Taylor’s students crowned National Champions of L'Oréal Brandstorm 2023, offered placements as Management Trainees

Themed Crack the New Codes of Beauty, Taylor’s University students from the Faculty of Innovation and Technology emerged as National Champions of L'Oréal Brandstorm 2023.

National Champions of L'Oréal Brandstorm 2023 trophies awarded to Team F’Oréal, comprised of third-year Bachelor of Computer Science (Hons) students Brandon Tan Qi Loong and Caresse Tan Zhi Nie, and Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Hons) student, Teoh Wei Ean.

With over 900 student registrations and defeating more than 60 teams from universities across Malaysia, Team F’Oréal comprised third-year Bachelor of Computer Science (Hons) students Brandon Tan Qi Loong and , and Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Hons) student, Teoh Wei Ean.

Brandon Tan Qi Loong, Team F’Oréal’s Leader and Taylor’s World Class Scholarship 2020 recipient receiving the award on behalf of the team from Tomas Hruska, Country Managing Director of L'Oreal Malaysia-Singapore (right), along with Izwal Mazlan, Head of Career Resources & Employer Relations of Taylor’s University (left).

A platform to develop students' entrepreneurial and creative skill sets, L'Oréal Brandstorm is an annual international innovation competition that presents a new business case to solve each year, offering competitors the chance to develop unconventional solutions for the beauty sector.

Brandon Tan Qi Loong

This year competitors were given the task of developing beauty-related services, solutions, and experiences through cutting-edge technologies including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), and the Metaverse.

Team F’Oréal created a sustainability-oriented innovation for a technological future that would benefit the beauty field.

“Driven to learn and explore innovative ideas, we spent 3 weeks refining our business idea while mindful of meeting the judging criteria of innovation, technology, sustainability, inclusivity, feasibility, and scalability. Condensing our idea into a 1-minute pitch video together with a 3-page presentation slides proved to be a challenge, but we were determined to create a winning submission,” said Brandon, Team Lead and Taylor’s World Class Scholarship 2020 recipient.

Caresse Tan Zhi Nie

Teoh Wei Ean added, “I am grateful for Taylor’s Multidisciplinary Learning Experience that gave us a head start which was instrumental in our achievement. We were able to apply our analytical skills from different backgrounds and understanding of industries’ best practices to develop a comprehensive strategy with innovative solutions.”

The team was mentored by Taylor’s University’s startup incubator, Bizpod, part of the university’s Taylor’sphere ecosystem that aims to nurture students’ intellect, creativity, and practical wisdom. Eventually, Team F’Oréal was able to form ideas from conception and developed an impactful pitch deck.

“This competition gave us industry exposure and practical skills experiences which is a game-changer for students stepping into the working world, as it not only boosts our confidence and motivation when participating in competitions and beyond but it presents an opportunity for us to connect with professionals and build our networks,” shared Caresse.

Teoh Wei Ean

With this national win under their belt, Team F’Oréal has been presented an opportunity to compete with 40 other teams in the International Semi-Finals. Additionally, the team has been offered Management Trainee positions with L'Oréal Malaysia.

The International Final winning teams will be announced in Paris this June where they will get an opportunity to engage in an Intrapreneurship opportunity at the L'Oréal Global Headquarters, bringing their concepts to life.

Since 1992, L'Oréal Brandstorm has been a true innovation catalyst that has drawn more than 600,000 student participants from hundreds of educational institutions across 65 nations.