ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main question addressed in this research study is ‘How can L’Oréal improve upon theircurrent brand image and subsequent brand positioning amongst Stellenbosch students as theirtarget audience’. It was therefore considered necessary for the author of this research project toeffectively be able to uncover the current health of the L’Oréal brand. A brand audit wastherefore performed on the corporate L’Oréal brand. Brand audits are qualitative snapshots of the current position of the brand in terms of the current perceptions of the target audience and it is important to perform them on a regular basis as target audiences may evolve over time. Through performing a brand audit, the manufacturers / marketers of the brand in question will gain a better understanding of the current problems, desires and needs of the target audience inquestion. The information obtained from such an audit is valuable for the organization / brand as it allows them to determine whether a costly and time-consuming process such as a brand repositioningis necessary, as well as providing valuable market research which can lead to a viable and sustainable brand strategy.In order to uncover the health of the brand and determine the perceptions, attitudes andbehaviour of the target audience, a deductive approach to this study was employed. A paperbasedquestionnaire regarding the corporate / product L’Oréal brand was designed by theauthor and distributed to 444 students located on central campus at the University ofStellenbosch. A statistical significance level of five percent (α = 0.05) was employed when theinformation collected from the questionnaires was subjected to a series of statistical tests.Six main brand characteristics were investigated during the analysis of the survey data. These include brand awareness, attitude towards the corporate brand, attitude towards the products,level of desire for the brand, behavioural tendencies, and the value proposition. The results fromthe survey indicated that an overwhelming majority of respondents were familiar with the brand, and also that a large percentage of them had also used L’Oréal products. Along similar lines,the perceptions / attitudes with regards to the corporate and product brand were very, or fairlyfavourable amongst the respondents. There was a consistent trend amongst ethnic groups, withthe white ethnic group being the most familiar with the brand, having the most favourableattitude with regards to the brand and products, and displaying the most positive usagebehaviour with regards to the products. The opposite trend was observed for the black ethnicgroup. It was also determined that as the attitude with regards to the corporate brand increases so too does that of the product brand. This is a favourable situation for L’Oréal as efforts to build corporate brand identity can translate into strong, favourable and unique product associations. In terms of the benefits being sought, the majority of respondents ranked functional andemotional benefits as most important when using personal care products. The author was able to extract from the survey the fact that the black ethnic group had the least awareness and least favourable attitude, perception and behaviour with regards to thecorporate and product brand in question. If L’Oréal is able to enhance the brand imagery amongst this target audience, they will surely build a positive brand equity as well as anadditional income stream. In addition to this, the author was also able to identify that theemotional bond to the L’Oréal brand was not as strong as it could be. The respondentsindicated that their level of desire for the brand was not on par with their expected / anticipatedneeds and that a personal care brand should fulfil more of these needs.