Chinese market becomes a "rocket" for foreign company executives: Which leading companies underwent most profound personnel changes in 2019?

Individuals collaborate with enterprises to create success.

Over the past year, some executives from foreign companies have been promoted due to the booming Chinese market, and some have captured the opportunity to carve out a niche by playing to strengths in this market. The personnel changes within the cosmetics giants were also a mirror of overall market change. In the past year, which corporations have made the biggest human resource changes?

01

L'Oréal China welcomed new CEO Fabrice Megarbane

On June 25, 2019 the current CEO of L’Oréal China Stéphane Rinderknech and the new CEO Fabrice Megarbane completed a formal role transfer. Stéphane Rinderknech moved up to another key role within the group, while Fabrice Megarbane took on the new helm of CEO. F is now the fourth chief executive officer of L'Oréal China following Paolo Gasparrini, Alexis Perakis-Valat and Stéphane Rinderknech.

△ CEO of L'Oréal China Fabrice Megarbane (right)

With a master's degree in Chemical Engineering from École Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques (ENSIC), Fabrice Megarbane joined L'Oréal Group in 2000. He was appointed as General Manager of L'Oréal Lebanon in 2008, becoming the group’s youngest Country General Manager

at that time. With a very successful track record, Fabrice was promoted to serve as Director Consumer Products Division for the Africa Middle East Zone, before becoming General Manager of L'Oréal Germany. The German market has now become the group's fourth largest market, coming in behind the United States, China and France.

Judging from the current results, it is fair to say that the performance of the new CEO meets market expectations. 

Firstly, the record of his accomplishments is commendable. In the first three quarters of 2019, L'Oréal Group's total revenue was 21.99 billion euros (approximately 172.6 billion yuan), an increase of 7.5%, representing a record high in ten years. Asia-Pacific region grew the most with a strong 23.7% growth, particularly in China with all departments achieving double-digit growth.

Second is the introduction of new brands and the reshaping of classic brands. In August last year, Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc was officially launched in China, and NYX Professional Makeup and URBAN DECAY also officially entered the Chinese market through the 2nd China International Import Expo (CIIE). At the end of last year, Helena Rubinstein (HR) changed its usual low profile approach, officially announcing Faye Wong as a global spokesperson, suggesting that it would take robust steps to gain momentum with this milestone.

Lastly, a results-oriented style of work gives partners a big boost. In the first three months of his tenure, Fabrice visited Watsons’ retail chains, Alibaba Group and other partners in more than ten cities across China. In addition, he also visited consumers' homes to try to understand the most authentic first-hand market information.

Under the leadership of Fabrice, L'Oréal China's performance in the market is worth looking forward to.

02

Stéphane Rinderknech moved up to serve as President and CEO of L'Oréal USA

Right after the Change of CEO in L'Oréal China, on September 4th of last year the prior L’Oreal China CEO Stéphane Rinderknech was appointed President and CEO of L'Oréal USA, Executive Vice President of L'Oréal North America, and member of L'Oréal Executive Committee.

△ Stéphane Rinderknech, President and CEO of L'Oréal USA and Executive Vice President of L'Oréal North America

Some media analysts said that Stéphane was entrusted with a mission at a critical and difficult moment, and this was indeed the case. In the first half of 2019, the Asia-Pacific market ranked first globally in terms of growth, and replaced Western Europe as the largest market across the group in the first quarter. In contrast, its North American market ran into a business growth bottleneck, with a negative growth rate of 1.1% in the first half of the year and a slightly better growth rate of positive 5.9% in Q3.

Compared with the Chinese market that has exploded in recent years due to comprehensive factors such as the policy environment, consumer changes, and the emergence of new generations of people, the North American market seems to be a harder nut to crack. How will Stéphane turn around the North American market? In the future, will he succeed Mr. Jean-Paul Agon as the new Chairman and CEO of L'Oréal? The market will wait and see.

