MAM
Balki and Shekar Kapoor to present Global Indian at Cannes Lions
MUMBAI: This year at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, which kicks off on 17 June, creative agency Lowe Lintas will present ‘Global India‘ – a seminar dedicated to Indian creativity and its influence globally. This will be a first at the global ad fest.
Lowe Lintas India chairman and chief creative officer R Balki will be joined on stage by Oscar nominated director, actor, producer and new media entrepreneur, Shehkar Kapur. The two will be interviewed on stage by the editor of Wired Magazine while Inter Public Group (IPG) chairman and CEO Michael Roth will introduce the seminar. IPG is the parent company to Lowe and Partners.
Lowe and Partners global CEO Michael Wall said, “At Lowe and Partners we pride ourselves on our strong capability in emerging markets. We have great, talented leaders like Balki, who manage to successfully meet the challenges presented by the globalisation of India, while preserving the local culture. We can look forward to a thought provoking seminar from Balki and Shekhar at Cannes Lions, the first time the festival has dedicated a session to India. This seminar isn‘t just for the Indian Cannes delegates to attend, India‘s future will play a large role in our industry‘s future and should be of interest to all delegates.”
Balki and Kapoor will be sharing their thoughts on a variety of topics like the creative heritage of India, the future of India on a world stage, Indian advertising, India in the digital age and the film and entertainment industry- and discuss their views on the impact of the nation around the world.
Balki commented, “We are excited to bring India to Cannes Lions for the first time and to have Shekhar join us. He has been, of course, a leading Indian creative force, with a world profile, for some years now and is set to inspire the gathered creatives from all over the world, who attend the event. Cannes Lions is really the only truly global festival that celebrates our industry and looks to its future and India is at the forefront of that future. We plan to bring all the diversity, colour, creativity and passion that is modern India, on stage with us.”
Kapur added, “I am happy for the opportunity to be on the same platform with creative leaders like Balki and Lowe and Partners and look forward to a great, in depth discussion. Social Media is a new force that is asking us to redefine Advertising‘s role in society – we have great challenges, but huge opportunities available to us too, by working within communities.”
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.
