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Lauriane Anderson Mair
Marketing Product Manager,
Kiehl’s since 1851, L’Oréal
UK & Ireland
The Queen’s College,
BA Modern Languages
(German & Spanish), 2011
WHAT: My role is very varied.
Firstly I manage innovative projects,
pioneering new ways of connecting
with customers. For example, I
recently coordinated the launch of our
mobile pop-up shop “Kiehl’s on Wheels”
to raise our brand awareness across the
UK, kicking off our road trip in Birmingham
then London. Secondly, I look after many
of our hero franchises and develop a
strategy and PR campaigns for each
product and launch: I decide who we want
to speak to, and how we will can best
achieve this in “Kiehl’s way”.
WHY: Project ownership is the most
motivating part of working in marketing
at L’Oréal. I have always been given a
great deal of responsibility, and been
entrusted to make decisions that impact
the business. For example, first job after
finishing the Management Trainee Scheme
was looking after Lancôme’s Christmas
campaign - the biggest brand in the luxury
division during our most important sales
period! I truly valued being able to make
a significant difference so early on in my
career.
EARLY CAREER: My interest in marketing
developed during my year abroad, as I
spent 12 months completing internships
within international communications
agencies in Germany and Spain.
After I graduated from Oxford I
cemented this interest by studying
for a Masters degree in Media and
Communications at the London
School of Economics and Political
Science (LSE). I joined L’Oréal for
an internship, followed by the
Marketing Management Trainee
Scheme, before settling in the
luxury division. Throughout my time
here I have worked with a wide
range of brands that have very
different business models, from
Maybelline, a “big brand” with a
large advertising budget, to Kiehl’s, a
zero-advertising brand that instead
relies on innovative communication
campaigns to make itself known to
customers.
ADVICE: Gain as much work
experience as you can throughout
your time at university, so you
can both confirm your interest in
marketing, and crucially make your
profile stand out amongst other
applicants.
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Nicola Rolfe
Senior Brand Manager,
Unilever
WHAT: I’ve now been at Unilever
nearly five years. In my current job as
Senior Brand Manager for Magnum
and Cornetto UK I love being able to
tell people I’m making the ice cream
that they know and love! It’s a fastpaced,
creative and energetic industry
where you are constantly pushing to do
something bigger, better and launch it
faster.
international brand strategies and
new products, to executing great
local plans and working with retailers
to drive brand growth. I started in
the international marketing team
for Sure deodorants and have since
moved to the Ice Cream UK & Ireland
team, working on Ben & Jerry’s and
now Magnum & Cornetto marketing
in the UK.
New College,
BA Modern Languages
(French), 2010
FINDING FOCUS: During my year
abroad, I decided to gain some work
experience and landed an internship
on the L’Oreal Europportunity scheme,
working for 6 months for the Garnier
International Marketing team in Paris.
This gave me my first taste of marketing,
of FMCG, and I was hooked. In my final
year, I researched the different FMCG
companies and decided Unilever was my
first choice graduate scheme.
EARLY CAREER: I joined Unilever on the
marketing graduate scheme, which
lasted two years and enabled me to
experience the different marketing
disciplines in Unilever, from developing
ADVICE: For anyone wanting to get
into marketing, try to gain experience
early, whether through internships,
work shadowing or starting your own
company: it all counts to show your
passion for consumers, drive and
entrepreneurial spirit. Then, when
you are looking to take that first step
in your career, look at the brands you
admire and consider what it is about
them that you love and why. This
will help you determine what sort
of brands and categories you want
to work on, and therefore which
companies to apply to.
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