Dec 11, 2018
Destiny is Calling: How Marketing Became The Chosen Career Path of Damiano
What did you want to be when you were a child? Doctor? Fashion Designer? Scientist? DJ? Captain? Did your parents have the same plans for you? Damiano, our Senior Marketing Product Manager for Vichy at L’Oréal Italy, was destined to be an aircraft pilot but turned into marketing proving that the only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.
“ Hi, everybody. This is Captain Damiano Sansalone speaking” — this is the type of on-the-plane announcement that my parents were expecting from me. I was meant to become the 3rd generation of airplane captains in my family following my father and grandfather but marketing called, and my career took a completely different direction” — Damiano
Tell us things about yourself we can’t find on your LinkedIn!
My first passion is music. I’m literally addicted, I would say that I spend 3 hours per day listening to music, and I join an average of 3 live shows per month. My addiction started when I was young when I played with my little sister imitating famous popstars, dancing and singing on my parents’ sofa, forcing my family to watch the show. My artistic side convinced my family to make me join ballet school and piano lessons later. And now that I grew up my artistic side is still vibrant and brings me to put some music into my work, like media partnership with Spotify or with artists that embraced the brand image.
My second passion is traveling. I’ve always traveled with friends, but some summers ago I went on my first “adventure trip” with people that I haven’t met before: I visited Azores archipelago with a group of people coming from all over Italy. It was terrific, not only for the unforgettable landscapes but also for the new friendships I made. I’m now booking my next big adventure.
How did you know that Marketing was the ONE?
I decided to be a Marketeer in 2008 during my last year of high school. That was a revolutionary time for my generation: We were all opening our Facebook accounts, Apple launched its first iPhone in Italy, and digital marketing started to become a big thing. Nobody talked about anything but the power of marketing, and I asked myself “What on earth is marketing about”?
I did my research, and I figured that marketing is about product, price, placement, and promotion. Promotion is the one that impressed me the most, so I decided to write my high school final thesis about an iconic and disruptive advertising campaign. During my last year at University, I applied to different companies as an intern, and one of them was L’Oréal. The first time I applied, I was rejected, and soon I learned what resilience means! I wanted to be part of L’Oréal at all costs, and I tried again. After 1 year and a half and two short work experiences, I finally landed in the fragrant L’Oréal buildings.
Share with us your experience at L’Oreal!
I started as an intern in Vichy Face Care Team in 2014, and I’m still part of the team. I’m now Senior Marketing Product Manager, and I’m in charge of all the Body and Haircare range.
These 4 years have been very formative for my career because each day spent at L’Oréal is an opportunity to learn and build your own career path. When someone tells you that L’Oréal is an excellent school of Marketing, they really mean it. You grow up and keep growing along the way and take on new challenges every day — That’s what empowers me the most, and this is what makes me so proud to be part of this company.
But L’Oréal is also the amusement park for a Marketeer like me because if you have an innovative spirit, entrepreneurial attitude and strong motivation, L’Oréal enables you to do almost whatever you want. Like in 2017, with the launch of Slow Age Night, a night cream and mask that re-oxygenate and revitalize skin suffocated by daily exposure. The global product positioning was the prevention of aging signs, hydration and regeneration of the skin, but the product is also able to fight the oxidant stress induced by pollution. Inspired by this idea, I developed a new concept for the whole Slow Age range: urban aging, the sum of all the urban factors that affect the skin and accelerate the aging process like pollution, stress and UV rays. The concept became an advertising campaign displayed online and offline in the most central areas of many important cities. Sell-out results have been impressive, and the Italian activation became a best practice example worldwide.
Tell us about your team!
After 6 years of Vichy, I’ve just joined La Roche Posay. I can’t be happier to be part of this wonderful Marketing 3.0 team. An innovative structure that include Marketing, Digital and Medical in the same team. A unique opportunity to develop more skills, transversal competencies and push your development further.
What advice would you give to anyone interested in joining L’Oréal?
“Three ingredients are essentials to join L’Oreal: empowerment, team work and passion.”
At L’Oréal you have the power to make the things happen: you work in a multinational company with the heart of a start-up. To be successful it is important to be very committed to objectives, passionate, and to step out your comfort zone leveraging on your core strengths and cooperating with your team.
Inspired by Damiano’s story? Read more about our careers in Marketing here:
