Brands
Saffola launches AI campaign urging consumers to have a ‘Heart to Heart Talk’
MUMBAI: Saffola, the health-focused FMCG brand from Marico Limited, has launched an AI-powered campaign this World Heart Day to help consumers gauge the true age of their hearts.
Titled ‘Heart to Heart Talk,’ the initiative encourages people to pause, reflect, and engage in a personal conversation with themselves about lifestyle habits that affect heart health. By scanning a QR code, uploading a selfie, and answering a few simple questions on Whatsapp, users receive a personalised AI-generated video revealing the gap between their real age and indicative heart age.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research- India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB), one in four Indians has high cholesterol, one in ten is diabetic, and one in three is hypertensive. Even active, young adults may unknowingly put their hearts at risk through daily stress and unhealthy choices.
Marico Limited, CEO – India core business, Ashish Goupal said, “Saffola has always aimed to inspire consumers to take charge of their heart health. ‘Heart to Heart Talk’ is a moment of truth, helping people reflect on how small lifestyle habits can impact well-being and empower them to take meaningful steps towards a healthier tomorrow.”
Conceptualised by team WPP, the campaign includes a digital film depicting a young man caught in unhealthy routines, from breakfast pakodas to late-night junk food. At each step, he is confronted by the reflection of his older self, demonstrating the long-term effects of poor habits. The film highlights ‘Saffola Total Heart Pro’, enriched with Oryzanol to help reduce cholesterol, and shows it being used in everyday cooking to promote healthier choices.
With this initiative, Saffola continues its long-standing mission to promote wholesome living and make heart health awareness both personal and engaging.
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.
