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Customer Story How L’Occitane en Provence and GateMaker Community Grew Annual EMV by 900%+

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Since 1976, L'Occitane en Provence has been inspired by the wonders of nature to create cosmetics that awaken the senses. L’Occitane’s vision of the future is centered around four major chapters: cultivating nature, revealing its wonders, awakening the senses, and acting locally to change the world.

Their partnership with GateMaker Community, a performance-driven earned media agency focused on all things communities, creators, content, and EMV, used this vision as a foundation to grow their digital communities.

At a Glance

Learn how GateMaker Community’s partnership with L'Occitane en Provence was able to:

  • Grow annual EMV
  • Engage with creator communities
  • Increase new customer acquisition

Background The Power of EMV

Founded by a core team who spent their careers working in-house at top EMV brands, GateMaker Community understands the power of EMV as a leading indicator of revenue and new customer acquisition, and partners with incredible companies to help them build community and influencer programs at a serious scale with impactful results.

So when L'Occitane en Provence sought to partner with GateMaker Community with the goal of becoming a top 25 skincare brand by EMV, it was the perfect match.

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Vandana Tandon

CMO, L’Occitane North America 

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Vandana Tandon

CMO, L’Occitane North America 

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Vandana Tandon

CMO, L’Occitane North America 

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Vandana Tandon

CMO, L’Occitane North America 

Background The Power of EMV

Founded by a core team who spent their careers working in-house at top EMV brands, GateMaker Community understands the power of EMV as a leading indicator of revenue and new customer acquisition, and partners with incredible companies to help them build community and influencer programs at a serious scale with impactful results.

So when L'Occitane en Provence sought to partner with GateMaker Community with the goal of becoming a top 25 skincare brand by EMV, it was the perfect match.

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Vandana Tandon
Chief Marketing Officer, North America at L’Occitane
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Lindsey Serfas
Senior Manager of PR & Social, North America at L’Occitane
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Ashton Wall
Co-Founder of GateMaker Community
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Amelia Soohoo
Co-Founder of GateMaker Community

“With such an understanding, passion and drive, GateMaker has been a crucial piece to our influencer marketing puzzle.

It takes a certain level of expertise to succeed in this space, which is always evolving. As a team, we’ve created a strong foundation for our influencer marketing efforts with true collaboration and admiration for the brand.”

Lindsey Serfas Senior Manager of PR & Social, North America, L’Occitane

Mission Becoming the Fastest-Growing Skincare Brand

When L’Occitane and GateMaker Community started their work together, L’Occitane was not in the top 100 skincare brands as tracked by CreatorIQ.

“Before we started to ramp up our influencer marketing efforts in 2022, we weren’t doing much in the space,” says L’Occitane North America Chief Marketing Officer, Vandana Tandon. “As a heritage brand that originated over 40 years ago, we knew that the traditional ways of marketing have evolved and we had to adapt to the new ways of social media and influence. The key takeaway for us was to not surge overnight, but to have a long-term strategy to build the brand’s presence through these influential voices. We knew that over time, the more customers who would see us on their feeds authentically, the more the brand would stick with them in the long run.”

With the goal for L’Occitane to become a top 25 skincare brand by EMV as well as expand their community footprint, engagement, retention, and EMV, GateMaker Community knew they needed to develop a creator-led marketing strategy to achieve the desired results.

“The key takeaway for us was to not surge overnight, but to have a long-term strategy to build the brand’s presence through these influential voices. ”

Vandana Tandon
Chief Marketing Officer, North America, L'Occitane

Challenges Making the Investment

Despite having such a strong offline brand presence and many competitors entering the space, L’Occitane hadn’t invested deeply in creator communities. This lack of investment showed in the brand’s community size, EMV, and general presence on social media, all of which lagged behind comparable competitors.

As a legacy brand that has stood the test of time, and has always represented sustainability and ethical practices (decades before it was trendy), L’Occitane decided that it was time to make an investment in this space and cultivate a digital community.

“The investment in influencer marketing has opened several doors for the brand, with more content to repurpose on our brand-owned social channels, paid ads, promotional materials, and web. We value authentic content with real testimonials that provide education and tips for customers”

Vandana Tandon Chief Marketing Officer, North America, L'Occitane

Solutions Leading with Community Expansion and Engagement

With creator-led marketing, community expansion, and organic engagement on Instagram and TikTok at the forefront, L’Occitane’s online and in-store business transformed.

L’Occitane enjoyed a blockbuster Q4 2023—their sales had never been higher, they saw major growth in Sephora and on Amazon, and, in both post-purchase surveys and in-store testimonials, they were constantly hearing how customers "keep seeing them everywhere on TikTok".

Today, L’Occitane is the fastest-growing skincare brand among the top 100 skincare brands tracked by CreatorIQ.

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Image sources from left to right: @kennarwood, @aylennpark, @emiliekiser

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“It can be difficult to measure the health and strength of influencer content for brands. With CreatorIQ, we’ve not only been able to accurately measure how content performs, but also enjoyed an easy, intuitive software that’s enhanced our programming and goals.”

Lindsey Serfas Senior Manager of PR & Social, North America, L’Occitane

Results

  • L’Occitane’s annual EMV grew over 900% from 2022 to 2023
  • L’Occitane’s community size increased over 300% from 2022 to 2023


2023 Holiday Results

  • L’Occitane NA Retail December same-store grew +11% YOY despite a very challenging retail environment
  • L’Occitane NA Retail December Hand Care segment, which includes the viral shea butter hand cream, grew +16.5% YOY
  • Holiday New customer acquisition grew +15% YOY

“New customers are recognizing us everywhere; they are coming into our boutiques and retail partner stores, raving about our bestsellers from seeing them on TikTok, which is exactly what our goal was. We’ve also seen an influx of product reviews sharing the same sentiment.

This speaks to the marketing programming we’ve been ramping up over time and we believe this is just the beginning.”

Vandana Tandon Chief Marketing Officer, North America, L'Occitane

Fast Questions with GateMaker Community

  • How would you describe your experience with CreatorIQ in three words?Illuminating, Data-Driven, FUN!
  • What would you tell other companies considering using CreatorIQ?I would tell them you absolutely need this tool to help you competitively benchmark your brand against others in the space, and understand the quantitative levers that power your community and influencer programming. I don’t know how anyone can be strategic, or say they truly understand their community, without CIQ.
  • How has it been working with CreatorIQ’s team?Amazing! The CIQ team is acutely aware of our goals and serves as a sounding board each step of the way.
  • What would your job be like if you didn't have CreatorIQ?Like throwing darts in the dark!

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