MAM
MMA & Isobar India launch ‘The Voice Playbook’
Mumbai : MMA & Isobar, the digital agency from the house of dentsu international, have launched ‘The Voice Playbook’ for India to tap into the potential impact of voice on the global and Indian media and marketing industry.
The playbook allows marketers to understand how to use voice as a medium/platform to engage with their consumers.
“Voice technology will become the next great disruptor and India as a market is very receptive to voice as a medium and Isobar is extremely excited to help brands ride on this new wave,” said Isobar south Asia Group MD Shamsuddin Jasani during the launch. “Just like brands needed an internet strategy in the ‘90s, a search strategy in 2000, and a mobile strategy in 2010, we at Isobar believe now brands need a voice strategy.”
Powered by Slang Labs, ‘The Voice Playbook’ focuses on the key adaptations that will be required in the post-pandemic world, where consumers will have a voice option at self-checkout counters, ATMs, automobiles, elevators, and anywhere else touch is currently needed. It also highlights how voice technology will play a pivotal role in fuelling aided commerce growth as 82 per cent of smartphone users are using voice-activated technology. The growing adoption of voice technology in shopping online will leave voice assistants to suggest products to buy. Link to the report: https://go.mmaglobal.com/TheVoicePlaybook
Voice technology will become the next great disruptor and India as a market is very receptive to voice as a medium, opined Isobar India COO Gopa Kumar. “Consumers are very receptive to it, but there is still very little information on how voice tech will affect the various digital marketing platforms or the marketing mix. This playbook aims to decode that and will help to position yourself or your brand ahead of the curve,” he added.
Voice technology has also become integral to the entire value chain, especially after the pandemic – a fact which marketers have begun to recognise. “In post-pandemic times, contactless experiences, increased voice searches, consumption of vernacular languages, conversational commerce are riding the wave,” said MMA India country head Moneka Khurana.M
According to Slang Labs’ co-founder and Obsessive Dictator, Kumar Rangarajan brands are unable to capture the full potential of this huge market. “When Slang Labs started about four years ago, the marketing was still focused on the digital-savvy and majorly urban population of India. Post-Covid, even the non-digital savvy populations in urban and rural areas are getting on board the digital highway. This is where we see Voice Playbook 2021 enabling marketers to understand the key challenges faced by this huge untapped market and engage accordingly.”
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.
