www.loreal.com
A web Site audit by Ekaterina Sediakina
Master 2 Communication institutionnelle
This website is the official corporate site for the French cosmetics group L'Oréal. The group comprises many other brands of beauty products (Lancôme, Redken, Vichy, etc.), therefore this site is not unique to L'Oréal cosmetics. Besides providing information on a wide array of products to the consumer, this site is also designed to be a source for journalists, shareholders, investors, and finally job-seekers. I chose to audit this site because I have already applied for an internship with the group L'Oréal and would like to better discover their policies for hiring students and young professionals. What attracted me to the site in the first place is its link to student jobs on the front page.
A. Form The front page of the L'Oréal site, in my opinion, is very well designed. It addresses all the possible types of individuals who are likely to visit it. First, in the very centre of the page the visitor is given the opportunity to choose his country of origin. After making a choice, he is automatically taken to the site of L'Oréal in that country. Second, on the left hand side of the page the site asks the visitor to identify himself as a consumer, a scientist, an investor or shareholder, a journalist, or as a job seeker. It also gives the individual the opportunity to directly apply for a job. Third, on top of the page there is a menu addressed to individuals who are more interested in the business of the group. There are links that tell the visitor about the company, careers within L'Oréal, its brands, research being done there, finances and shareholders (again), news, and finally press releases. Fourth, on the right hand side of the page, the visitor is given the option to choose one of the labels within the L'Oréal group. Therefore, those interested in a particular line of products can view information on these directly. Fifth, towards the centre of the page there is another series of links to current headlines or topics of interest to the average web surfer: L'Oréal HR managers meet job seekers, for your eyes only, helping stamp out tuberculosis, sales at September 30 th 2005, and the ultimate business game. There is also the option to click for more news or to visit related websites. Finally, at the very bottom of the page, there is another more technical menu. There are links to L'Oréal USA, the French version of the site, the copyright policy, the privacy policy, to the editor/hosting, and finally to a site map/quick access. The general aesthetics of the site are quite well designed as well. The main message of the company is “To build beauty, we need talent,” which is quite appealing to a business man or to a young professional. This message also makes L'Oréal sound as if it is the world leader in cosmetics with offices on almost all continents. Finally, it proposes the visitor to chat online with recruiters from all over the world. With a high-speed ADSL internet connection, the L'Oréal site loads very fast, even with its animations.
B. Contents Under “Customize your experience as…”: • The Consumer is presented with several different options. There is a section devoted to “Beauty Tips Online”. Another section is entitled: “Voyage to the very heart of beauty” and it offers hair and skin care tips. “Beauty Differently” allows the visitor to read about how L'Oréal is contributing to science and its other projects. Finally, there is a link to online shopping and the visitor is given a choice of several brands. • The Scientist is informed about current L'Oréal research projects. First, there is a link to the company's newest project, the “First Research Centre to Study Chinese Hair and Skin.” There are also six additional sections under Science Inside: Research at the service of products, A world of Hair, Skin, The hows and whys of rebuilding skin, Art & Science, and finally Partnering with R&D. • The Shareholder & Investor page is quite basic, but it provides the essential financial information about the company. It posts the current L'Oréal stock price. There are also three links under the L'Oréal Group Financial Communication: Annual Report 2004, Figures & results, and Shareholder corner. • The Journalist section of the page is much more up to date. It provides links to the latest press releases, as well as all the press releases of the last couple of months. There is a link to the First Half of 2005 Results of the corporation. Finally, there are five additional links: Annual Report 2004, Sustainable development, Key figures, Brands, and Contact our corporate press offices. • The Student or Job Seeker is once again presented with the message: “To build beauty, we need talent.” Under this message there is a direct link to the Human Resources pages of L'Oréal. The big headline of the page says that L'Oréal HR Managers meet job seekers online. Another section is entitled “Discover life as…” one of the many professionals currently working for the company. Their profiles are constantly changing on the screen. Finally, there are three links: Special events for students, Apply spontaneously, and Search our job offers. • Under the Apply Now section, the visitor is invited to create his own account and directly apply for a job or an internship. There is also a link to the L'Oréal Recruitment Process site. On the right hand side of the main page there is a list of all the brands that have been incorporated into the L'Oréal group. In all there are 21 sub companies in this huge corporation: