L’Oréal Men Expert has become the latest personal care player to enter the world of competitive gaming.
The L’Oréal male grooming label is teaming up with esports performance brand Fnatic as its beauty and personal care partner.
The collaboration will see L’Oréal Men Expert’s branding appear on Fnatic’s team jerseys throughout the regular ‘season’ and major esports and gaming championships, including FIFA and the League of Legends World Championship.
The brands will also co-create a #PrepToPlay docu-series, involving Fnatic’s top gaming talents ahead of their biggest moments.
The series will share how skin and body products form a crucial part of gamers’ self-care routines, while providing a platform for its subjects to talk openly about their struggles and successes.
The content will be broadcast across Fnatic’s social channels, which reach more than 35 million fans, as well as L’Oréal Men Expert’s own channels.
“As the gaming industry continues to boom, we’re very excited about L’Oréal Men Expert’s partnership with Fnatic,” said Christine Nguyen, L’Oréal Men Expert’s Global Marketing Director.
“Tapping into this new world is an exciting way for the brand to democratise the best of skin and body care, and to introduce L’Oréal Men Expert to Gen Z and millennial gamers.
“This partnership will empower men to experience the strength that comes from prioritising self-care, instilling in them the confidence to look, feel and play better.”
“Self-care is incredibly important, particularly in e-sports, where pressure-cooker moments can define a team’s history or a player’s legacy,” added Sam Mathews, CEO of Fnatic.
“Here at Fnatic, we believe that looking after yourself is something to be celebrated.
“We’re incredibly proud to be partnering with L’Oréal Men Expert to help feed into our holistic approach to player performance, looking beyond the screen to see where we can help our players be at the top of their game.”
Recent months have seen personal care increasingly tap the consumer goldmine that is the gaming community.
In November, Unilever’s men’s fragrance brand Axe teamed up with leading gamers ahead of the League of Legends Grand Finals to prove the theory that its body sprays’ confidence-boosting properties can improve gaming performance by 0.1%.
Charlotte Tilbury, meanwhile, became a commercial partner of e-sports festival Girl Gamer last summer, following in the footsteps of the event’s previous beauty partners Sephora, Benefit Cosmetics and L’Occitane.
Names including NYX, Soap & Glory and e.l.f. have also explored the consumer crossover between cosmetics and the gaming industry.
