Over Coffee Episode 3 | 'I learn everyday': Working in Operational Marketing at L’Oréal Groupe

In this third episode of the Over Coffee series, SeedZ Graduate Program participants Tidiane and Maryna sit down for coffee with Marin, an operational product manager at L'Oréal. Filmed in an open cafeteria space at L'Oréal headquarters, Marin recounts his non-traditional transition from trained pharmacist to cosmetic marketer, explaining how scientific rigor enhances consumer empathy and product understanding. Using the concrete launch of the Hyalu B5 serum as an example, he illustrates his role as a vital "bridge" adapting global brand visions into targeted, high-impact strategies for the local market.

TIDIANE: Hi, welcome to Over Coffee at L'Oréal. I'm Tidiane.

MARYNA: And I'm Maryna.

TIDIANE: And we're both doing the SeedZ Graduate Program.

MARYNA: Today, we grab coffee with Marin in the coolest cafeteria inside the high-tech L'Oréal headquarters.

TIDIANE: And we're here to talk about what his job really, really looks like. No corporate scripts, no suit and ties.

MARYNA: Just a real conversation, because as we all know, the best conversations never happen in the meetings.

MARYNA: They happen over good coffee.

TIDIANE & MARYNA: Hi! Hello!

MARIN: How are you guys?

MARYNA: Great!

TIDIANE: We just brought you a hot cup of coffee, so get rested, get comfortable. And we're here to, you know, know more about your job and what your day-to-day life really looks like.

MARYNA: Let's start with the first one.

MARIN: Okay.

MARYNA: So, imagine you're at the family dinner.

MARIN: Yes.

MARYNA: And you need to describe your job to your grandmother in only one minute.

MARIN: To my grandmother?

MARYNA: Yes. What would you say?

MARIN: You sure of that? Because to my grandmother I'm going to say, "Uh, okay Grandma, I'm working at L'Oréal." And that's it. That's enough information for her. That's enough information for her. But I can do it for a friend, for example. So, I'm a bridge. I'm working at L'Oréal and I'm a bridge. I'm a bridge between, brand vision which is built by the international marketers of L'Oréal, and the reality of my market, of my consumers. I'm the bridge between these two things. My job is to take the international strategy and to implement it on my markets. But you know, depending on the market you are working in, you have different competitors, you have different consumers inside, you have different expectations of your consumers. So you need to adapt the work and the international strategy. So that's the main part of my job.

TIDIANE: Okay, so I get the bridge, I get the translation. So you're really like a train between both worlds. And talking about both worlds, I've heard that you jumped from being a pharmacist...

MARIN: Yes.

TIDIANE: ...to being a full-on marketer?

MARIN: But you already know everything about me!

TIDIANE: But as marketers, we wondered, what happened? What was the jump?

MARIN: That's a good question. So yes, indeed, I'm a pharmacist. But from the very beginning, I didn't want to work in the pharmaceutical industry. It's a very noble industry, but I wanted to work in the beauty industry. I'm not really able to explain why, I just...

MARYNA: A feeling.

MARIN: Yes, it's a feeling. I was like, "Okay, I need to work there." So I applied to many different jobs within the cosmetic industry, not only at L'Oréal of course. And then I was lucky I guess, because you don't have so many pharmacists within the group, but I'm one of them, and it's absolutely wonderful every day.

TIDIANE: Yeah, because we know that your path is not like the typical path of a classic marketer. So what was your journey at L'Oréal..

MARIN: You know, you can find very scientific, medical profiles at the beginning, but they wanted to do other things. They wanted to see other areas, other fields, like marketing fields, of course, but also the sales. Also, sometimes you have some very scientific guys with a scientific background working in the finance team. And I think it's pretty cool, because now, in a group like L'Oréal, you have many, many different jobs, and every job now are very specialized in an area, with specialized skills. And so it's important, and it's very cool, to be able to see many things for your personal development, for the group, for your network. So...

MARYNA: And I think it's a really great thing about L'Oréal, that you can change jobs pretty easily if you want to do this, and you work hard to do this.

