The Neily Warriors (NMIMS Mumbai) Share How They Aced Tech Track For L’Oréal Brandstorm 2022

6 mins read

L’Oréal, the world's largest beauty tech company, has always been at the forefront of disruption and innovation in the industry. The beauty leader recently concluded the 30th edition of its international competition- L’Oréal Brandstorm, 2022. Conducted in association with Salesforce, the competition was open to anyone aged 30 years or below. It was split into three tracks, dealing with different aspects of the beauty industry. The tracks were-

• Green track- inviting ideas/ solutions to make the beauty industry more sustainable
• Inclusion track- inviting solutions to induce inclusivity in the beauty industry
• Tech track- inviting solutions to enrich the beauty experience via technology

Of the 12,900 participants in total, 27 made it to the national finals. The teams that reached this stage got the opportunity to present their ideas in front of the leaders at L'Oréal. 

After a rigorous battle of the best, Team Neily Warriors from NMIMS Mumbai took home the winning title for the Tech Track. We had a conversation with them and asked how they went about planning for, and ultimately winning the competition in the tech track. 

Here’s what they had to say about lifting the trophy.

One-Step At A Time Approach To Victory:

We asked them about their ideation process. They said that taking one step at a time worked best for them. They brainstormed to come up with an idea that all members agreed on, and then made sure other aspects were sorted as well. 

“Our strategy was to brainstorm and come up with an idea that all three of us agreed on and were content with in the first place. Then we also made sure the idea is feasible and scalable, at the same time it solves problems faced by consumers. We worked on the initial problem for almost a couple of months regularly. The challenges were, we had exams going on parallelly during the semi-finals. During the finals, for a couple of us the internship had started so time was a major constraint. We had to complement each other and squeeze in the time.”

Use The Team’s Diversity To Your Advantage:

All Team Neily members had different personalities, characteristics, and a varied talent set. Every team member identified as alpha in their own way. While this could be the makings of a strong team, this could also lead to clashes of opinions. But instead of getting caught up in their differences, they made it work in their favor. 

“We three people have a varied set of talents. While one of us is very artistic and very rational in terms of analyzing aspects, the other had the ideology to never settle unless we come out with the best. And finally the last person had an eye for the details and was very creative.

We are a team of 3 totally different people with different characteristics, we do not settle for ideas unless all three are convinced, we are the Alpha team.”

 According to them, working together and learning to work as a single unit was one of the best parts of the competition. 

“The experience of working in a team has been the best part of this competition. We had many differences in opinions and ideas but we never let that stunt us. We discussed assertively instead and found solutions at every level. Teamwork is important, and that is what made us a unit.”

Guidance From L’Oréal Made It One Of The Best Experiences Ever:

Sometimes competitions become too stressful and this degrades the whole experience. But the Team Neily Warriors had a gala time. In fact, it was one of the best experiences for them, thanks to the quality of judgment and guidance from the organizers.

“The quality of the competition is top notch. From amongst more than 30000+ participants, 27 were chosen for the finals. And all the projects were given due consideration. The guides from Loreal were working closely with us and this is one of the best experiences we have had.”

They made the most of the guidance provided to them and used it to refine their performance. And here’s what they had to say about their competitors across tracks:

“9 teams made it to the final that is 3 teams per track and ours was Tech Track. In the three teams we felt all the teams were equally good and tough, the best teams were there in the finals.”

Lessons Learned Will Go A Long Way:

Learning and exploring were a massive part of their L’Oréal Brandstorm journey. And the lessons that Team Neily Warriors learned will serve them for the rest of their lives. They learned how to reconcile what a company wants with what is feasible. 

“We have learnt to envisage what the company wants and what would be feasible.  Our teamwork was tested and in the process we learnt how to handle the pressure and deliver the best.”

Gifts Of Gratitude, Strength, Exposure & The PPI!

The whole journey was a lengthy process, but the end result definitely made it all worthwhile. 

“This competition was a very long and tedious one, at some point in time amongst the three of us either one or two were completely caught up with other work. But the way the others stood up for the passion and hard work we had done, made us feel gratitude. It made us even stronger.”

This competition gave Team Neily Warriors an opportunity for exposure, like none other.  

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