03

Deng Xu succeeded Xie Bing as President of Johnson & Johnson China Consumer sector

In August 2019, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health China broke the news that Deng Xu, the former General Manager of Skin Care and Hair at Johnson & Johnson China Ltd., took over as the new President of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health China, and former President Xie Bing was elevated to his new role as Chairman of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health Asia-Pacific.

△ Deng Xu, Chairman of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health Asia-Pacific

From the time of joining Johnson & Johnson in 2015 to being promoted in 2019, Deng Xu had a smooth career in the cosmetics industry, which was made possible by his pragmatic approach and acute insight and execution. Xie Bing spoke highly of him: "Deng Xu is an outstanding business leader and excellent team mentor. He dares to innovate, make decisions and take responsibilities, with agile thinking and outstanding leadership."

Under Xie’s leadership, Johnson & Johnson successfully introduced the Dr.Ci:Labo portfolio to the Chinese market, and achieved more than expected growth within two years. Its outstanding performance also contributed to Johnson & Johnson's full ownership of Dr.Ci:Labo. In 2019, under the "Omni-channel co-creation" strategy, Johnson & Johnson began cosmetic shop (CS) penetration, utilizing technology, service and sincerity to continue to spread the Johnson & Johnson concept of "healthy beauty" in this channel with Chinese characteristics, and thus broadly gaining a positive reputation.

In the first half of 2019, Johnson & Johnson's CS percentage of completion exceeded 116%, and the growth recorded a year-on-year increase of nearly 200%.

04

Reuben Carranza the CEO of Kate Somerville: cosmetics progress starts with people talent

Kate Somerville was founded by the founder Kate Somerville, a skin health expert, in 2004. The brand hopes to adjust its products and skincare methods according to each person's skin conditions, effectively changing the user's skin conditions. For this reason, the founder was dubbed the "Guru of Glow" by People Magazine.

 △ Reuben Carranza

In May 2015, Unilever announced the acquisition of the skin care brand Kate Somerville Skincare and added it to its Prestige portfolio including Dermalogica, Murad, Living proof, REN, and other brands.

On August 5, 2019, former P&G executive Reuben Carranza formally served as CEO of Kate Somerville. The brand founder recognized the appointment, stating that she admired Reuben Carranza’s leadership very much and expected him to lead the rebranding and expand the market.

In fact, as early as March 2019, Kate Somerville had cooperated with Hangzhou GoLong Holding Co., Ltd. to open an overseas flagship store on Tmall to enter the Chinese market. At the 2nd China International Import Expo (CIIE) in early November, the brand was also present together with Unilever’s Prestige division. So far its Tmall overseas flagship store has a cumulative total of 72,000 followers. The brand is especially good at using private traffic for customer operations and word of mouth marketing.

05

Talents bring up product power,Former SK-II senior scientist Kosaku Yamada joined CHICMAX

In 2019, Lv Yixiong, the global CEO of Chicmax, stated in his keynote speech, titled "Starting from the Heart", that Chicmax would face the Chinese market and consumers with high-quality products in line with international standards in order to address the severe challenges for channels in 2019.

△ Senior scientist Kosaku Yamada (left); Global CEO of Chicmax Lv Yixiong (right)

In terms of returning to product strength, Chicmax utilizes all of its resources, and human talent plays an essential part.

Last August, Chicmax announced that the former SK-II senior scientist Kosaku Yamada joined the Innovation Research Center as Chairman Research Fellow. During his tenure at P&G Group, Kosaku Yamada led the research and development of a series of skin care, sunscreen and base makeup products, which are favored by consumers due to the user experience of the products and their efficacy. 

By pooling together scientific research resources globally and absorbing a large number of technicians and research manpower, Chicmax has set an ambitious and long-term plan. The group told the www.cbo.cn that in order to adapt to the rapid changes in the market, the group had established a new product warehouse, and had confidence in their products competitiveness in the market. 

