L’Oréal instantly became a player (with 20 percent market share) in the growing ethnic hair care industry when it purchased and merged the U.S. companies Soft Sheen Products in 1998 and Carson Products in 2000. L’Oréal believed the competition had overlooked this category because it was previously fragmented and misunderstood. Soft Sheen-Carson now derives approximately 30 percent of its annual revenues from South Africa. L’Oréal also invests money and time in Well known for its 1973 advertising tagline—“Because I’m Worth It”—L’Oréal is now a leader in beauty products around the world. As Gilles Weil, L’Oréal’s head of luxury products, explained, “You have to be local and as strong as the best locals, but backed by an international image and strategy.”