Something for the weekend?
So goes the old cliché, British barbers of the old school making a discreet offer of condoms to their male customers. Today the offer is different. And possibly more useful.
In an initiative that shows just how much leverage big corporations can have to influence the really important issues, international beauty group L'Oreal has taken responsibility for distributing HIV/AIDS information alongside hair gels and styling tips.
The programme started in South Africa – until very recently, the country with the largest number of HIV positive people of any nation in the world.
As Pat Nhlapo of L’Oreal’s Johannesburg office points out when you lose customers and staff to HIV, the burden becomes very expensive. L’Oreal, unlike many companies, has decided that they’re in a position to do something about it. Each year, the company trains nearly half a million hairdressers around the world.
The programme started in South Africa – until very recently, the country with the largest number of HIV positive people of any nation in the world.
As Pat Nhlapo of L’Oreal’s Johannesburg office points out when you lose customers and staff to HIV, the burden becomes very expensive. L’Oreal, unlike many companies, has decided that they’re in a position to do something about it. Each year, the company trains nearly half a million hairdressers around the world.
Worldwide effort
Part of that training now includes teaching trainee hairdressers how to pass information about HIV on to customers. The training is in place across Africa and in countries with high HIV prevalence, including Brazil, China, Russia, and India – the nation which took South Africa’s unenviable place at the top of the HIV-positive population charts. In an admirable effort to spread awareness as widely as possible, the training is also in place in France and the UK.
The President of L’Oreal’s professional products division, Jean Jacques Lebel, has explained how the company sought outside expertise – particularly from UNESCO – to make sure they designed a programme with the best possible chance of being effective. 'We were prudent in the way we handled wording,' he has said. 'UNESCO helped us deal with taboos'.
The President of L’Oreal’s professional products division, Jean Jacques Lebel, has explained how the company sought outside expertise – particularly from UNESCO – to make sure they designed a programme with the best possible chance of being effective. 'We were prudent in the way we handled wording,' he has said. 'UNESCO helped us deal with taboos'.
Excuse me?
Some of the potential pitfalls of the scheme are obvious – a barber or hairdresser can’t start speaking about sensitive issues like sex and contraception out of nowhere, and in some contexts – as in parts of India, for instance – words like 'penis' and 'condom' just can't be said: they’re scandalously rude.
As Mr Nhlapo has pointed out, 'you have to be clever and sensitive. You can't go as far as telling customers to use condoms. That’s not our business… talking about sex is taboo, especially with older clients'. It’s not hard to imagine the magnitude of the task L’Oreal have set themselves.
Picture a respectable middle-aged pillar of the community being lectured on sex by an intricately-coiffed hairdresser less than half their age, and you can see quite how tricky it might be. Just because the audience can't move, doesn't mean they'll appreciate the info – and there’s a risk they won’t come back.
Losing customers is worst possible outcome for any business –which, in a way, makes it the more admirable that a big company would take a risk on a project like this. What’s admirable about this initiative is that it’s a real example of creative, thoughtful so-called 'corporate social responsibility', or CSR.
We’re in an age where companies’ activities outside the traditional spheres of profit and loss are an increasingly important part of the way they present themselves to us. And this programme is a welcome change from the 'oh, we give a percentage of profits to our chosen charity' approach that characterises the efforts of most big corporations.
What L’Oreal have done is identify a problem, make an effort to address it, and – crucially – used the resources at their disposal to find the most effective way of doing so. The company has 30,000 staff training 400,000 hairdressers all around the world, every single year. Their potential reach is enormous.
As Mr Nhlapo has pointed out, 'you have to be clever and sensitive. You can't go as far as telling customers to use condoms. That’s not our business… talking about sex is taboo, especially with older clients'. It’s not hard to imagine the magnitude of the task L’Oreal have set themselves.
Picture a respectable middle-aged pillar of the community being lectured on sex by an intricately-coiffed hairdresser less than half their age, and you can see quite how tricky it might be. Just because the audience can't move, doesn't mean they'll appreciate the info – and there’s a risk they won’t come back.
Losing customers is worst possible outcome for any business –which, in a way, makes it the more admirable that a big company would take a risk on a project like this. What’s admirable about this initiative is that it’s a real example of creative, thoughtful so-called 'corporate social responsibility', or CSR.
We’re in an age where companies’ activities outside the traditional spheres of profit and loss are an increasingly important part of the way they present themselves to us. And this programme is a welcome change from the 'oh, we give a percentage of profits to our chosen charity' approach that characterises the efforts of most big corporations.
What L’Oreal have done is identify a problem, make an effort to address it, and – crucially – used the resources at their disposal to find the most effective way of doing so. The company has 30,000 staff training 400,000 hairdressers all around the world, every single year. Their potential reach is enormous.
Making a difference
Martin Smith, head of the company’s UK professional division points out that in the 1980s, HIV was a very hot topic. Twenty years later, it's off the radar even though in the UK, for example, the situation is actually getting worse. Smith makes a pretty bullish claim for the power and importance of CSR: 'big corporations are putting [HIV] back on the agenda.'
The claim may be inflated but it underlines a very important point. With the resources at their disposal, corporations are can do what we all wish we could – make that ever-elusive 'difference'. Rather than just chuck a bit of money at a problem, L’Oreal have thought about a measured response to one of the most pressing development issues there is.
It’s too early to say just what an effect this might have but it makes it harder to smirk at them next time one of their ads suggests their customers are 'worth it'.
The claim may be inflated but it underlines a very important point. With the resources at their disposal, corporations are can do what we all wish we could – make that ever-elusive 'difference'. Rather than just chuck a bit of money at a problem, L’Oreal have thought about a measured response to one of the most pressing development issues there is.
It’s too early to say just what an effect this might have but it makes it harder to smirk at them next time one of their ads suggests their customers are 'worth it'.
 |
|
|
Terms & Conditions © Christian Aid 2007