MAM
Fremantle serves up ‘The Apprentice’, ‘The X Factor’ & ‘Planet Cook’ at Brand Licensing 2005
| MUMBAI: FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide (FLW) recently announced its headline properties like The Apprentice, The X Factor and Planet Cook for Brand Licensing 2005 in London, which is scheduled to take place on 25 and 26 October. |
| Now in its seventh year, Brand Licensing 2005 is Europe’s premier event where all the major property owners representing thousands of brand, characters, images and more come together. It’s the licensing marketplace, where deals are done and the European licensing industry meets. |
| The Apprentice will make its debut at this year’s show and FLW will be managing all ancillary rights for the property worldwide (excluding the US). Key categories will include gifting (executive stationery, gadgets, electronics), games, publishing and apparel. |
|
The first series of the UK version of The Apprentice, which aired on BBC2, was a ratings hit, outperforming the channel’s prime time average by over 20 per cent. The final episode achieved an audience of 3.8 million viewers and a 16.6 per cent share, demonstrating a 100 per cent growth since launch and doubling the broadcaster’s prime time average. A second series has been commissioned in the UK and is scheduled to hit screens early next year. Sir Alan Sugar, one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs, will take the helm once again and guide candidates as they vie for his approval and the knowledge that they can make it in the world of business. The candidates will carry out weekly assignments to test out their business acumen and entrepreneurial skills and each week, Sugar will fire one of them, leaving the rest to go on to another equally challenging task. The one candidate who proves their worth and capability will secure a year-long job with one of his companies and a six figure salary. FremantleMedia has produced local versions of the show in 16 territories to date, with more deals in the pipeline. The Apprentice is produced in the UK by Talkback, one of FremantleMedia’s UK production companies. FLW will also be representing all ancillary rights to the talent show – The X Factor and will be rolling out a comprehensive licensing programme aimed at 16-34-year-olds to coincide with the launch of the show’s second series on ITV later this month. FLW has already secured a raft of deals which will provide fans with even more innovative and exciting ways to interact with the show across multiples platforms.  The X Factor sees Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh compete to look for the next singing sensation. Open to all music star wannabes – solo artists aged 16-24, solo artists over 25 and groups – the hopefuls will be whittled down to 150 and divided into three categories. Each category will be assigned one judge who will be faced with the task of shaping up their acts so that one of them emerges as the winner of TV’s biggest talent search in UK history. The X Factor proved a massive ratings winner for ITV with over 10 million viewers (42.2 per cent share) tuning in to see Steve Brookstein walk away with a one million pound Sony BMG recording contract. The results show ranked No. 1 in its timeslot and in its target demo of young adults, was the highest rating show of the day across all channels. Planet Cook continues to be a key priority for FLW and will be a major focus for Brand Licensing 2005. Licensees already on board include Heinz, Universal Pictures and Trudeau-Euromark and FLW will be looking to extend the brand further through publishing, gaming, gifting, attractions and food categories. Planet Cook is a unique, live-action cookery adventure show for children where mealtime disappointments are a thing of the past. Set on a tropical island, each episode sees Captain Cook guide three young Cook Cadets as they create a meal against the clock. Each recipe is inspired by the natural world – from leaf-eating dinosaurs to volcanoes – which gives Captain Cook the inspiration to create delicious dishes like ‘Erupting Volcano Surprise’. All recipes have been analysed by independent, qualified nutritionists to fit within the context of a balanced, healthy diet. Planet Cook already has a first class broadcast platform in the UK and a local version of the show is currently airing on German public broadcaster, ZDF. In addition, a tape deal has been struck with ABC in Australia for 52 episodes of the UK show. FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide CEO Simon Spalding said, “The Brand Licensing Show is a key market for FremantleMedia and we are really looking forward to sharing and discussing our ideas for these very exciting brands with the industry. We are confident that The Apprentice, The X Factor and Planet Cook will be just as successful off screen as they are on air.” |
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.
