LOreal Embraces AI Content Generation Through Strategic Partnership with Untold Fable

The global cosmetics conglomerate L’Oréal has demonstrated a significant pivot towards artificial intelligence-driven content production through its collaboration with Untold Fable, a technology-focused content creation company founded by Kate Tancred in 2021. The partnership represents a broader industry shift as major brands respond to executive mandates and competitive pressures to integrate AI capabilities into marketing operations.

The collaboration yielded a notable campaign for Essie, L’Oréal’s nail polish subsidiary, which utilised AI generation tools to produce advertising content that would traditionally require substantial capital expenditure on studio facilities, production crews, and computer-generated imagery specialists. The campaign featured imagery of nail polish cascading over cherries, created almost entirely through artificial intelligence platforms rather than conventional production methods.

Untold Fable restructured the creative workflow by employing an AI creative director with 15 years of traditional experience who subsequently retrained in artificial intelligence applications. The production process involved an AI film-maker specialising in beauty content who refined prompts across multiple platforms simultaneously, including OpenAI, Stability AI, and Google’s proprietary AI tools. This approach capitalised on AI’s capacity to animate liquid dynamics, a traditionally expensive and time-intensive process through conventional CGI methods.

The adoption trajectory has accelerated markedly throughout 2025. Untold Fable deployed AI in none of its projects at the beginning of the year; by the third quarter, AI-incorporated projects were expanding steadily. The company’s two most recent commissions were generated entirely through artificial intelligence, reflecting rapidly evolving client demand.

Tancred attributes the surge in AI adoption to dual pressures: senior executives mandating experimentation with AI technologies, and internal AI specialists advocating for tool adoption within marketing departments. However, the financial dynamics remain complex and potentially unsustainable at current pricing levels.

The pricing structure for AI-generated content remains distorted, according to Tancred, with suppliers commanding premium rates that may prove untenable as the market matures. The exploratory nature of AI content creation allows providers to maintain elevated margins whilst both agencies and clients navigate process development and appropriate pricing models. Tancred anticipates margin compression as standardisation occurs and market dynamics normalise.

Technical limitations persist, particularly regarding human emotional expression, which AI systems struggle to render convincingly. Consequently, many projects employ hybrid approaches, combining traditionally filmed actors with AI-generated environments. This methodology balances cost efficiency with authentic human representation.

Reputational risk remains a material consideration. A Guess advertisement featured in Vogue during summer 2025, which utilised AI-generated models, provoked controversy regarding unrealistic beauty standards and concerns about displacing human workers. Such incidents underscore the importance of strategic implementation and consumer sensitivity when deploying AI-generated content.

Tancred emphasised the necessity for creators to maintain respect for consumer preferences whilst navigating the transition between traditional content production methods and emerging AI-driven approaches. The company positions itself to bridge conventional and future production methodologies as the industry undergoes structural transformation.