After arriving back in Australia recently after two years abroad, Cherie Herrmann has managed to snag herself a top job – with news the beauty journalist is the new brand manager for L'Oréal Paris Elvive.
To tell us all about the role, BEAUTYDIRECTORY managed to steal five minutes from Herrmann’s busy day to discuss with her everything from what her responsibilities will be to the position’s main attraction.
Can you tell me about your new role?
It’s a hybrid role; one that’s been tweaked to match my skill set. I’m the brand manager for L’Oréal Paris Elvive, but I’m also in charge of the ‘Always On’ (non-campaign) social media content for the entire L’Oréal Paris brand. This will allow me to not only become an expert in marketing to the Australian hair consumer, but create digital content across the hair, skincare and cosmetics categories, too.
What will your day-to-day responsibilities include?
No work day at L’Oréal is ever the same, which helps keep you agile. While I’m wearing my brand manager hat, I’ll be working on creating and executing marketing campaigns for both new and existing products in the Elvive portfolio; generating opportunities to drive penetration through in-store promotions, digital activations and sampling; and helping build our team’s knowledge of the consumer, the market and our competitors to ensure sales forecast accuracy. When I slip into social media mode, I’ll be working on our brand strategy, creating static and video content based on search, seasonal trends and NPDs, working on creating and implementing the monthly editorial calendar, and staying abreast of social platform changes to ensure L’Oréal Paris’s digital/social presence is on point.
What attracted you to the position?
Two things, actually. Firstly, after living in the UK for two years and spending a lot of time travelling through Europe, I wanted to live in Australia’s most European city – Melbourne – upon my return to Australia. Secondly, after two years with L’Oréal in London working in a highly strategic marketing role at the global head office for The Body Shop, I was eager to transfer my skills to an operational marketing role at country level within the beauty industry. The fact my brand manager role also has a strong digital focus means I still get to dabble in digital beauty content creation, which is what I loved about being a beauty editor prior to moving to London.
Will you still be getting to do some writing?
In small amounts, yes. Because a brand manager has the ability to localise international assets as well as produce their own, I’ll be able to have copy input on our product names and labels, in our TVCs and digital campaign content, as well as on in-store POS elements. My digital/social responsibilities will allow my creative side to get more of a workout, though, as I’m involved in all the content created for the L'Oréal Paris Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts.
What are you most looking forward to in the role?
Having most recently come from an international role where I was trying to create digital marketing content that needs to work in over 65 countries, working with only one market – Australia – is incredibly exciting. It will enable me to be more targeted with my approach, and truly hone into the Australian consumer and what makes he/she tick. L’Oréal Paris Elvive has some wonderfully innovative products launching in 2017, and it’ll be thrilling to watch our marketing initiatives unfold in real time. Adding a ‘publisher’s’ touch to the L’Oréal Paris social channels also excites me. Creating engaging experiences for consumers online is a challenge for brands, but I’m confident my beauty editing background will help us make content that consumers want to engage with organically, and further build our brand’s credibility online.
