True Stories #6

TRUE

STORIES

THIRD QUARTER 2013

3 New product · 4 Foundations · 5 CSR · 6 Mobility · 7 Specialization · 8 Tourism · 10 Digital

Le Couvent des Minimes

& its loving care balm

#06

EDITORIAL

A digital revolution!

S

ome people feel lost without Wi-Fi. For others, it remains an abstract concept: all they need is e-mail or a telephone line.

In 2013, 250 million Chinese consumers made purchases online! In fact, this form of purchasing is driving the growth of consumption worldwide. And nowadays, more of us are using our smartphones and tablets to go online than our PCs, spending more time surfing on web than watching television.

L’OCCITANE is an «authentic» brand. It wants to tell its story and make its products available throughout the world in the most consumer-friendly, sensorial and simple way possible. Our stores remain our most important brand ambassadors. That’s where people can touch the products and enjoy the human contact. Yet these days, the link with the brand and the purchase of products, any time of the day, anywhere in the world, increasingly takes place on the Internet.

E-commerce is the sales channel that is driving our growth. This year, we aim to generate 7% of our global sales through online shopping – and up to 15% in the most advanced countries.

Plus we have almost 3 million fans who keep up to date with our news on social networks.

Our objective is to constantly improve the online purchasing experience through various innovations, but also by «meeting and seducing» more and more new customers on the Internet by increasing the brand’s presence on search engines, on websites that our customers like to use, on blogs, etc. For each launch, we also develop a digital campaign to get people talking about the new products, to boost sales, to send out samples, etc.

Customers who are attracted to the brand on the Internet will go on to purchase products online, but will also visit our stores!

Digital marketing is about e-commerce, but also – and above all – about finding new customers via the Internet, so that we can bring them into our stores and increase their passion for our brand!

If you’d like to get involved digitally, you can: ✓ Like L’OCCITANE on Facebook, follow L’OCCITANE on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. ✓ Leave comments for your favourite products on our website, www.loccitane.com. ✓ Download our mobile app (if you have a smartphone) and give it a good rating. ✓ Subscribe to our YouTube channel. ✓ Subscribe to our newsletters. ✓ Discover our Fantastic Provence web magazine. ✓ Share with your friends.

Vive la digital revolution! By keeping up with technology, you’ll keep feeling young! Then all you need is a dab of Divine Cream to keep looking young too…

Cécile de Verdelhan

HISTOIRES VRAIES L’OCCITANE GROUPE ZI St Maurice 04100 Manosque

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Emmanuel Osti

PHOTOS Anne Marcenac, Richard Romenville, Murielle Fourrier.

CHIEF EDITOR Katia Michieletto

500 copies published quarterly in September, December, March and June. Printed in France on FSC-certified paper.

GRAPHIC DESIGN Emilie Caillaud-Houël

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LOVING CARE BODY BALM Bringing back a tradition of gentle caring.

For Le Couvent des Minimes, every new recipe is an important event. In October, the brand will be bringing out some new products, specially formulated for extradry skin. It’s time to try a little tenderness…

A tradition of loving and caring «Those nuns are not one in a thousand, but one in a million!» Such spontaneous and grateful words were used by the residents of the Couvent des Minimes to describe the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, who lived at this convent from 1909 to 1999.

Always guided by the best intentions, the sisters took constant care of all those around them, giving them affection and providing them with comfort.

Today, in over 80 countries across the world, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary are still involved in many humanitarian missions. Every year, we give 1% of revenue from annual sales to this institute, to support healthcare projects in India and Brazil. This autumn, we’ll be sending the Loving Care Body Balm to students at the Child Jesus College of Nursing and to children at the Amali Seva Illam children’s day care centre in the district of Trichy, in India.

An engraving filled with tenderness To represent the Loving Care Body Balm, what image could be better than that of a mother holding her child? It’s the ultimate symbol of selfless love and care. The mother’s gaze, full of goodness and kindness, expresses all the love that could also be felt at the Convent – and that we are now sharing through our products.

Pure TLC for the skin The Loving Care Body Balm is an original recipe that combines in-house Galen’s wax with calendula and mallow extracts. This hypoallergenic, soothing formula helps to nourish, protect and repair, and it’s so gentle, it can be used on all skin types – even the delicate skin of babies. Nourishing and comforting, it leaves skin feeling wonderfully supple once again.

Simply effective products for all the family, to take good care of your skin.

The Lotion for Dry Skin – 400ml The Cream for Very Dry Skin – 200ml Available in Marionnaud stores from October 2013.

