L'Oréal (A): Fighting the shampoo battle

This is the first of a two-case series (501-011-1 and 501-012-1). This case study discusses how L'Oreal decided to become a leader in the European shampoo market, a market that only a few years earlier had not been a company priority because competition was very much based on price and margins were too narrow. Elseve was L'Oreal's shampoo brand leader in the French market and the challenge for the company was to make it a leader throughout Europe. The immediate issue of this case is to discuss the definition of strategic priorities in the international marketing of Elseve, one of the L'Oreal brands, while providing a global view of the European market. This case study is suitable for use very early in a course on International Marketing or Global Marketing, possibly in the second or third class, when dealing with the issue of international competitive marketing strategies. A video "L'Oreal: A True Partnership" (501-011-3) is available to accompany the case series. This version contains colour exhibits. There is a multimedia version of this case series that can be used instead of the paper version '501-011-0'.