Brands
Viacom18 Consumer Products launches ‘Back to School’ SS’24 collection
Mumbai: Viacom18 Consumer Products, the licensing and merchandising arm of Viacom18, announces the launch of an all-new range of exciting ‘Back to School’ collection. Designed to make the return to the classroom a fun and happy occasion, this vibrant range showcases beloved characters including Motu Patlu, PAW Patrol, Dora The Explorer, Baby Shark, Miraculous, LOL Surprise, and Masha and The Bear bringing kids a step closer to their favourite toons!
Spanning across essential categories, the Back to School range is an attractive collection comprising school bags, lunch boxes, pencil boxes, water bottles and activity books, in bright colours and appealing designs.
Speaking on the launch of its all-new ‘Back to School’ range, Viacom18 Consumer Products head Sachin Puntambekar said, “At Viacom18 Consumer Products, we are committed to offering innovative and engaging products that resonate with our consumers across product categories. Our ‘Back to School’ range promises to bring young fans closer to their favourite characters and make the return to school a memorable experience for kids. This year again, we’ve meticulously curated our latest collection of kids’ merchandise to cater to children across ages thus ensuring that every child finds joy and inspiration in our offerings.”
The launch of the new Back to School range of Viacom18 Consumer Products will be supported by a robust multi-screen marketing plan comprising of on-air promotions across Viacom18 network channels and JioCinema, retail store activations, influencer collaborations with mommy bloggers, and social media promotions. In addition, a giveaway contest on Viacom18 Consumer Product’s social media pages will award 10 winners with merchandise.
Attractively priced between Rs 50 to Rs 1299, the products will be available at leading kids’ favourite stores such as Hamleys, Reliance Retail, Landmark, Toys R Us, Dmart, Vmart and Crosswords across 1000+ retail touch points nationwide. Additionally, the Back to School range will be accessible on prominent e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, First Cry & more.
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.