By Pauline Souchaud

NEWS

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The L’OCCITANE Foundation The Foundation team on a mission to Burkina Faso In July, representatives from the L’OCCITANE Foundation headed to Burkina Faso to review the progress of projects aimed at fighting avoidable blindness. This was the perfect opportunity for Elise Guiro, the local consultant for the Foundation, to meet the Minister of Health. Many partnerships have been set up in the country, including a collaboration with Vision Aid Overseas, which will allow for glasses to be produced in Ouagadougou then distributed in regional hospitals.

The L’OCCITANE Foundation 2013 «Pépite» awards Since 2011, in partnership with the Maison de l’Entreprenariat de Burkina Faso, the L’OCCITANE Foundation has been rewarding the entrepreneurial initiatives of Burkinabé women. In June 2013, three women were presented with the Pépite award, worth €10,000. Over the course of one year, the MEBF will oversee and assist in the progress of the following three projects: the opening of a private children’s day care centre, the extension of a fruit juice production plant, and the creation of a poultry production farm.

For more information about the Foundation, visit fondation.loccitane.com or facebook.com/ fondationloccitane

The MELVITA Foundation

«Using an image to convey an emotion is the first step towards protecting nature.»* And so, for the second year running, the MELVITA Foundation is supporting the international nature photography competition, «Nature Images Awards». As sponsor of the «Bees» category, MELVITA will award an «Abeille d’Or» (Golden Bee) for the very best bee shot. The photographs from the first edition of this competition were displayed at the Parc Floral in Paris until late September. From there, they move on to other locations, until finally arriving in Montier-en-Der at the end of the year.

A call for projects by subsidiaries

Following a call for projects launched by the L’OCCITANE Foundation in spring 2013, ten subsidiaries from three continents will be taking part in their own projects for the visually impaired in 2013/2014. They’ll be working in partnership with local organizations in fields such as helping the visually impaired to get into the workplace, raising awareness, and improving access to culture. For example, L’OCCITANE USA will be working with the «Art Beyond Sight Lab» to develop a unique, multi-sensorial program that aims to use art as a way of teaching the visually impaired.

Photography exhibition at the Parc Floral, Paris

*Louis-Marie Préau, president of the jury, 2013 For more information, visit http://fondation.melvita.com

L’OCCITANE Canada has been doing its bit by raising funds for the ORBIS plane

ACTU

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— SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY —

Giving your time during work time…

Over 90 employees are doing it already!

E

CP? What’s that? A new video game? A new football club? No, of course not! You know what ECP means… Have you forgotten what it stands for?

Can you remember why some employees spent a day at the Old Port of Marseille in July? They were there to raise public awareness about lavender decline and to collect donations for the endowment fund presided over by Olivier Baussan.

ECP stands for the Employee Commitment Programme – and it’s all about taking the time to do something for others, or for the environment, during work time.

For many years, our employees have been getting involved in associations to support causes that are important to us. The first employee association, which dates back to 1997, was Provence dans tous les sens (All the senses of Provence), and it enabled young visually impaired people to learn about the profession of a perfumer. In 2007, the Nord & Sud employee association was created. For employees who were keen to help empower women in Burkina Faso, Nord & Sud provided an opportunity to travel to the country and train women in soap-making.

Maud and Solène were the first brave duo to head to Africa, and others followed in their footsteps.

In the past, however, there were no alternatives for employees who wanted to do something closer to home, for a shorter length of time. But now there are! Today, all employees can: • Make a financial commitment: - indirectly, by taking part in the sale of items, with the money raised going to a charity, - directly, by making a donation to the Projets de Femmes employee association (previously Coordination Parrainage).

• Do something locally, by joining a one-day project.

As an encouragement to get involved in local initiatives, each employee is entitled to a day «off» to take part in one of the projects on offer (on the condition that they have informed their manager and requested the time off through the appropriate process).

By Aurélie Uricher

Over 90 employees from Paris, Lagorce and Manosque have already donated their time to local projects. Some have restored dry stone walls; others have set up bird boxes in trees. Some have accompanied people with disabilities along hiking paths; others have worked to fight the spread of ragweed around the Gorges de l’Ardèche. There are lots of different ways for you to do your bit for others or for the planet. So go on, what are you waiting for?* ■ Employees from the Lagorce site pulling up ragweed around the Gorges de l’Ardèche.

A hand massage given by an employee raising public awareness about the causes of lavender decline.

