When beauty brands enter the sports field: L'Oréal turns campus public welfare into a "sports experiment" | The Frontline

On May 29th, L'Oréal China launched the 2026 "Interesting Youth" campus public welfare program at Fudan University, and for the first time kicked off the new year's project activities in the form of a campus sports meet. At the event site, sports figures such as table tennis player Ma Long, basketball player Yang Liwei, and football player Zhao Lina interacted with college students. Meanwhile, L'Oréal announced a donation of products worth approximately 4.68 million yuan to the China Youth Development Foundation and launched the new year's campus charity sale.

On the surface, this is a campus public welfare activity. However, against the backdrop of the global beauty industry's development, it seems more like a microcosm of beauty brands' continuous embrace of sports culture and a healthy lifestyle.

For a long time in the past, beauty and sports were regarded as two relatively independent consumer fields. The former focuses on aesthetic expression, while the latter emphasizes competitive and functional values. However, in recent years, with the rise of health consumption, the increasing participation rate of women in sports, and the rapid development of the lifestyle economy, the boundary between the two is being redefined.

This change has first emerged in the international market.

According to the "State of Beauty 2025" report released by Nielsen IQ (NIQ), the global beauty market achieved a growth of about 10% in the past year. Among them, "Beauty + Wellness" is considered an important force driving the industry's expansion. The report points out that consumers are increasingly inclined to regard skin care, beauty, nutrition, sports, and health management as an integrated system, and the relevant consumption opportunities have expanded by more than 60% compared with the traditional beauty market.

Meanwhile, the sports economy itself is also growing rapidly. Data from market research firm Grand View Research shows that the global sports apparel market has reached approximately $440 billion and is expected to exceed $900 billion by 2033. Sports such as running, cycling, yoga, and strength training are gradually becoming an important part of young consumers' daily lives, rather than just professional competitive activities.

The change in consumer behavior is in turn affecting the beauty industry. In the past few years, the demand for products related to sports scenarios has increased significantly. From high - protection sunscreen, post - sports repair, to scalp care, body care, and anti - sweat makeup, "skin management during sports" is becoming a new product development direction. In the international market, the concept of "Active Beauty" has even emerged to describe the beauty product and service system specifically for people with a sports lifestyle.

This trend is also reflected in brand marketing.

During the 2024 Paris Olympics, L'Oréal Group became one of the official partners of the Olympics, deeply integrating the brand narrative with athletes' stories. The American makeup brand e.l.f. Beauty has continuously invested in women's football and women's professional sports events in recent years. The global beauty retailer Sephora has been constantly establishing connections with consumers through women's running groups, fitness activities, and healthy lifestyle communities.

On the other hand, sports brands are also approaching the beauty industry. From Nike's content ecosystem built around female athletes to Lululemon's continuously expanding yoga, meditation, and well - being community, more and more sports brands are beginning to emphasize emotional value and lifestyle attributes, rather than just product functions. Although beauty and sports seem to belong to different industries, they are serving the same group of consumers - the new generation of young people who are concerned about health, self - management, and personal expression.

In this context, L'Oréal's combination of the "Interesting Youth" program with sports scenarios also reflects the company's adjustment in the way of communicating with young people.

At the event site, there were multiple sports experience areas such as basketball, running, tennis, boxing, golf, and table tennis. Brands under L'Oréal, including SkinCeuticals, La Roche - Posay, CeraVe, Biotherm, and L'Oréal Paris, participated. Compared with traditional campus lectures or brand roadshows, sports scenarios naturally have a stronger sense of participation and social attributes, which also better meet the expectations of current college students for offline activities.

It is worth noting that the focus of the event is not entirely on product display.

As a campus public welfare project that has lasted for 23 years, the "Interesting Youth" program has long revolved around charity sales, youth development, and career empowerment. In addition to the campus charity sale this year, there were also career counseling, resume guidance, and sustainable development interaction areas at the site, aiming to integrate employment, public welfare, and social issues into the event.

In fact, as the online traffic dividend gradually peaks, more and more consumer brands are beginning to re - evaluate the way of establishing relationships with young consumers.

In the past decade, the beauty industry has highly relied on celebrity endorsements, advertising placements, and e - commerce traffic to acquire users. However, as the customer acquisition cost continues to rise, simply relying on marketing exposure is no longer sufficient to form long - term brand recognition. In contrast, scenarios with continuous interaction attributes such as campus projects, interest communities, and sports activities are becoming new investment directions for brands.

For beauty companies, sports may be one of the most promising scenarios.

On the one hand, sports naturally correspond to the demand for core categories such as sunscreen, scalp care, and body care. On the other hand, the values of positivity, health, and self - discipline represented by sports are also highly consistent with the identity of contemporary consumers. Compared with simple cross - border co - branding, the connection established based on real consumption scenarios is more likely to be recognized by the market.

However, from the experience of the global market, whether sports marketing can truly be transformed into long - term competitiveness ultimately depends on whether the brand can continuously launch products and services that meet the needs of sports scenarios, rather than just staying at the level of event sponsorship or celebrity resources.

From this perspective, L'Oréal's combination of campus public welfare and sports culture this time is more like a localized practice of the global "Beauty + Wellness" trend in the Chinese market. As sports gradually become part of young people's lifestyles, beauty brands are also stepping out of traditional retail spaces and entering stadiums, tracks, and gyms to find new entry points for growth in the next stage.