L'Oreal Blog To Learn

The importance of listening in the blogopshere is well documented but increasingly I am thinking we should be talking about learning.  The difference is that learning implies changing behaviour while listening doesn't.  This interview with L'Oreal's international brand manager for the Vichy brand makes the point well...

"We learned that we could talk directly to the users. They had questions for us and we had answers, so the brand didn't have to be anonymous to have status.  We also learned that communication could be spontaneous and a work-in-progress. We re-adjusted as we discovered their needs and heard their questions.

A perfect example was sun protection : we had a precise answer to whether you could use the product and go into the sun but bloggers asked us questions we had not previously considered: what happens if I spend a week end in the sun ? What if I live in  a sunny place, and so on.  We thought we had anticipated their answers, but we only had it partially right. For example, we expected questions on sun protection, but hadn't expected a question about home-prepared masks. 

Everyone at Vichy has learned from the blog. It has helped us to clarify our product position. And better answer customer questions that we had not previously thought about, such as what products should be used at the same time. The interaction with customers on the blog has impacted our PR and sales efforts."

Brands and agencies are always trying to gather insights into the marketplace and their consumers.  This is often done using market research such as focus groups but blogs provide another helpful tool.

Comments

[Christelle]

Je vous invite à lire un article français pour vous montrer comment ichy a fait peau neuve après des débuts désastreux dans la blogosphère

http://fr.blogworkers.com/archives/2005/06/le_journal_de_m.html

[Elke]

This is a test for school. I have to write that I don't like L'oreal (but I do) to see what sort of reactions I would get. Please react on this ... Thank you!