L'Oréal Paris, Biotherm, Cacharel, Le Club des Créateurs de Beauté, Garnier, Giorgio Armani Parfums, Helena Rubinstein, Innéov, Kérastase Paris, Kiehl's, Lancôme Paris, La Roche-Posay Laboratoire Pharmaceutique, L'Oréal Proféssionnel, Matrix, Maybelline New York, Ralph Lauren, Redken 5 th Avenue NYC, shu uemura, SoftSheen.Carson, Vichy Laboratoires, and Victor&Rolf. By clicking on each of them, the visitor is given a choice to be redirected towards the specialized website of the brand, or to simply learn about its products. At the top of the page there is a menu that focuses on the business of the group L'Oréal: • The first link is dedicated to a company overview. The welcome page of this section projects facts and figures on L'Oréal around the world. There are four detailed subsections: Company overview, Our expertise, Our commitment, and World Presence. Finally, there is a special feature “The magic of research.” • The next section is dedicated to careers . There is a testimonial animation of an individual working for L'Oréal. There are also four subheadings: Graduating to L'Oréal, A world of opportunities, Your career and you, and finally a page where candidates can apply for a job directly. • When you click on the brands menu, you are given a choice between four categories of products: Consumer products, Professional products, Luxury products, and Active cosmetics. By scrolling over these categories, you are immediately shown the different brands that fall into that category. After choosing one of these, you are then invited to choose a brand name and are taken to a specific site of the brand. • The L'Oréal research page introduces the visitor to all of the projects undertaken by the group in the last ten years. You can choose between four subheadings: General research policy, Technologies, recent Innovations, and the Orientations of research. On the welcome page you are also given a general overview of research done by the group. • The finance & shareholders page opens up with a display of all the recent press releases of the group. The visitor can even sort these news releases by selecting several categories. There are six main menus in the section: News & Events, Corporate Facts, the L'Oréal Share, Figures & Results, Shareholder's Corner, and Resources. The main page also displays the current L'Oréal share price. • The company news welcome page displays the latest headlines in the world of business and research. The visitor can also choose between company news and beauty news in menus located on the right hand side of the page. Company news is further subdivided into four sections: Group, Human resources, Research, and Finance news. The Beauty news menu has five sections: Welcome, Consumer products, Professional products, Luxury products, and Active cosmetics. • The press releases section differs from the press release subsection on the Finance and Shareholders page. There are four types of news releases to choose from: Latest corporate press releases, All corporate press releases, Latest finance press releases, and All finance press releases.
A. Form Positive points: Every page on the L'Oréal group site is very well designed. Most pages have animations or changing graphics that add a lot of movement and a three-dimensional aspect to the site. Some pages display a very good use of sound as well. Every page opens with an animation, but this does not slow down the loading of information at all. There is a very good use of photography and colour that make the website very attractive to the eye of the visitor. If the visitor ever clicks on the wrong page by accident, he can easily go back to the previous page or choose from the main menu that is always displayed at the top of the screen. The site map page is very well done and is very helpful to the visitor when he is looking for something in particular. I also really like the fact that the site is always centered on the page; therefore the eye never has to wonder to find a specific element. Negative points: The primary negative point of the site is the size of its main menus. They are very small and not very visible on the dark brownish-purple background. These menus and links could be a bit bigger and bolder. B. Contents Positive points: The content of the L'Oréal site is very well organized. The visitor is never presented with too much information at a time. Instead, each page presents him with the basic facts about the company division, brand, or product. If he wishes to read more about it then he can click to enter a more detailed page. The other positive feature of the site is that it is designed to inform different kinds of people: businessmen, scientists, job seekers, or simply women interested in cosmetics. There is information on the site for everyone. Finally, the site's interactive features really enhance its contents. The visitor can not only learn about L'Oréal from reading, but he is invited to participate in online debates, to view video clips on professional experiences, and to be introduced to L'Oréal products.
Negative points: The site is so well documented and designed, that I really cannot say anything negative about its contents. C. Form/Contents and Final Verdict The relationship between the form and the contents is very well balanced on the L'Oréal site. Every theme is presented with specialized graphics and animations. The only thing that I would change about the site is its background colour, and the size of its menu titles. Everything else makes it a highly interesting and top quality website to visit. |