics addressed by MISA, a Master's program with its spirit and teachings closely linked to the development of innovative and sustainable strategies for companies. In this sense, Brandstorm represents an absolutely stimulating challenge for all our students.

"Participating in Brandstorm and winning," Diogo recalls, "is not just a way to get involved. It is a professional growth experience that brings tangible benefits and also builds resumes."

SDA Bocconi School of Management