L'Oréal Brandstorm 2019 | MDI's Team Mandevian Stormtroopers reached World Finals!

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I remember going absolutely blank with excitement to an extent that I almost forgot that we had to go on stage to receive the award. It was such a proud moment for all of us to become the National Winners. All the hard work that we had done for months had paid off. And finally, we were going to PARIS for the World Finals of L'Oréal Brandstorm 2019!

Why participate in L'Oréal Brandstorm 2019?

For a marketing student like me, L'Oréal Brandstorm is the best kind of exposure one could hope for. I remember the launch event of L'Oréal Brandstorm 2019 at MDI. We were shown tons of videos of the last year's competition. Also, a lot of HR folks from L'Oréal talked about how passionately the event is organized globally. It was like an instant connection. Almost immediately after the presentation, I had made up my mind that I am going to do this. And I am going to do this RIGHT!

Moreover, the entire concept of competition is very entrepreneurial. It encourages innovation which makes it all the more attractive to students like us. And to top it off, the team that won would get to go to Paris. Besides, they will have a shot at actually incubating their idea at Station F; the biggest start-up campus in the world! I mean, could it get any better?

Preparation for L'Oréal Brandstorm 2019

We worked on our idea for 6 long months. I will not lie, it was tough! But the beauty of the competition is that they keep you engaged. We made our first submission on 1st Jan 2019 and there hasn't been a dull day since. The case this year was in the field of dermocosmetics which was super challenging. Also, the brands we had to study were not even present in India. This made it all the more tough to do any sort of primary research.

But multiple feedback sessions from brand leaders, the L'Oréal team, our professors, seniors, and even 8-year-old alumni helped us make the cut. The most difficult challenge was to get the brief right. We focused a lot on all the nuances of the case. We had to rework on our idea multiple times to incorporate feedback and do an insane amount of research. This ensured that our idea is feasible, implementable and in compliance with L'Oréal's mission and values.

The Team

My teammates are actually really good friends of mine. This made working on the case a lot of fun. The hectic deadlines and with a lot of feedback flowing in, there were occasional moments of conflict within the team. But, I think, we handled all of them like pros. Great teamwork was definitely a significant contributor to the success we achieved in the competition.

I am honestly really fond of my team. All of us are really fun, passionate, and hard working people. We were very quick to identify each other's strengths at the beginning of the competition itself. To begin, Kaushal is extremely good with finances and planning. He made sure we were on track and handled the feasibility aspect of the project so well. On the other hand, Baruni was always quick to come up with witty ideas and make us go the extra mile. She is also a great speaker and took the lead in ideating the script for the pitch.

Coming to me, I took up the creative role to come up with the idea. I did a hefty amount of research about industry trends. Also, I took charge to develop a great presentation to showcase our idea. It was really beautiful, in a way we all completed each other to form the dream team: Mandevian Stormtroopers!

L'Oréal Brandstorm 2019 World Finals

At the World Finals, we were up against Germany, Indonesia, the USA, Portugal, and Canada. I loved all their ideas, but I really liked Team Portugal and Team Indonesia! Their ideas were so simple and yet so unique. They had great presentations and really believed in their idea which was very convincing. It was an absolute honor to be presenting along with the best talent from across the world.

The competition was really layered, fun and challenging. It was loaded with learning sessions, constant feedback, brand exposure & crazy deadlines. The best part is that being experimental and innovative with your ideas is genuinely appreciated and rewarded. They really focus on providing the right kind of exposure to students who do it seriously.

The criteria on which they judged us was very crisp and clear. The constant feedback given even when the results were declared is something that will help us in our future endeavors. Despite seeking innovative solutions, it's a very practical competition.

My team and I didn't really have a lot of exposure to competitions before this. So, we didn't really know what to expect. All we were hoping for was a decent learning experience, but it turned out to be so much more. The L'Oréal Brandstorm 2019 team had organized the entire competition beautifully. Everything had a theme, we had dress codes and the entire vibe of the competition was so inclusive and exciting. It was youthful, insanely informational and so glamorous, an event you would definitely want to be a part of.

It was almost like we were product innovation managers at L'Oréal working on the next big thing. Right from product features to designing cost structures and sales & marketing strategies, we worked on everything. We really delved deep into the history of brands and what's hot in the world of the skincare industry. Besides domain learning, we interacted and networked with so many people and that too from all across the world.

The World Finals, for us, was definitely a night to remember. The entire journey was filled with huge amounts of learning from peers as well as from the experts. At a personal level, we definitely learnt to be much more patient and open-minded to feedback and opinions. Also, we learnt that great teamwork is the key to success.

The most special moment for me would be the kind of support and appreciation we received after presenting on the global stage. I can't even remember how many people walked up to us to tell us how great our idea was. They even told us how we should pursue it irrespective of the competition results. It was surreal. The idea we had thought of sitting in our hostel room had so much potential. It can change the future of skincare for health-conscious consumers, something a brand like L'Oréal would want to launch.

Another special moment would be the kind of appreciation and respect we received from everyone back in our college. It encouraged us to work even harder.