Late last year, L'Oréal Australia announced Jessica Nguyen was stepping into the role of digital communications manager at the brand's Consumer Products Division, replacing Georgia Reid who was heading off on 12 months maternity leave.
Very familiar with the company, Nguyen has been with L'Oréal since 2011 - where she began at the company as a marketing intern. Since then she has had various roles including marketing and events assistant, assistant brand manager, brand manager and senior brand manager - all at Maybelline New York.
To find out more on everything from the new role to what 2016 is set to look like for the L'Oréal Consumer Products Division, Nguyen took time out from her busy schedule to have a quick chat to BEAUTYDIRECTORY...
Can you tell me what the new role will involve?
As the digital communications manager for the L’Oréal Consumer Products Division, I am responsible for the online PR of L’Oréal’s consumer products brands: L'Oréal Paris, Maybelline New York, Garnier and essie. My role is quite broad but it can involve anything from driving advocacy online for each brand, influencer marketing in terms of identifying and liaising with social influencers that the brands can collaborate with for campaigns, or developing relationships with the online beauty community from the grassroots level bloggers all the way up to the top tier influencers.
You've worked your way up the ranks at L’Oréal. Did you ever think you would be where you are in just five years?
No, not at all! Looking back, I don’t think I would have ever thought I’d get this far this quickly but I guess that’s the great thing about L’Oréal. There are always so many opportunities to progress and move within the business.
With so much experience with Maybelline New York, do you feel you now need to play catch-up with L'Oréal Paris, Garnier and Essie?
I’m pretty familiar with the L’Oréal Paris, Garnier and Essie brands as they are part of the Consumer Products Division and the teams work closely together. However, I definitely know Maybelline the most having worked on the brand for the last four years. I’ll always be a Maybelline girl at heart!
What are you hoping to achieve with the four brands in 2016?
I’m hoping to make L’Oréal and its brands the reference point for brand best practices in driving online advocacy and working with bloggers and influencers. With that, I want to not only increase our digital presence for 2016 but make L’Oréal the number one brand for online share of voice.
What has been your career highlight to date?
Prior to my current role, one of my key responsibilities as Maybelline’s senior brand manager was managing its social channels, particularly growing the @maybellineau Instagram account. Through a lot of hard work and dedication, it’s been a career highlight for me to see it grow from 18,000 to 75,000 in the last year, making it four times the size it once was and one of the fastest growing cosmetics accounts in Australia.
What are you most excited about in regards to the new role?
Because my role is so new and has never existed in the business, it’s such a blank canvas that can really be whatever I make it - which is really exciting. The other thing is the online space is always changing and ever evolving, so my responsibilities constantly have to change to adapt to it. It’s definitely a role that keeps me on my toes!