MARIN: Yes, yes. It's not only "I want to do this so I will be able to do it," but you have to show to the group that there is a way for you and for the group. So it's a win-win. At the beginning of my career, I was like, "Okay, I want to see what marketing looks like." At the very beginning, five years ago. So it's a path for me. I applied to the group, and the group told me, and it's perfectly okay and perfectly understandable. "Okay, Marin, you cannot start with a marketing job. You're a pharmacist. So it's not possible, you have to develop yourself. You have to develop yourself through different jobs to be able then to become a good marketer with good insights for the marketing team," etc.

MARYNA: I think honestly you're opening the marketing side from us from another perspective because often people think about marketing as something locked in only in marketing master or business master. But what I feel that's not at all about this because you did a...

MARIN: Not in L'Oréal. But maybe in other groups it's like that, but not in L'Oréal. I can say that and I'm a living proof of that.

MARYNA: That's great.

TIDIANE: What do you think people completely misunderstand from our jobs?

MARIN: At the beginning, I had, you're right, I had a misconception of what was the marketing for me. Everybody does. I was like "Okay, he's just doing some assets and some communications" and... no. It's way more than that. You have to deeply understand the product, the formula, the market, the competitors, the consumers and their needs, their insights, their expectations. And you have to be able to do a mix with all that and to design a go-to-market plan for your launch, for your new product, very, very relevant for your market. So it's so much more than just doing communication and things like that.

MARYNA: Now I have a really weird request for you. Can you please close your eyes?

MARIN: I can close my eyes, no problem.

MARIN: For like 10 minutes?

MARYNA: No, no, no, no. You can open. What do you see on the table?

MARIN: Ah, okay, the bridge!

MARYNA: Yes.

MARIN: So I was right.

MARYNA: You were absolutely right. So you mentioned a couple of times the word bridge, that you're a bridge between DMI and local market. Could you please give us a concrete example of your day-to-day job where you are the bridge?

MARIN: Yes. Okay. We can choose a campaign for example, Hyalu B5. Have you seen the Hyalu B5 campaign in March?

MARYNA: Yes.

MARIN: Okay. So the Hyalu B5 campaign, the product, the innovation has been designed by the collaboration between the DMI and the R&I, so the international team of L'Oréal and our researchers, of course. They have the product, they wanted to launch in the different countries with a specific insight, and they have some assets. But... so we are here. And then I am here with them. I am taking the product, I am taking the asset, and I'm walking on the bridge. And during my walk on the bridge, I have to meet so many people, you know, my sales team, my medical teams, my supply, my finance, my category, to better understand the insight of my consumer and of my market and to develop, to adapt, to localize the product, and it will be perfect at the end of the bridge for the French market.

TIDIANE: What is the thing you're the most proud of since joining L'Oréal?

MARIN: What I'm very proud of is that I learn every day. I learn every day, we are in a group where we can learn every day and it's the reason why it's important to challenge yourself. It's important to see many people, to do FIT because when you are doing a FIT with someone on another team, they can teach you things. And it's very important to do so, and I think it's the most proud part of my job. I am learning, like, every day.

MARYNA: And maybe on this one, what was your biggest success in L'Oréal? During your marketing job?

MARIN: My biggest success at L'Oréal, I think it was during my time in the medical team. We wanted to develop some very concrete lessons, lectures for our doctors, and it's a very challenging job because you have to be very good on the science, you have to be very good at explaining what you want to explain because it can be very hard to do it with doctors, etc. And it was a huge success back then, and I was so proud of that. It was really a great success. The doctors absolutely loved it. And so I was so proud.

MARYNA: So imagine you can choose only one person to have a coffee with from L'Oréal.

MARIN: From L'Oréal?

MARYNA: Yes. Apart from us, of course.

MARIN: Apart from you? I was about to say you, of course. No, I think I have many names in mind, but maybe Delphine Kerob. She's the Scientific Director of La Roche-Posay. She's a dermatologist. I can learn so much from her about our formulas, about our actives. It could be a very, very great coffee.

MARYNA: Marin, it was great to have you here with us today. It was lovely talking to you.

MARIN: It was so nice to be here. Thank you. Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.

MARYNA: And now, it's your turn. If you would love to know more about graduate programs or other jobs in marketing, tell us in the comments. And we see you in the next episodes!