MAM
Ajay Kaul to head jury for FAME 2013
MUMBAI: The Festival of Asian Marketing Effectiveness (FAME) has announced that Lenovo executive director global brand communications – worldwide marketing Ajay Kaul will preside over the 2013 jury.
‘The Festival of Asian Marketing Effectiveness‘ is an Asia Pacific‘s principal gathering of marketing, advertising, media and brand experts.
Kaul said, “It is an honour to serve as the jury chair for the 2013 Festival of Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards. The FAME awards have become the most coveted marketing event in Asia Pacific that celebrates the achievements of the very best. I look forward to meeting some of the brightest marketing minds that have enabled world class campaigns.”
“We‘re delighted that Ajay has accepted the position of jury president in such an exciting year. 2013 sees newly added accolades and categories and we are certain to see some inspiring and interesting work from across the Asia Pacific region. Ajay has a wealth of experience and skills which will stand him good stead to lead the jury and decide on the region‘s best marketing effectiveness work,” Lions Festivals chairman Terry Savage added.
Kaul has over 19 years of global marketing and executive management experience. Joining Lenovo in 2006, Kaul manages the Global Brand Communications and analytics hub of over 150 advertising and marketing communications professionals for over 50 countries.
He also oversees the Lenovo global marcom strategic marketing services and analytics teams and is responsible for managing the Ogilvy advertising unit, which serves Lenovo‘s global brand communications and advertising needs.
He has previously worked at Dell where he was based out of the company‘s global headquarters in Round Rock Texas.
The Festival of Asian Marketing Effectiveness‘ will be held on 8-9 May, with the winners being announced at the Awards Ceremony on 9 May at the Pudong Shangri-La in Shanghai.
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.