06

Estee Lauder EVP Sara E. Moss elevated to Vice Chairman, and Ukonwa Ojo appointed as MAC Cosmetic Senior Vice President for Global Marketing

On July 1 last year, the appointment of Sara E. Moss, former Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Estee Lauder, as Vice Chairman of Estee Lauder officially took effect. According to the information from the official website of Estee Lauder, Sara E. Moss will report to both Chairman William P. Lauder and President and CEO Fabrizio Freda. Sara’s work includes three priorities. First, she will serve the group executives, the board of directors and the Lauder family as a senior consultant. Secondly, she will act as an intermediary liaison between the Lauder family and the board of directors, helping to establish an organizational framework that can promote long-term sustainable success. Third, she will also be responsible for the global program to develop outstanding female leaders.

△ Sara E. Moss

On November 20, the group announced an appointment for its premium makeup brand MAC: Ukonwa Ojo joined MAC Cosmetics as the brand's Senior Vice President for global marketing. It is understood that this is a brand new position responsible for expanding the brand’s global influence and engaging global consumers.

Before joining MAC, Ukonwa Ojo worked at Coty, Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser, and served the brands such as COVERGIRL, Sally Hansen, and Rimmel. "Ukonwa is a real brand builder. She examines the brand across the board from the perspective of all consumers, not just a single consumer, which is crucial to the DNA of MAC. I am thrilled that she will take this consumer-centric approach to lead our marketing team," commented MAC Global General Manager Philippe Pinatel.

07

Sam Cheow joined Estee Lauder to support makeup design

According to the information from Estee Lauder’s official website, the professional designer Sam Cheow joined Estee Lauder as Senior Vice President of Corporate Makeup Innovation in September 2019.

△ Sam Cheow

It is understood that Sam Cheow originally served as the Senior Vice President of Global Product Development for L'Oréal-owned NYX. He joined L'Oréal in 2004 and has extensive product management experience. Sam labeled himself a "Trend Economist" in his LinkedIn profile. He can effectively research and develop products and authoritatively identify emerging product and beauty trends. 

In Estee Lauder's financial report for Q1 fiscal 2020, its sales and net profit rose 11% and 19%, respectively. Estee Lauder and the premium skincare brands such as La Mer showed a positive picture in growth, but the development aspects of its makeup brands were a mixed bag. Specifically, both MAC and Tom Ford Beauty recorded significant increases thanks to a series of marketing strategies and the sales growth of lipsticks and foundation products, but emerging brands such as Too Faced and BECCA had a sluggish growth in revenues.

Perhaps, the addition of Sam Cheow could help Estee Lauder's makeup division to climb to new heights. 

08

Coty welcomed Chief Supply Officer in the birth pains of restructuring to persevere in 2020

On November 1, 2019, Coty Inc. appointed Richard Jones as the new Global Chief Supply Officer and member of the company's executive committee. Richard Jones is be responsible for production, planning, logistics and distribution, and reports to Coty CEO Pierre Laubies in his new position.

△ Richard Jones

It is reported that Richard Jones has 30 years of experience in operations and supply chain management. Before joining Coty, he was most recently the Chief Supply Chain Officer and member of the executive committee of Keurig Green Mountain, Inc.

According to the data for the first quarter of the FY 2020 of Coty, the company was still major restructuring, but the gross profit and net profit have become better. Its net revenue in the first quarter was US$ 1.942 billion (approximately 13.55 billion yuan), a year-on-year decrease of 4.4%. Due to the positive impact of the luxury goods and professional skincare product sectors, its gross profit margin increased to 62.0% by 180 basis points from the same period last year. In addition, the adjusted operating profit of the group was US$ 154.7 million (about 1.08 billion yuan), up 10% year over year.

9

“Outsider” changes the game.

LVMH appointed Christine Fleischer as CEO of Benefit Cosmetics.

△ Christie Fleischer

On September 18 last year, Benefit Cosmetics, a makeup brand under LVMH, announced the appointment of Christie Fleischer as the brand's CEO, who reports directly to Chris de Lapuente, Chairman and CEO of LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics.

Notably, prior to being appointed CEO of Benefit Cosmetics, Christie was undoubtedly an out-and-out “outsider”. She was the head of Global Consumer Products Division at Netflix, a video site. Prior to that, she worked for Disney for 11 years, responsible for the experience and sales in the parks.