SXSW 2024: Is Socially Responsible Influencer Marketing Possible?

Firdaous is the Vice President of Dove Masterbrand Global and North America.

Firdaous has a rich background in beauty and personal care, having spent over nine years in various roles at L’Oréal Group and The Body Shop and then joined Unilever in 2015.

Firdaous’s passion and dedication to purpose-driven brands is evident in her work. Her leadership has contributed to the success of award-winning campaigns from “Courage is Beautiful” and “Reverse Selfie,” to transformative projects for representation and diversity such as ‘Project Show Us’ and more recently initiated campaigns challenging harmful social media trends to girls like #TheFaceOfTen. Last year, she led the Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning “#TurnYourBack.”, a social first campaign tackling digital distortion.

In addition, Firdaous led the Dove Nature Regeneration Project through the Unilever partnership with the Rimba collective to help protect and restore 123,000 acres of rainforests in Southeast Asia over five years. Her commitment to positive beauty and sustainability continues to inspire change both within and beyond the industry.

For nearly a decade at Dove, Firdaous has also been instrumental in leading innovative marketing strategies, such as shifting to a new marketing model called ‘Others Say’. This model amplifies the brand’s purposeful work and innovations by inviting others to become key contributors of the brands message and campaigns, including creating an industry leading approach to influencer & culture first marketing.

Firdaous is French Moroccan and lived between Rabat, Bordeaux and Paris as a child. Nine years ago, she moved to London. Outside of work, she is a mum of triplets enjoying the busy & exciting life in London.

Sarah Shaker is the Head of Brand Engagement at Maybelline New York for L’Oréal USA, overseeing Social, Influencer, PR and CSR. Since joining L’Oréal in 2015, Sarah has served in social media marketing leadership roles for the Garnier and IT Cosmetics brands as well as leading Influencer, Advocacy & Social Commerce for the CDMO team.

Sarah has 12+ years of experience leading social media marketing strategy, working with brands such as Olay, AT&T and Neutrogena agency side before landing at L’Oréal USA. Fun fact: Sarah started her career in television upon graduation, on the producing team of CBS’ “As The World Turns.”

A respected voice in the beauty and wellness startup space, Claire McCormack is known for her trailblazing editorial coverage of “taboo” verticals, including sexual health, CBD, psychedelics and psychedelic-adjacent (a term she coined) wellness, as well as her track record of being the first to identify, crystallize and write about trends later covered by WWD, WSJ, NYT, etc.

Claire is currently the senior editor at Beauty Independent and has been a featured beauty industry expert in Washington Post, Adweek, Business of Fashion, the HBO documentary “Not So Pretty” and more.