* At present, the ECP is reserved for employees based in Manosque, Lagorce and Paris.

6 L’OCCITANE

Mobility

It’s all about making the right moves…

Interviews by Emilie Huygen in Paris and Laetitia Bientinesi in Manosque let me know if any jobs came up that fitted my profile.

R.B.: I found out about the job opening in

Internal mobility plays a strategic role in our growth, as it allows us to keep our employees motivated and give recognition for their work, while enabling the entire organization to progress.»

— Frédérique Chemaly,

Group Human Resources Director Tell us about your career so far at L’OCCITANE J.S.: I joined L’OCCITANE in 2007 as a Sales

Julie Saillour, Paris International Promotions and Gifts Manager

Representative. Then I worked as Product Manager for the European retail division, before taking on the role of Operational Marketing Manager for fragrance-related campaigns. Since spring 2013, I’ve been in charge of promotional recommendations and the development of gifts worldwide.

R.B.: I first worked at L’OCCITANE as

Remy Bouffard, Manosque Environmental Technician

part of my Bac Pro Bio Industrie industrial training work placement in 1995. I returned later as a Production Worker – which I did for six years. That was followed by a job as Soap and Candles Manager, then I moved to the industrialization side of things. In 2012, I started in my current position as Environmental Technician.

E.M.: I first worked for L’OCCITANE as

Emmanuelle Moyon, Manosque Personal Assistant

DID YOU KNOW? All our job openings are posted in our L’OCCITANE Carrières section. Simply click on «Useful Links» on the Intranet home page to find out more.

a Sales Associate during the festive season; it was just a short-term contract.

I’d completed my BTS Force de Vente two-year technical degree a few months earlier. When my contract ended, I left the company, but I was contacted some months later and, at the end of 2007, signed a long-term contract. I moved up from Sales Associate to the position of Senior Assistant at the factory store, where I worked until 2012.

How and why did you make these career moves?

J.S.: I wanted to evolve in my career, so

I often talked to my managers about my professional objectives. They would then

a careers e-mail. I sent my application and was called in for an interview. I decided to approach it as if I were being interviewed for another company. I had already applied for positions twice before, and had not been selected, but that didn’t stop me from trying again!

E.M.: I’d mentioned that I wanted to

move to another position during my annual appraisal interviews. I was interested in Sales Administration, but I didn’t have an overall vision of the careers available at the factory. I had an HR interview, and this enabled me to identify skills that could be applied to other professions that I hadn’t even thought about. The job of Personal Assistant was one of them. I then had an interview with my future manager.

We didn’t just talk about my professional experience and skills; we also talked about our personalities and hobbies. It was more than just an interview, and it made me realise just how important personality can be.

In what way have your past experiences helped you in your current position?

J.S.: Throughout my professional

experience, I’ve worked with different types of clients. This helps me to forecast a positive reaction from customers and the success of in-store operations.

R.B.: Even though I had to adapt to a new

job and had new things to learn, I already had knowledge of the site, knew some of the people, and was familiar with other jobs. This was a great advantage. My past experience gave me more legitimacy. I’d encourage anyone who wants to make a career move not to be afraid to take the leap and apply.

E.M.: Even though the job itself is new,

the fact that I already know the company is reassuring and has helped me to start off on the right foot.

7 GROUP

The specialization

of sites O

ne of our missions is to develop our industrial excellence. With this in mind, we have decided to continue the industrial plan implemented from 2010 to 2012, in order to further improve the capacity and quality of our facilities.

The challenge for this new, major stage in our industrial transformation is to invest in more efficient technologies, to equip ourselves with tools that will allow for a higher output, and to simplify flows in general, particularly for our new products.

Our approach is based on two principles: • The industrial model must be consistent with existing facilities, particularly in Production.

• The Lagorce factory must include a pre-production warehouse, so that raw materials and packaging components can be stored on site. This will make the site more autonomous and responsive.

Consequently, we have decided to «specialize» the two industrial sites at Lagorce and Manosque, and this has led to the following decisions: In Lagorce • Soap production will be stopped. This activity offered little opportunity for growth and restricted the possibilities of having a sufficiently large preproduction warehouse at the factory.

• In its place, a pre-production warehouse, with enough room for 4,500 pallets, will be built.

• The site will specialize in producing face creams and hand creams for the Group, in line with the

size of the reactors (limited to three tons) and the small-diameter jar and tube packaging lines.

By Jean-François Gonidec

In Manosque • Bath and shower products, fragrances and bodycare ranges for the Group will be produced here, in line with the size of the reactors (up to ten tons), and also because this is where fragrances have always been produced. Packaging lines for glass bottles, plastic bottles, large-diameter tubes and balms will be set up.

Production through partnerships • We have forged a partnership with the HauteProvence soap factory, to create a shared production space in Villeneuve. It will be called the Savonnerie Nature de Provence and will produce all soaps for the Group.

• We have also established a partnership with the company La Bougie Française, located near Nantes, to outsource our candle production.

Our equipment was not of sufficient quality and production volumes were not high enough to merit investment.

In the long term, this specialization plan will enable us to produce 150 million units at the Manosque site and 100 million at the Lagorce site. We’ll be able to introduce new technologies (particularly in Lagorce) and reduce production costs, while simplifying operations.. ■

Specialization offers an opportunity to exchange skills between line operators from the two sites.

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The factory tour GROUP

Informative and fascinating

A look behind the beauty scenes of L’OCCITANE and MELVITA

By Sophie De Saint Jean & Laurence Peron

I

t’s a bit more original than visiting a museum, but just as educational… And in fact, this form of industrial tourism draws 10 to 15 million visitors every year.

In France, some 5,000 companies have opened their doors to the public, with 3,000 welcoming tourists on a regular basis.

For the visitors, it’s an opportunity to try some alternative tourism and to see behind the scenes of products «Made in France».

Although there are often constraints for companies when they set up factory tours, they really have everything to gain. ✓ Establishing a climate of trust and building loyalty, ✓ Increasing brand awareness, ✓ Encouraging the sale of products directly from the producer, ✓ Strengthening the link between the company and its region.

In 2004, the L’OCCITANE production site in Manosque made a pioneering move when it decided to let the public in to visit. In 2012, it was the turn of MELVITA to carry out major work so that visitors could see the very heart of its factory in Lagorce.

Manosque:

Every year, an increase in the number of visitors

Visitors: 2004/2005: 1,969 visitors 2012/2013: 16,733 visitors Organized tours: 2004/2005: 105 tours 2012/2013: 765 tours Sales generated: 2004/2005: €50,064 exc. tax 2012/2013: €506,156 exc. tax (i.e. 18% of the factory store sales)

Lagorce:

A very good first year Visitors: 4,345 visitors since the factory opened to the public Organized tours: 342 (including 92 group visits since tours began) Total sales generated: €53,341 (not including summer 2012) Factory tour sales as a % of store sales: 27% (from April to August)

Lagorce

A summer full of visitors

The MELVITA factory tour proved that «high technology at the heart of Nature» had many followers among the tourists visiting the Ardèche this summer.

In July 2013, 871 people came to visit the factory. While most of them were tourists, there were also people from the Ardèche who came with their families and friends, proud to show off the «brand» of their region. The number of visitors almost tripled in the summer, compared with June.

In addition to Belgian and Swiss visitors, tourists from Vietnam and Japan also came for the first time. In such cases, the tour can be given in English.

After the tour, visitors could look around the stunning MELVITA store and see the dedicated learning space, which opened last October, and where a very popular activity was on offer: honey tasting.

Manosque

An increasing number of foreign visitors

As a result of promoting the brand at tourism fairs, we have seen an increasing number of foreign tour operators, mainly from Asia and Brazil.

During the lavender season, they often stop off at Manosque on their journey around the Valensole plateau, with daily visits to the factory store.

9 Manosque:

Diversifying the tourism offer

2004: the factory opens to the public 2010: the L’OCCITANE museum opens 2013: creation of a new factory tour, following the extension of the factory

Lagorce:

Lasting partnerships and events

Partnerships were set up from the very first year, in particular for visitors to the Neyrac thermal baths, but also with the Les Tilleuls restaurant. For the year of Sustainable Development, MELVITA also took part in ARDURABLES and La Semaine de l’Industrie – a week dedicated to industry, during which the sub-prefect visited the factory.

Manosque:

A new factory tour in 2013

When the Manosque site grew, a new factory tour was needed – and so, since June, the tour has been updated. When the architectural plans were drawn up for the factory extension, the tour routes were already being taken into account. Visitors are now able to see all the production processes behind our products, from the Innovation Centre to the clean rooms (for weighing and production) and the packing plant.

The entire tour commentary has also been revised, with the help of the managers of the different work areas, to ensure that our tour guides can show off all the features of this new factory.

