Major beauty advertiser L'Oreal sets up its own video content studio in Montreal

The trend for larger advertisers to create their own content -- particularly fast-turnaround videos -- is illustrated dramatically by the decision of L'Oreal Canada to open its own content division in Montreal. It's L'Oreal's first such effort among its worldwide subsidiaries. According to a story in Strategy magazine, the studio pulls together photography, videography and post-production.

“The idea was really to create…a studio that’s able to produce real-time, local, shareable, engaging content that at the end would drive business here in Canada,” says Ekaterina Dobrokhotova, consumer engagement manager at L’Oréal Canada.

She says that the company is trying to encourage its various beauty brands to get a "real-time mindset" and to turn around content for platforms such as YouTube in as little as a day.

The studio's products won't replace the company's traditional agency relationships.

Rather, it’s a way for L’Oréal’s brands to tap into trends quickly and cost-effectively. Its agencies are still important for its planned content (often seasonally-driven), Dobrokhotova says.

Of course such a development at a beauty advertiser as important as L'Oreal may have major impact on what's shown on page and online by the leading beauty and fashion magazines in Canada.