Luannee Hernandez, a marketing major at Ramapo College of New Jersey, completed a 12-week internship with the L’Oreal Paris hair color team last summer, where she developed a multicultural marketing strategy targeting generation X and boomer Latinas for the Magic Root brand.
The experience highlights opportunities for undergraduate students to gain practical skills in large corporations while contributing to real-world projects. Hernandez said she dyed her hair as part of her research to better understand consumer behavior: “I wanted to dye my hair to learn how the consumer thinks.” She explained that this allowed her to observe root growth and evaluate whether consumers might choose salon visits or use products like Magic Root spray.
During her internship at L’Oreal’s United States headquarters in Hudson Yards, New York City, Hernandez worked with cross-functional teams including demand planning, sales, and marketing. She also collaborated with experts in hair color science at L’Oreal’s tech center. “Working with all those people that are very much experts in hair color… is really, really cool,” she said.
Hernandez presented a plan that included sending dual mother/daughter packs of Magic Root to beauty influencers and adding QR codes on packaging leading consumers to Latina stories and resources online. After completing her internship, she learned from a friend that similar dual packs had appeared among beauty influencers: “They might have implemented that and taken some kind of inspiration from what I’ve been able to do with the hair color team … it was really nice to be able to see that come to life in that way,” Hernandez said.
She also reported gaining experience using new software programs, creating weekly performance reports for management, and networking with both employees and other interns. The position was secured through the Advertising Educational Foundation’s Marketing and Advertising Education Internship Program (MADE), which connects undergraduates with paid internships at Fortune 500 companies. Hernandez credited Ramapo Marketing professor Patti Mandel for support during the application process.
In addition to her time at L’Oreal, Hernandez has served as vice president of Ramapo’s Women in Business club, interned for Dining Services on campus, participated in Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity activities, led the Association of Latinos Moving Ahead (ALMA), and worked for Commuter Affairs.
