L'Oreal: Because You're Worth It

L’Oreal is the world’s largest cosmetics and beauty company and includes products that range from makeup and perfume to hair and skin care products. L’Oreal produces several well-known brands such as Lancôme, Maybelline and Redken. L’Oreal’s mission is to “help men and women around the world realize that aspiration, and express their individual personalities to the full.”
The early beginnings of L’Oreal started in 1907 when a hair color formula was developed in France. Eugène Schueller was a young French chemist who developed this hair color in his home and then sold the finished products to local hairdressers, with the only colors available being fiery red or coal black. In 1909 Schueller eventually formed a company for his products and registered it under the French name “Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux,” meaning “French Society for Inoffensive Hair Dye.”
The 1920’s began L’Oreal’s growth spurt. By now, L’Oreal’s products were available in a total of 17 countries all over the world with a mere three employees working for the company. The end of World War I also played a big role in the success of L’Oreal due to the fact that women were taking more pride in their looks and shapely and bolder color hairstyles were the latest fashion.
Because of their widespread growth, the number of employees at L’Oreal increased by thousands over the next several decades and the company continued to grow. Today, L’Oreal is the producer of a wide range of products and is working on new ones every day.
L’Oreal is noted for its involvement within the community. They have launched worldwide campaigns throughout several different countries to help the communities around them. They have also taken initiative to help the community from within their own workplaces. As stated in a 2008 company report, last year L’Oreal cut their overall energy use by 3.6% and they cut their water use by 6.9%. Their Green House Gas (GHG) emissions were cut by 6.6% and their waste was cut by 4.9%. These are some of their major ways that they have cut back in their own workplace with an entire list located on their website.
L’Oreal plays a big role within their local communities. On their website, people can find an entire portion that is dedicated to local initiatives and how they are giving back to the community. At the factory in Indonesia, L’Oreal has increased their product output by 62% while at the same only increasing their energy consumption by 29%. This has done a lot to help this area and was achieved by making small changes within the factory.
In Europe, L’Oreal has started a Promoting Diversity Laboratory. This lab includes 15 international companies as well as several associations who are all proactive in the fight against all types of discrimination. Organizations that are involved include the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), the International Lesbian and Gay Association and the European Disability Forum.
In the United States, L’Oreal implemented their first Employee Volunteer Day in New York in 2006 to help support the communities where the company does business. They partner with volunteer group, New York Cares that matches available volunteers with the charities who need them. In Cranbury, New Jersey, L’Oreal’s local employees have raised money for breast cancer research since 2004. This specific distribution centre lost two employees to the disease and ever since have been supporting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. They have hosted “Because Your Dog is worth It Too,” the charity event that brought together over 5,000 people and 2,600 dogs. At the event, pet owners could have a fun-filled day with events such as a costume contest for their pet, a dog wash and dog diving into a pool. In 2007, this event raised over $65,000 for breast cancer research and over the last four years they have raised over $225,000.
L’Oreal is also very involved in the fight against Ovarian Cancer. They have been involved with this since 1997 and over the years have raised more than $18 million dollars for the fight. They help to promote awareness of ovarian cancer as well as promoting advances in research. To support their involvement with this cause, L’Oreal has created a line of makeup that is called the “Color of Hope” cosmetics collection with $1 from the sale of each item going to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF).
Another great way that L’Oreal has become involved in the community is with their Women of Worth program. With this program L’Oreal recognizes, celebrates and supports women who make a difference within their communities. This program celebrates women all over the United States who are helping to better their communities.
Strengths of L’Oreal’s involvement in the community include, first of all, that they take initiative worldwide. They don’t just focus on one town or community; they do what they can to help each of their communities and benefit them in a positive way.
One weakness that definitely could have hurt this company if they had not changed is that they once tested their products on animals. Fortunately L’Oreal chose to stop this in the late 80’s and they have not tested their products on animals in over twenty years.
Opportunities for this company are far and wide. Because L’Oreal produces such a wide variety of products, they have the opportunity to excel in each product line. They have already created a new line of hair-care products called Ever Pure, which is a 100% Vegan product. They have also come out with more pure lines of makeup and they have the opportunity to create “cleaner” products with any of their product lines and also products that support local causes.
The only threats that could be possible for this company is the other cosmetic and beauty companies that they are in competition with. L’Oreal will have to continue their great community involvement in order to stay in top in this competitive industry.
As a whole, L’Oreal is giving back to the community in a large number of ways. They are doing all they can to ensure that consumers associate their name with a positive connotation. By getting involved worldwide, they have proven that they are her not only to sell their great products, but also that they truly want to help those around them.

