Loreal 2011 Annual Report Download - page 15

13REGISTRATION DOCUMENT − L’ORÉAL 2011
Presentation oftheGroup
1
Research and innovation: excellence, tomeettheneeds of all markets
1.5.5. The world production
centre forreconstructed
biological tissues
In2011, L’Oréal inaugurated its global predictive evaluation
centre in Gerland (Lyon). Dedicated to the predictive evaluation
of the safety and efficacy of the ingredients and products, this
centre is the first cosmetics industry site to produce reconstructed
biological tissues (130,000units per year).
The Group’s performances, in terms of predictive evaluation,
also benefit from the considerable amount of historical data
that L’Oréal has developed over the 100 years of its exclusive
innovations in cosmetics. The Group currently has a large data
base on several tens of thousands of molecules. Thanks to a
computer modelling system, the cross-comparing of all this
data makes it possible to predict the efficacy and safety of
the ingredients and the products, increasing the reliability and
improving the cost of the formulae.
1.5.6. Research in tune
withthemarket
All stages of research which lead up to the launch of an
innovative product are connected to the market. There is a
veritable interaction between research and marketing.
This approach is closely related to the Group’s development
strategy in the New Markets. Consumers in India are not the
same as those in China or in Europe. Their cosmetic needs and
aspirations differ. To pay heed to the needs of its customers
in their diversity, L’Oréal has created a Consumer & Market
Insights Department in the Innovation Division to build up a
global consumer data bank per product category and per
major region of the world. The cosmetic needs and expectations
of consumers all over the world in 15 priority markets for the
Group are identified through these studies.
Research sites worldwide
19 Research centres
5 Regional hubs
16 Evaluation centres
To adapt to consumers all over the world, L’Oréal’s research
teams are present in all geographic zones through its
19cosmetics and dermatological research centres and 16
evaluation centres. They are grouped together in 5regional
hubs: in France, the United States, China, Japan and Brazil. In
symbiosis with the local environment, they identify cosmetic
needs, expertise and practices. All this data then enables the
researchers to develop new products that are perfectly in tune
with needs. The innovations developed will then be shared with
the other research centres, and needs identified in one country
may subsequently lead to success right around the world.
Local research and adaptation of products