MAM
Agency retains India brief, adds e-commerce remit and 21-market Europe expansion
MUMBAI: WPP Media has successfully retained its integrated media mandate for Reckitt India, while significantly expanding the relationship with the addition of the e-commerce media mandate. The renewed partnership builds on an association that began in 2023 and reinforces WPP Media’s position as Reckitt’s long-term strategic partner in India.
Under the refreshed scope, Wavemaker will continue to lead media strategy, planning and buying for Reckitt, while also taking charge of the newly awarded e-commerce mandate. The consolidated remit brings mainline media, digital and commerce under a single integrated operating model, aimed at delivering sharper execution, operational efficiency and measurable business impact across consumer touchpoints.
The partnership has also expanded beyond India. Effective 1 January 2026, WPP Media will manage media planning and buying for Reckitt across 21 European markets, marking a significant step in the company’s global media transformation and deepening WPP Media’s international role within the Reckitt ecosystem.
In India, the enhanced mandate will see WPP Media deploy a dedicated team of commerce specialists embedded within Reckitt’s e-commerce operations. The team will work across the funnel, spanning commerce media strategy, execution, analytics and performance optimisation, with the objective of improving discoverability, consideration and conversion across India’s fast-growing digital and quick-commerce platforms.
Reckitt executive vice president for South Asia Gaurav Jain said the expanded partnership reflects a shift in expectations from media agencies, moving beyond efficiency to accountability for growth. He noted that e-commerce has become increasingly material to the company’s topline and requires sharper rigour and execution at the digital shelf.
WPP Media South Asia president of client solutions Ajay Gupte said the mandate renewal and expansion underline the trust built through consistent delivery. He added that as media and commerce continue to converge, the focus will remain on balancing brand-building with performance, and creativity with data, to drive sustainable growth.
The expanded remit covers Reckitt’s entire Indian portfolio, including brands such as Dettol, Harpic, Durex, Finish, Lysol and Veet, ensuring they remain optimised for performance across both traditional media and India’s rapidly evolving e-commerce ecosystem.
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.