Times Talk

My Times Talk was on Wednesday, Nov. 4 and was facilitated by Dr. Sandra Jordan who is the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. This was her first Times Talk and she did a great job. The topic of discussion was "Big Time College Athletics: Win at all costs?" We discussed everything from whether or not GCSU could support a football team and several different aspects of the big universities and their huge involvement in college sports. The main article of discussion was about the Binghamton University Basketball team and that their star guard, Emanuel Mayben might be kicked off the team. He was caught in early September for the sale and possession of crack cocaine.

The discussions were all very interesting and it was insightful to hear input from a diverse group of people. We had several professors and students of all different majors, including GCSU's new Athletic Director, Wendell Staton.

To promote this event, I created flyers that were posted all over campus, wrote a press release and created a Facebook event. The Times Talk had a great turnout of about 19 students and professors, so I feel like I did a good job promoting this event.

Entering the "REAL WORLD"

It is a very scary time to be graduating and entering the job market. Every time I tell someone that I am graduating in December, I get pity and "oh it's such a bad market." Personally though, I am fairly confident that I will not have too much trouble finding a job.

The article is a very scary one especially since it is pertaining to our major in specific, but I am still confident. My best friend graduated from Valdosta in May with a degree in Public Relations. She had an interview her last week of school and ended up getting the job right away. She is working at the Art Institute of Atlanta in the Admissions Department. Her starting salary is very impressive and I think she has already been given a pay increase because she has done such a great job.

Having close friends who have been successful in the recent job market really gives me hope. I am currently sending my resume out to everyone I know and all of my neighbors and my parents friends as well.

I will probably be moving back to Atlanta come December to broaden my horizons and experience the city! I am looking forward to getting back into a faster paced life, but the downside will be living with the parents for a little while, but hey, what else is there to do in this poor economy? I will take a free place to live and free meals any day! And plus, 80% of graduating college students have recently moved back home due to the poor economy. It will be a big change, but I know it's for the best!

TV to Talk About, Music to Jam About

TV to Talk About, Music to Jam About. This was the slogan for our CW Event. We chose to have our event on front campus on Thursday, Oct. 8 from about 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. We had two different acts on stage and also had chips and salsa from Chili's and cookies too. Our main draw for our event was the raffle. We had about $600 to $700 dollars worth of donated items that we raffled off. We had a wide range of gifts to, from hair care products to some of the newest DVD's, as well as gift certificates to several local restaurants. As a whole, I thought our event turned out very well and it was a great success.

We did have a few things that didn't go as planned though:

-We had two performers, Blake Whitworth and The Whales. They did an awesome job, but they were late. I feel that if they had gotten to the event on time (4 p.m.), more people would have stayed for our event. Most of the people were there when they got out of class earlier at the event and the music didn't get there til about 5 p.m. or so.

-We should have taken into consideration that it was the Thursday before Fall Break and most people were already headed on their way to their weekend plans. The only reason we chose this date is because that's when the bands were available. It was our last resort and somewhat poor planning.

