GloCal Beauty – Jamaica on the Map

The leading Jamaican newspaper,  the Jamaica Gleaner (of which I have fond memories, my mum used to order her copy  from the local newsagents every week… back in the day!) announced earlier this week that  four of the island’s most well-known women have been selected to be L’Oréal ambassadors in Jamaica. 

The leading ladies (L-R) Joan McDonald, Paulette Mitchell, Sara Lawrence and Kacis Fennell, L'Oréal ambassadors. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

The four women include:

Former beauty queens Joan McDonald and Sara Lawrence.

Joan McDonald: Miss Jamaica World 1978 (Image:Miss Jamaica World)

Joan McDonald is widely known as the first Miss Jamaica World, having won the inaugural beauty pageant in 1978.  She represented Jamaica at the Miss World contest in the United Kingdom.

She has also served her country as a cultural ambassador in Europe and in the United States of America.

McDonald has distinguished herself in public service by working with many community groups and non-governmental organisations. She has been a branch director at the Jamaica Red Cross and was a director and public-relations officer of the Lay Magistrates Association of Jamaica and a trained facilitator for Restorative and Community Justice Practices.  She is still deeply involved in the beauty pageant that launched her career and has been a grooming consultant for Miss Jamaica World Pageants and Miss Festival Queen competition.

Sara Lawrence was the representative for Jamaica in the Miss World 2006 beauty

Bring on the Reign! Sara Lawrence 2006 (Image: Miss Jamaica World)

pageant. In March 2007, she relinquished the Miss Jamaica World title upon announcing her pregnancy, becoming the first winner in the Jamaican contest’s 23-year-history to do so. (Source: Wikipeadia)

Lawrence was born in Kingston, she went on to  graduate from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she majored in biology with an emphasis on pre-medicine.

After winning the Jamaican title in August 2006, Lawrence placed in the first six at the Miss World competition held in Warsaw, Poland, where she was also named Miss World Caribbean.

Upon relinquishing her crown in March 2007, Lawrence said in a statement that she had “taken a deeply personal decision to face up to my responsibilities as one who expects to become a mother later this year. I believe with all that is within me that it is my moral obligation to do what I believe to be ethically correct and follow what I believe in my heart to be right.”

Lawrence, however, received overwhelming support from the Jamaican public for her decision to have her baby. She received the backing of the Miss World Organisation and was allowed to retain both her crowns for the full duration of the reign.  I am pleased that she is to be one of the faces of the new campaign…beauty isn’t perfect, we all have had challenges that we have had to overcome in life and we all deserve a second chance from time to time!

The other two women are economic consultant Paulette Mitchell and student Kacis Fennell.  I couldn’t find out much information about these two women – but I am sure we will get to know them better as the campaigns unfold.

The announcement was made at a glittering event called ‘L’Oréal Live: Bringing Beauty to Life’ and was hosted by the Pioneer Manufacturing Distribution Company Limited (PMD) – the local distributor of both the L’Oréal and Garnier brand of products . (Source: The Jamaica Gleaner).

In presenting the concept behind the L’Oréal Ambassadors programme in Jamaica, director of PMD, Winston Barrett, said “PMD was seeking to emulate one of the most innovative programmes adopted by the international beauty-care manufacturer. The Jamaican L’Oréal ambassadors will be the faces of the brands both locally and in the rest of the Caribbean”.  This marketing strategy, often dubbed ‘Glocalisation’ is a key tenant of the make up giant’s plans for future growth.

Going Glocal

Glocalisation serves as a means of combining the idea of globalisation with that of local considerations.  In a recent interview with Beauty Inc (part of wwd.com), the CEO of L’Oréal, Jean-Paul Agon, stated that this  “new concept” essentially moves “beyond globalisation” and forms an essential part of the firm’s efforts to add 1bn people to its customer base.

“In order to conquer and loyalise these consumers around the world, the idea is to build from the brands that we have,” he said.

Jean-Paul Agon in L’Oréal’s labs outside of Paris. Photo By © Stéphane de Bourgies for L’Oréal (courtesy of Beauty Inc.)

“The second step is to make sure that these brands, in every part of the world, have ranges of products that are completely specifically designed, formulated and adapted to the needs and demands of the local consumers. The L’Oréal Paris brand is the same brand in China that it is in the USA or in Europe, but the products are different.”

Agon also argued that such an approach could come to define the next ten years, when 2bn people globally will enter the middle class for the first time.

Agon is building upon the transformation the business underwent when former CEO Lindsay Owen-Jones was at the helm.  He led the Parisian company for 20 years (and guess what..he is from Wales!!)

I remember reading about Owen-Jones in Time Magazine back in 2004 (yes, I have been on this beauty thing for a LONG time…), where he was named as one of the 100 most influential people on the face of the planet.  He was being recognised for his ambition and success in creating a truly global beauty business that set out to meet the needs of women from across the globe.   L’Oréal purchased the hair care brands Soft-Sheen and Carson in 1998 and 2000 respectively and merged the two brands to create the Soft-Sheen-Carson division we know today (brands such as Dark & Lovely belong to the division…but you all knew that right!!)

In 2003 the L’Oréal Institute for Ethnic Hair & Skin Research,  a R&D research laboratory that was dedicated to understanding more about Black, Asian and Hispanic hair and skin was also unveiled ….although it now seems like the facility is no longer functioning…I scoured the L’Oreal website for more information…but to no avail.  😦

Despite this, I am really excited that these beautiful Jamaican women will be joining  L’Oréal’s diverse  global spokespersons such as veterans Beyoncé, Frieda Pinto, Kerry Washington and the latest women of colour  to join the roster, Ethiopian born model Liya Kebede.

Liya Kebede for Liya Kebede for L'Oréal Paris AW 11

I will most definitely be keeping my eye out for the initial campaigns!