It is no secret that the Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has been undertaking its largest organisational restructure in its 79-year history, with CEO Stéphane de La Faverie accelerating his ‘Beauty Reimagined’ plan in a bid to drive significant transformation within the business.
As the company eases into this new strategic era – following a leadership shake-up, job cuts (3,200 slashed and a further 3,800 at risk) and region-specific cluster formations – the dust is starting to settle, and a clearer vision of a more future-proofed giant is starting to emerge in a truly challenging market.
Pernilla Nyberg sits at the helm of ELC’s UK and Ireland (UK&I) division as Senior VP and GM, tasked with executing a local version of ELC’s new global vision for profitability and growth to enhance the organisation’s position in the “exciting” UK market.
Ten months into the role, Nyberg is working hard to balance ELC’s overarching plans for profit recovery with a more region-specific goal to better understand UK beauty consumers’ needs – and deliver an omnichannel approach for them that feels intuitive in nature.
We have great freedom within the framework to make sure that [what we do is] truly locally relevant
“ELC has been in the business for nearly 80 years now as a corporation, and we are trying to future-proof our structure for what we know is going to come,” says Nyberg.
“The UK is the third largest beauty market in the world and [my job is] making sure that we operate with an enterprise mindset – that speed and agility – but also have the courage to make bold decisions.
“It does not mean that we are going to change everything, but we should challenge the status quo.
“Preserve the great things that we do have from what is working today, but [also looking at] what tweaks and pivots do we need to make.”
Pernilla Nyberg, Senior VP and GM of Estée Lauder Companies UK & Ireland
What the UK beauty market means to ELC
As the third largest beauty market in the world – and one which remains “very important for us as a corporation,” says Nyberg – the UK&I presents very particular opportunities that need this more localised touch.
Nyberg says not only does the region have a very diverse consumer base – with MAC Cosmetics, Clinique, Estée Lauder and Jo Malone London among ELC’s most popular brands with shoppers – but it is also advanced digitally in comparison to other markets.
“It is getting close to being a 50/50 [consumer] split between physical stores and online, and our job is to ensure that we have a holistic, seamless experience for the consumer,” she explains.
“We need to understand these blurring lines and make sure that we
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