MAM
pepsi’s ‘World Cup Ke Shikari’ begins airing
MUMBAI: With the World Cup 2003 just days away, the frenzy in the advertising world is scaling new heights. The latest is the series of Pepsi promo campaigns slated around the World Cup, the first one being the World Cup ke Shikari TV started appearing on various television channels from today.
The 50-second ad conceptualised by Pepsi’s ad agency JWT has been directed by ad man Prahlad Kakkar. The advertisement features Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman, Mohammad Kaif and Harbhajan Singh and a lion called “Jock”.
The ad, which has been shot on location in Mumbai and South Africa, shows the players practising cricket. However, when the players decide to take a Pepsi break, to their utter horror, they discover a lion lying next to their Pepsi. The ad tells a hilarious story about how the players retrieve their Pepsi from the lion.
Not surprisingly, Pepsi has simultaneously rolled out the Pepsi Badaa Shikari Hunt contest in association with Max, Nickelodeon and MTV. Six young lucky winners of the contest will get an opportunity to lead the Indian Cricket Team onto the ground during the Cricket World Cup 2003, states a release .
To enter the contest , participants are required to write a letter to the Indian Captain…”Dear Sourav …”, telling him why he or she should be leading the team, the release adds. Six of the best entries along with a parent or friend will travel to South Africa on an all expense paid trip, to lead the team onto the grounds .
In addition, autographed goodies like sling bags, team shirts, stumps with posters and Pepsi Shikari gear will be given away as prizes through a number of other promotions as well.
According to the release, Pepsi is set to launch its next promo called Sher Ke Mooh Mein Haath Dalopromo as well. Yet another consumer campaign Pepsi Piyega Toh Shikari Ban Jayega promotion offering similar merchandise is also slated for a launch soon, the release adds.
To attract consumers and encourage participations in the promotions and contests, Pepsi has also put up spectacular outdoor and attractive shop signages and merchandising based on the World Cup theme across 2500 outlets .Specially designed Pepsi World Cup trucks are also roaming the streets in cities and towns.
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.
