L’Oréal Vietnam appointed WPP’s Onefluence as its full-service influencer marketing agency, signing a three-year retainer agreement. 

This move signals the beauty company’s increased focus on brand advocacy as a key driver for business growth in the Vietnamese market.

According to Branding in Asia, the appointment follows a competitive pitching process where VML and Mindshare, components of Onefluence, demonstrated a deep knowledge of the Vietnamese influencer market, including audience insights and emerging trends. 

The agencies’ approach emphasizes performance management and data analysis throughout the influencer marketing process.

A new entity, the WPP Beauty Tech Lab, will be formed to execute the partnership. This dedicated team combines L’Oréal Vietnam personnel with local and regional experts from WPP’s Onefluence, aiming to work across traditional agency-client boundaries.

“In today’s dynamic landscape, advocacy has become critical for success, especially for the beauty industry,” said Matthieu Guerin, Chief Digital Marketing Officer at L’Oréal Vietnam, in a release. 

He expressed confidence that the partnership will enhance L’Oréal Vietnam’s advocacy performance and drive strategies that authentically connect with consumers.

Ha Nguyen, CEO of VML Vietnam, stated they were “thrilled to partner with L’Oréal Vietnam,” highlighting WPP’s combination of strategic thinking, creativity, and innovative technology.

This partnership follows L’Oréal’s expansion into the Middle Eastern influencer market. Namely, L’Oréal Luxe Middle East recently launched the Beauty Creator Club, a program designed to identify and support emerging content creators in the GCC region. 

A recent report on Vietnam’s influencer marketing found that advertising budgets allocated to influencer marketing increased significantly in 2023 compared to previous years. The consumer goods, fashion/beauty, and entertainment sectors were the industries with the highest spending utilizing influencers.

However, earlier this year, the Vietnamese government arrested popular YouTuber Nguyen Chi Tuyen as part of a broader crackdown aimed at preventing civil society and social media influencers from shaping the country’s policies and foreign relations.