MAM
Independent US PR firm makes entry into India
NEW DELHI. Demonstrating its commitment to securing a larger role in the fast growing South Asian economy, Ruder Finn, which is one of the world’s largest independent public relations firms, has opened its first office in India.
With its head office located in New Delhi, Ruder Finn India has made two key hires to drive its expansion: Radha Roy and Shruti Das. As country head, Roy reports to Ruder Finn Asia Pacific chairman Jean-Michel Dumont.
Ruder Finn has already bagged the retainer account for Automobili Lamborghini for this region. Ruder Finn India team has also successfully undertaken projects to help drive communication mandates for some key global names in the Pharma and not-for-profit sector.
Roy has over sixteen years of experience in public relations, communication and advocacy. Her expertise includes strategic counsel, promotional campaigns, corporate social responsibility programs, media and presentation skills training, crisis and issues management and marketing and business planning for clients in the corporate and not-for-profit sector. She has counselled and represented leading corporations like PepsiCo, Max Newyork Life, Danone, Dr Reddy’s, Thomson, Timken and ITC in Kolkata,Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. She has also worked for many years on campaigns for child rights.
Das, account director, has more than 10 years of experience in marketing & communication. Having undertaken cross-functional roles such as Marketing, Business Development, and Public Relations, she now specialises in strategic planning, development and execution of integrated communications programs. In her previous assignments, she managed communication mandates for organisations like Microsoft, Oracle, NetApp, HTC, ZTE and Unicef.
“On the heels of our record-level revenues and earnings for the 2010 fiscal year, combined with market demand, it was a logical next step for us to expand our presence to a new part of the world,” said Ruder Finn Inc. CEO Kathy Bloomgarden. “A presence in India will benefit our increasing number of multinational clients throughout North America, Europe and Asia by leveraging the synergies between business units, assisting in securing new opportunities and providing regional support to their existing global customer base.”
‘Khushiyaan Ruder Finn, Inc. is one of the largest independent integrated communication firms in the world, with offices in the United States and Europe, as well as in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Delhi in Asia. Through these offices and affiliates worldwide, the agency serves the global and local communication needs of over 250 corporations, governments and non-profit organisations.
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.