Anecdotes and visitor comments ◆ Manosque: record visit, 06/03/2013 EUROMED Group 40 Chinese visitors. Sales generated: €11,596. Average shopping basket: €429!

“

Excellent explanation, informative. Very well presented.“ — Wisconsin, USA Thanks to Jessy for the advice she gave in the store and thanks to our tour guide. I was trying out the brand, thinking it was purely industrial, or even imported… It was a wonderful discovery!“ — Belgium ◆ Lagorce: record visit, 31/05/2013 Former members of the Institut National Economique 55 people. Sales generated: €1,790

“

A very interesting visit, a very pleasant tour guide, we had a great time.“ It’s wonderful to see a French company that continues to grow – and, what’s more, by producing organic and natural products. Well done!“ Long live organic beauty care! Fantastic! Keep it up!“

10 L’OCCITANE

L’OCCITANE

& the digital revolution

It’s no longer a secret… Digital technology is completely changing our way of life. In the face of this reality, our brands have to adapt if we want to keep selling our products in the future and meet the needs of increasingly demanding consumers. It’s a big challenge – and it’s one that the International Digital team strives to meet every day.

By Agnès Debains

L

’OCCITANE has been ranked as one of the best retailers in terms of digital performance.* This success is down to many different projects. Read on to find out more!

The websites L’OCCITANE has websites in about 50 different countries, 37 of which include online shopping.

Throughout the world, for all of these sites, we have over 43 million visits each year! Our websites are essential to let people know about the brand, provide information about our products and, of course, sell online.

We have developed our own platform and are constantly working to improve it. That’s why, on July 15, we relaunched our websites and gave them a brand-new look. The new website adapts to all screen sizes (PCs, tablets, mobile phones) so that it’s just as user-friendly for the increasing number of people who go online on the move. * According to studies by the L2 Think Tank

The 13 MELVITA websites will also be redesigned in early October and we’ll be completely revamping the Erborian website, while continuing to develop the Group site (www.loccitane.com/group).

Why not take a few minutes to browse and explore the L’Occitane website? You could use our Skincare Diagnosis or Fragrance Finder to find your perfect skincare product or scent. You might like to leave a review for your favourite products. And you can get lots of up-to-date information about Provence through the Fantastic Provence web magazine.

The mobile apps With the L’OCCITANE app, which was recently relaunched, we can offer additional functionalities, specially designed for mobile phones. The augmented reality scanner allows you to scan images, real products or barcodes to get more information about the products. You can download the L’OCCITANE app (for iPhone or Android) and try

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The customer relationship The FREQUENCY project enables us to optimize customer relationship management through better customer services and targeted e-mails. It’s an excellent tool to build customer loyalty and create traffic.

Subscribe to our websites to receive our newsletters.

out our first interactive catalogue by scanning the images in the new store catalogue.

And if you haven’t downloaded it yet, check out the L’OCCITANE Soap Smash game. It’s even better than Candy Crush Saga! But watch out – it’s also completely addictive!

Social networks L’OCCITANE is very active on social networks, with a large community of fans: we have over 2.5 million Facebook followers around the world! This enables us to keep in close contact with those who love our brand.

Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube… You too can join the large L’OCCITANE community by following us on your favourite social networks!

Dual-channel retailing How can you create close links between different distribution channels (physical and virtual stores) to make shopping even easier for our customers?

We’re working on different projects, with the aim of meeting all our customers’ needs. These include being able to purchase online then pick up in-store in three hours, as well as ordering a product (that is out of stock or discontinued) at a store, then having it sent to a home address.

Digital technology in stores How can we make use of the latest technologies to enhance the in-store shopping experience, without affecting the Provençal atmosphere that is one of our stores’ greatest strengths? Giving a digital dimension to our stores is a major project that will involve equipping sales associates with tablets to help them give customers advice, but also to assist them with their everyday tasks. They’ll be able to share information with the central teams and other stores, manage stocks, etc. This project will become a reality in 2014...

ABOUT US There are various different professions in the International Digital department, all of them closely linked. This multibrand, international team consists of some thirty people, based in Paris, New York and Hong Kong.

Operational aspects are handled by the local e-commerce teams from each subsidiary or by the distributor.

- Digital marketing: develops and implements the digital strategy.

- Web designers: design and create graphic elements.

- Integrators: translate the mock-ups provided by the designers into code.

- Developers: handle the technical aspects and design functionalities.

- Trainers: teach local teams how to use the tools that have been developed.

WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Tell us your True Stories‌ If you have ideas for articles, contact Katia kmichieletto@loccitane.fr