-The main thing that ticked me off was before our event even started. Alcohol Awareness Week was going on at the same time as our event, which we were told when reserving our space on front campus. We never though twice about having to reserve a SPECIFIC spot on campus. Well just a little FYI, you have to specify. So, we get to campus to set up and we are given a small space right on the bobcat in between Atkinson & Terrell. We continue to set up and run into a confrontation with the girl in charge of AAW who said we were taking up too much space and interfering with her activities. The way she approached us was very rude and demanding. It was a good experience to have to deal with someone like this and be able to reason with them...but trust me, I was FURIOUS!

I think it is always a good idea to ask, "What could we have done better," after an event. This is what I came up with, but I am still happy with the turnout of our event.

Ashlee Simpson Case Study

Ann & I had the class read the Ashlee Simpson case study for our presentation on Chapter 8. The main point of Chapter 8 dealt with crisis management and how celebrities and famous athletes need to brand themselves in a positive way and react quickly when a crisis occurs.

Ashlee Simpson had a lip syncing fiasco one night on Saturday Night Live and could have handled it a lot better. At the end of the show she tried to blame it on her band and that they started playing the wrong song and then on TV interviews she claimed that she had not been feeling well before the show and she had a sore throat.

This event caused a lot of people to lose some of their respect for Ashlee due to the fact that she would not just admit that she had planned to sing along with a track. Tons of performers do this at their concerts and I think that if she had just come out and admitted to her mistake that people would have gained respect for her fessing up to her own mistake.

Celebrities choose to be in the spotlight and have their name known everywhere. Therefore, they need to act in a respectable manner. It is sickening hearing about all of the trashy female celebs who make fools of themselves in public.

I read a quote the other day that stated, "Not only are you representing yourself, but also your family's name." I found this to be very insightful and so true. I just wish these celebrities who make fools of themselves would realize how childish they make themselves look.

Team Taylor

I was shocked to see Kanye casually walk onto the stage as he did. I have never been a big fan of his, but now I have no use for him. People are saying it was a publicity stunt, but I don't agree. Kanye has never been surrounded by positive press. First thing that comes to my mind is when he got into an altercation at an airport a few years back. I think he is just an angry person.

So that is my personal opinion. I realize that he has apologized several times, but that still does't take back what he did. I think the fact that he did it to Taylor Swift shocks people more than if it were someone else. She is a very young girl who is always surrounded by positive press.

As MTV has posted a long article about this on their website talking about how people are creating spoofs of this event. So I say, Team Taylor....it woud not surprise me one bit if someone created shirts for this either!

PR: Do I have what it takes?

I think Dave Fleet's 14 Key Attributes are directly on target and I feel that I qualify for most of them.

I have always considered myself an "o.k" writer, but my confidence has grown over the last few years. Writing for The Colonnade really helped me to realize my talent and I now feel comfortable classifying my writing skills as "above average."

My communication skills have increased drastically after my internship this past summer. I am now more comfortable talking on the the phone with people while our world's more personable means of communication are slowly disintegrating. Until about 10th grade, I was deathly shy...I know, it's very hard to believe, but I was. Looking back, I never thought I would get my degree in a field that requires so much communication with people on a daily basis. I am very proud of myself of how outgoing and personable I have come and consider my personality one of my greatest attributes.

I know every one says this about themselves, but I really do have a great work ethic. I will not quit until everything is finished just right. This also goes along with pro-activeness. When I began my internship there was a ton of stuff I did not know, but I would try and figure it out on my own. If I had any doubt, I never thought twice about asking a question though. This kind of leads into my attention for detail. I want things done right, and as I said above, I won't stop working until things are perfect. I am a perfectionist which can sometimes drive me a little insane :)

I need to work on my use of social media. Ging, I'm trying my best to keep up with the blogs:) They are just not my forte. As I talked about in a previous blog, I am a person who likes to stay on the go, all the time. I prefer social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook where I can vent/update my status in one sentence and that is all that is allowed! Being able to write THIS much is overwhelming to me. BUUTTTT...I am trying.

Some of the terms on Dave's "new" list I have not heard of...but don't worry. I am about to use my search skills on Google to find it out for myself (proactiveness) haha.

Til next time,
hopefully next week . . .