NEW YORK — Three University of South Florida students competed in the national finals of the 2026 L’Oréal Brandstorm competition, earning the opportunity to present their concept to executives at L’Oréal’s New York headquarters in late April.
The USF team was one of five finalist teams in the United States.
Representing USF as team “Mémoire Vive,” Jaycee Cavero of the Muma College of Business, Samin Yasar and Prithvi Kota from USF’s College of Arts and Sciences competed alongside students from institutions including New York University, the University of California, Berkeley, Parsons School of Design and Fashion Institute of Technology in the global innovation competition focused on shaping the future of luxury fragrance.
According to the team, their success was built long before the competition itself.
“Samin and I have known each other for a few years, and we met Jaycee about a year before Brandstorm,” said Kota. “The three of us ended up in the same USF Global Career Accelerator cohort, where we placed in the top 10 in early talent competitions, so when it came time to build a three-person team, he was an obvious fit.”
What followed was a collaboration built around trust, complementary skillsets and constant iteration.
“Jaycee led marketing and product design, I anchored conservation science and logistics, and Samin drove pricing and quantitative modeling,” Kota explained. “Every decision was still a shared one, but knowing each other beforehand meant we could be direct with feedback without worrying about hurting anyone’s feelings, which kept the iteration loop fast.”
That interdisciplinary dynamic became one of the team’s greatest strengths.
“Having different academic backgrounds was huge for us,” said Cavero. “It let us cover way more ground in our pitch, and we trusted each other to bring our own expertise and challenge each other.”
The innovation competition challenged teams to "Craft the Future of Luxury Fragrance." The USF team evaluated dozens of ideas throughout the process, frequently discarding concepts that failed to meet their standards for feasibility, originality or market relevance.
“If we hit a red flag and couldn’t engineer our way around it, the idea was trashed,” Kota said. That willingness to challenge one another, adapt quickly and continuously refine their concept became a defining part of the team’s approach.
Jaycee Cavero pitches at L’Oréal Brandstorm 2026.
“I think what helped us stand out was going for a fresh, outside-the-box idea and keeping things fun and real in our video and introductions,” Cavero said. “We didn’t try to be perfect. We stayed authentic as a team, and I believe that made a big difference in reaching the national finals.”
The competition brought finalists to L’Oréal’s Research and Innovation Center in New Jersey and the company’s New York headquarters, where students participated in immersive experiences exploring fragrance development, branding and consumer strategy, before pitching directly to company leaders and executives.
While the USF team fell short of making the international finals in Paris, Cavero said he was proud to be on the stage as a Bull.
“Representing USF at the L’Oréal Brandstorm finals was really special for me,” Cavero said. “It’s not every day you get to put your school on that stage alongside other top universities.”
The experience highlighted the growing importance of thinking creatively, communicating effectively and applying diverse perspectives to solve real-world challenges on a national stage.