MAM
Apple subsidiary FileMaker targets US ad agencies
MUMBAI: FileMaker, a subsidiary of Apple Computer in the US, has announced the availability of a resource web page for creative professionals within the advertising community at www.filemakertrial.com/advertisingpr
The company states that for advertising agencies large and small, the challenge is the same: how to spend more time focussed on creative work for clients, instead of spinning wheels managing agency business processes. FileMaker Pro is a database software and is used by more than 100,000 creative and business professionals in the industry, including those with advertising giants JWT, Lowe, McCann Erickson, Ogilvy and Deutsch. Deutsch, for
example, has implemented a FileMaker Pro-based job charge tracking system that handles everything, from estimates to purchase orders.
Deutsch VP graphic services Bill fitzgwerald says, “FileMaker Pro is so powerful and easy to use that it’s empowered our entire staff. By using FileMaker Pro, we can track real-time dollars spent on projects, deliver on estimate and accurately report department revenue.”
To help advertising agencies understand and visualise the productive benefits of using FileMaker Pro, FileMaker offers the FileMaker Creative Pro Starter Kit for trial download at www.filemakertrial.com/advertisingpr. This Creative Pro Starter Kit includes several following solutions which enable creative, business, traffic and production professionals to discover
how FileMaker Pro 7 can be used to more effectively and efficiently manage client details, job status, digital assets, time sheets and project activities.
One solution which is ClientTracker, developed by iSolutions is a pre-programmed, ready-to-use client tracking database that provides storage retrieval and management of complete contact information, including multiple notes per client contact. ClientTracker can also track multiple projects for each client.
Praesto Jr., developed by Base Builders is a job and client tracking solution for creative professionals that want to track projects,tasks and clients simultaneously. Praesto includes three modules — Projects, Tasks, Firms — that allow users to tracks all aspects of multiple project and the assignment and progress monitoring of associated tasks.
FileMaker states that its product FileMaker Pro is used by millions of individuals and workgroups around the world to be more productive and efficient. Business, education and government customers rely on FileMaker to manage people, projects, images, assets and other information.
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.
