Brands
Samsung is 2017 ‘Spikes Asia Advertiser of the Year’
MUMBAI: Spikes Asia has announced that this year’s Advertiser of the Year will be awarded to Samsung Electronics following a hugely successful 2016 Festival where the company were recognised with 21 Spikes awards.
The Award honours brands that set themselves apart through the quality of their campaigns and recognises innovative marketing and inspiring creative communications. Terry Savage, Chairman Cannes Lions and Vice-Chairman, Spikes Asia said, “Samsung Electronics is one of the world’s leading brands. By experimenting with what is possible through technology they try to make our lives and the world around us better.”
“Working with agencies across the region Samsung provides freedom to push the creative standard and we’re delighted to be able to recognise their commitment to excellence. Their campaigns encompass the full spectrum of cutting-edge technological expertise and creative bravery and we look forward to seeing what the future brings”, he continued.
Winning Samsung campaigns at last year’s Festival ranged from product demonstrations using device detecting technology in ‘Celebrity Tantrum’ to demonstrate the features of the new screen to fearless marketing in launching the Galaxy S7 in the region using CRM and social media to convert attitudes in ‘Right the Wrong’. While the ambition to improve people’s lives through ‘Touchable Ink’, a tactile ink that could be used by printers to make products and packaging more accessible for the visually impaired was lauded and awarded 3 Grands Prix, 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze Spikes.
In 2017 Samsung has shown remarkable growth, overcoming brand challenges amid a difficult market environment. To launch the Galaxy S8 and S8+, ‘The New Normal’ and ‘Breaking Out’ were released following a successful introduction of both ‘The Ostrich’ and ‘This is a Phone’ campaigns. In addition to these short films, Samsung is also rolling out a series of digital, social and out-of-home activations across the globe, such as ‘Whale’ and ‘Astronaut.’
Younghee Lee, Chief Marketing Officer of Samsung Electronics and Head of Global Marketing for Samsung’s Mobile Business will accept the Award onstage at the Spikes Asia Awards Ceremony on Friday 29 September. Speaking on the announcement she said, “Our brand work is the first articulation of the evolution to create a new connection with our consumers through a shared value-based approach, rooted firmly in our company’s philosophy ‘that meaningful progress can only happen when you dare to defy barriers. Samsung is a brand focused on creating real human value with its technology and we want to build upon our tech prowess to become a human-focused lifestyle brand.”
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.
