Introduction: L'Oreal was founded in 1907 by French chemist Eugene Schueller, who developed the world's first synthetic hair color product, L'Aureole. By 1912 his hair products were sold in France, the Netherlands, Austria and Italy. In the mid-1930s Schueller entered the hygiene and toilet sectors of the cosmetics market with great success. L'Oreal soon earned a reputation as a European leader in hair coloring and skin care products. Although L'Oreal achieved European success, entering the US market proved much more difficult. In 1953, L'Oreal established licensee Cosmair Inc. in New Jersey to distribute its hair coloring products to beauty salons. The company soon realized three challenges in the US market. First, in the United States local intermediaries delivered products to salons, and L'Oreal had little or no relationship with this group. Secondly, L'Oreal hair products were not well known by salon workers and their clientele and therefore were not bought and sold much in salons. Finally, French prestige, which helped sell perfumes, did little for hair coloring products. L'Oreal continued its attempts at global expansion and gained ground in the US hair color market in 1973 with the famous "Because you're worth it" advertising campaign. The success of the campaign established L'Oreal a reputation for quality among consumers. US consumers, allowing them to sell their hair coloring products at a higher price than competing companies for the first time. In 1984, new CEO Owen-Jones began pushing for L'Oreal to become the largest company of cosmetics in the United States. To that end, the company began evaluating acquisition opportunities that would expand the L'Oreal brands throughout the United States. The first two...... half of the document... Press releases Retrieved (03/24/08) from: http://www.loreal.com/_en/_ww/press-room/press-release.aspx?Year=2000?NewsID=4444e553-24d5-483b-9089-65e1469338b8Mulliez , Cristiano (2007). L'Oreal Administration and Finance. Retrieved (03/23/08) from: http://www.loreal-finance.com/v9/us/contenu/resultats-annuels2006.asp?srub=310PR Newswire (February 2004). L'Oreal's Marketing Award competition offers real-life brand management experience and career opportunities as eight US teams compete in the global competition. Retrieved 03/25/08 from: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-113191007.htmlThe Gale Group (2007). The WWD List: Best Beauty Companies: The largest beauty companies in the world. Retrieved (03/24/08) from: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-18228667_ITMUN, World Population Prospect (2006). The new seniors, a strategic opportunity for L'Oreal.