Brands
ITC’s Mangaldeep marks ‘Sixth Sense’ panel with #WorldSightDay Video
Mumbai: Mangaldeep, ITC’s agarbatti brand, has launched a new video on the occasion of World Sight Day, commemorating the contribution of its more than 150 visually impaired ITC Mangaldeep ‘Sixth Sense’ fragrance testers in the creation of unique and superior fragrance varieties of its products.
ITC Mangaldeep has set up the flagship ‘Sixth Sense’ panels in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, to provide employment opportunities to visually challenged people by tapping into their keen olfactory abilities to improve it product offerings. Mangaldeep has made them a part of the fragrance evaluation process at the product testing stage, while supporting them with livelihood opportunities as well as empowering them with a sense of dignity and pride for being able to make an impact.
It has recruited 150 plus ‘Sixth Sense’ panellists with assistance from self-help groups and NGOs and are given extensive training after they are onboarded.
The heartwarming video shows a visually impaired individual walking through the by-lanes leading to his house and describing the surroundings around him by inhaling the aroma generated by households and shops selling food items and flowers. He then introduces himself and says that although he does not have the power of vision, he has superior olfactory abilities which has helped in earning a livelihood being an ITC Mangaldeep ‘Sixth Sense’ panellist and leading a dignified life.
The video leaves a lasting impression and makes us realise how lucky are those human beings who can enjoy the world’s surroundings with their eyes. The video also highlights the resilient nature of visually impaired individuals and how they manage to tackle the numerous curveballs thrown by life with a genial smile.
The members of Mangaldeep ‘Sixth Sense’ panel have been able to capture minute variations in fragrance strengths and are bringing in high value-addition in the olfactive matching of fragrances, a crucial process which involves matching a fragrance to a benchmark. This panel has played significant roles in the creation of unique and superior fragrance varieties of Sandal, Rose, Lavender and Marigold.
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.
