MAM
Sapientnitro India appoints Amod Dani as creative head for north
MUMBAI: SapientNitroSM has strengthened its creative offering by bringing on board Amod Dani, previously Vice President Creative at AffinityX, as Creative Head for the Northern region.
With over a decade of experience in advertising, Amod has worked with brands like Škoda, Citibank, McDonald’s, Cadbury, Asian Paints, Procter & Gamble, Vista Print (Global) and won awards at festivals like Cannes Lions, New York Festivals, The One show, The Clio awards, Spikes Asia, AdFest Asia, Goafest and The Award Australia. At AffinityX, Amod was responsible for spearheading and driving the creative vision for a staff of 1,900 highly skilled creatives to provide white-label creative and marketing services for companies that serve small and medium businesses (SMBs). Prior to AffinityX, Amod played a key creative leadership role at Publicis, Contract and Leo Burnett.
Reporting into SapientNitro India’s Chief Creative Officer K.V. Sridhar (Pops), Amod will be responsible for driving creative excellence across all clients in the northern region of India, as well as lead and shape the team to deliver work that breaks boundaries at the intersection of technology and story.
Sapient India CCO KV Sridhar said, “As we continue to build our capabilities and momentum in delivering a unique blend of storytelling with the power of technology, we are delighted to welcome a creative talent of Amod’s caliber to our team. He will not only add more muscle to our creative craft with his industry insights but also bring diverse global experience and leadership skills. Together with the entire SapientNitro creative team, Amod will strongly contribute to help shape our creative excellence and deliver dynamic business results for our clients.”
On his new appointment Dani commented, “I am absolutely thrilled to join SapientNitro and look forward to be a part of the legacy of creative excellence that is native to the organization. I believe that innovative use of technology and an integrated approach towards problem solving is the way ahead. SapientNitro is leading the change for brand-customer engagement globally and their vision is incredibly relevant in today’s hyper-connected world.”
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.
