MAM
Six Inches eyes growth in East Africa & Middle East
MUMBAI: Creative and integrated brand communication agency Six Inches Communication has been roped in by Kenya-based IT company Craft Silicon and Klear, a Middle Eastern company, for devising and implementing rebranding strategies for the respective companies.
This is the second time in past two years that Six Inches has been contracted for projects from offshore clients. Last year, Six Inches did a complete rebranding for an IT firm, Technology Associates, based in East Africa and Middle East.
For Craft Silicon, Six Inches will study, rebrand the company and recreate all communication materials for external and internal purposes.
Said Craft Silicon director marketing Rakshit Bolhar, “I was impressed with the brand transformation they carried out for another company here and decided to go ahead with them. The energy and holistic solution they bring on table is at par to international standards. I am sure we have made the right choice by choosing them.”
For Klear Water, Six Inches will repackage the brand and create a fresh new identity as well as create brand communication for the same along with an interactive microsite for the product.
Said Six Inches founder & managing director Pravin Shah, “2010 looks promising for us. The team is very excited to explore and execute projects targeting a different market altogether. A lot of responsibility is attached to this. However, keeping in mind the seamless execution of our last engagement, I am confident that this will be another case study in our portfolio. With these projects in hand, we are now planning to set up a liaison office in Kenya and Dubai for future businesses.”
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.
