How L’Oréal went from pilot studies to global emissions reduction activity

Global beauty brand L’Oréal has nailed its colors to the mast when it comes to sustainability. Its L’Oréal For The Future program, launched in 2020, makes explicit its commitment to sustainability by setting ambitious goals for 2030.

As part of that effort L’Oréal has been working with us to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by its digital advertising.

The electricity consumed when serving digital ads can be a major contributor to carbon emissions, as set out in our Impact Plus whitepaper. By working with Impact Plus, L’Oréal’s teams have been able to reduce the emissions from their digital advertising campaigns, contributing towards the goals of the L’Oréal For The Future program.

Pilot studies to scale

Crucially, L’Oréal was able to scale its GHG reduction activity from a relatively small outlay. Its partnership with Impact Plus began in 2021 in France. That early work, which saw the teams lay the groundwork for what came later, ultimately led to the partnership expanding into other countries.

Over the years, Impact Plus has empowered L’Oréal to measure the CO2 emissions of its digital media campaigns across more than 30 markets.

In 2023, for example, L’Oréal avoided 30% of its emissions, compared to a non-optimized scenario. That was in part achieved due to creative optimization, in addition to a variety of other levers identified by the Impact Plus and L’Oréal media teams.

Moving forward

Of the partnership, L’Oréal’s Chief Media Officer Mathias Chaillou said: “L’Oréal is partnering with Impact Plus to measure the GHG emissions associated with its digital media activities. Together with the Impact Plus team, we are developing a robust plan to activate all available levers for reduction.”

The work is proof of L’Oréal’s holistic commitment to reducing its emissions. Working in tandem with the team at Impact Plus, it was able to grow the scope of its reduction activities from pilot studies in France, to encompass a much greater amount of its overall digital advertising activity.

If you would like to find out how the global beauty brand went from pilot studies to global campaigns, you can find that in-depth success story here.