Lifting L’Oréal Brandstorm 2021 Trophy - By Aakriti Bansal from IMT Ghaziabad

How could one leave a chance to be a part of one of the biggest beauty tech brands in the world? L’Oréal Brandstorm 2021 not only gave us a chance to bring some great ideas but simultaneously provided us with mentorship and guidance from top business leaders. A well-knit, fully thought over the competition in terms of rounds, judgment criteria, and organization, it was a great learning experience from the very initial point.

Teamwork and conflict resolution

L’Oréal Brandstorm 2021 provided us with a chance to grow as individuals as well as a team. Being a team mix of various talents, we learned to complement each other and have faith in our areas of strength. Sejal is great in research, Ashutosh is highly practical, hence looks after all financials and details. And I am great at ideation. A blend of these talents for sure brought wonders.

For us, having fun while learning was of utmost importance. And as we are huge food junkies, we named our team Vada Pav. Our team had never met in person and hence it took time for us to bond but once we did, there was no looking back. 

We used to diligently listen to each other and try to understand each other’s point of view. But it is also true that every competition is incomplete without discussions, arguments, conflicts, and collaboration. We had a lot of them that made us challenge each other as a team. Through that only, we brought the best in our idea because cross-questioning helped us refine our ideas more and more. Ultimately, that made us stronger as a team because we could trust each other that even if one goes wrong, the other two were there to question it.  

Build the competitive mindset

Preparations for the competition started in December that underwent a lot of brainstorming sessions. We took interviews with experts and senior industry leaders to get in-depth insights. After brainstorming for almost a month, we were able to identify the right consumer problem, as we wanted to come up with something that helps solve an issue at hand. 

Ideation becomes easy once you know what to address. We did a lot of research and read through almost everything relevant present on the subject. Taking feedback helped us push further to reach a solution that we believed in. We wanted to make sure that our idea was not only innovative but feasible and scalable at the same time. 

Face the challenges 

The most challenging part was to come up with a solution that was technologically inclined as there was nothing that L’Oréal had not already done. L’Oréal as a beauty brand is very technologically advanced hence, it took a lot of sweat to think of something out of the box. We had to give up on our stubbornness to stick to one idea. Also, it was quite challenging to have been working from three different states and connecting virtually.  Sometimes, we couldn’t connect due to various engagements. More than that, when we had to present for the finals, preparing for the presentation became especially challenging due to difficulty in coordination. 

Bounce back from critics 

The first feedback that we received in the Hackathon was very critical. We were very disappointed as to how much our idea differed from the expectations of the judges. Imagine having a few days left in your kitty to get back and improve the idea that could cover all gaps. But we never gave up on the competition or as a matter of fact, ourselves, and we successfully pulled it off.

Getting selected in the top 6 teams was like a token of reward for our hard work. But the real moment was when we were announced winners for one of the top b-school competitions, L’Oréal Brandstorm 2021. We were elated, thrilled, excited, happy, and proud, all at the same time. It gave us goosebumps. Surely with hard efforts, we had aced this competition and it was a great feeling!

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