What are the disadvantages to L'Oréal's global approach?
L'Oréal is a French company that successfully markets products all over the world, selling more than $28 billion worth of cosmetics, hair care products, skin care concoctions, and fragrances each year in 130 countries, making it the world's biggest cosmetics marketer. L'Oréal's success is based on a concept it calls "universalisation." The company sells its brands globally by understanding how they appeal to varied cultural nuances of beauty in specific local markets. Then it finds the best balance between standardizing its brands for global impact and adapting them to meet local needs and desires. With so many brands not only being sold in numerous markets but originating in many different markets, the master global marketer is the uncontested world leader in makeup, skin care, and hair coloring and second only to P&G in hair care.