MAM
Channel press conference, launch invites get more innovative
MUMBAI: This one catch might land Zee Music’s publicity department on a sticky wicket, but for sheer originality, it scores a perfect ten.
In what is becoming a trend among media companies when it comes to publicising their events, Zee Music has sent out huge jars of glue emblazoned with the new channel logo, proclaiming ‘Here’s another place you’ll love to get stuck in.’
‘Phas Jaaoge’ claims the tagline for Zee Music, that is revamping in a new avatar with a wild bash this evening (29 August) at the Hyatt Regency in Mumbai. The one kg jar of glue however bears an uncanny resemblance to Fevicol, the popular Pidilite brand of adhesive. The twin elephant Fevicol logo too has been modified to show the pachyderms trying to pull a man apart from his TV set, while the jar sports the ochre and blue colours associated with Fevicol. “To better understand the adhesive powers of Zee Music follow the simple instructions written on this jar”, adds the footnote on the pack.
Innovative marketing measures seem to be the order of the day. A few weeks ago, MTV sent an equally innovative clothes rack when it put out invites for the MTV Lycra awards. While MTV lives up to its whacky reputation when it comes to media invites, the usually staid Sahara TV too couriered a toy pistol and a couple of real suparis encased in a sleek black box to media planners when it announced the acquisition of the Ram Gopal Varma flick Company. Seems no effort is too small when it comes to reminding the media of its new initiatives.
But the creative juices appear to be in full flow since early this year. While Zee MGM heralded the acquisition of the Miss Universe telecast rights this June by sending out dolls wearing the Miss Universe sash to select media persons, Sony reminded media people of the continuing travails of Kkusum by sending out ‘kundali’ (horoscope) copies, ostensibly Kkusum’s. All other means of innovative invites exhausted apparently, for Sony recently resorted to sending out simple postcards that invited media persons to the launch of Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin. The postcards, incidentally, were sent out by courier.
SET India’s events and movies channel MAX had sent clones (or should we say duplicate) of Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda for the Bade Miyaa, Chote Miyaa film festival to ad agencies. The ad agency’s direct marketing ploy won it an Emvie award.
Coming back to Zee Music, the revamp seems to have started on the right track with the glue jar setting off enough curiosity about what the actual product might offer. If the thus-far somnolent channel does not deliver, however, all the publicity efforts might just come unstuck.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
