Two months after the founder's departure, Unilever has found a new successor for its high-end beauty department. On October 7th, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned that Unilever has appointed Mary Carmen Gasco Buisson as the new CEO of its high-end beauty division, effective from November 1st, 2024.
The high-end beauty business has always been one of Unilever's key focus areas in the past two years, and was led by Vasiliki Petrou before the arrival of Mary Carmen Gasco Buisson.
In 2015, under the leadership of Vasiliki Petrou, Unilever established its high-end beauty business unit. At that time, Unilever acquired the Dermalogica brand for approximately $1 billion, opening up its layout for high-end beauty. In the following years, Unilever acquired high-end beauty brands multiple times to enrich its brand lineup. At present, it has taken shape and formed a high-end product department with 10 brands, including Dermalogica, Murad, Ren, Kate Somerville, Hourglass, Dollar Shave Club, A.H.C, and Tatcha.
In 2023, Unilever launches a growth action plan, in which high-end beauty represents its hope of boosting performance.
In the first half of 2024, Unilever's revenue was 31.1 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%; The basic operating profit was 6.1 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 17.1%, and the basic operating profit margin increased to 19.6%. Among them, the beauty and health business has become the fastest-growing sector, with a year-on-year growth of 7.1%. The health business sector and high-end beauty department continue to experience double-digit growth, becoming the main growth businesses.
From the performance data alone, Unilever's high-end beauty business has achieved some success. However, at the end of July this year, Vasiliki Petrou announced his resignation. The founder who has been accompanying the development for more than ten years has left, and Unilever's high-end beauty dream seems to be shrouded in an uncertain shadow. After two months, the successor has arrived, and it is still unknown whether Unilever's high-end beauty business can continue its previous development. However, based on their resume, the successor has a wealth of experience.
According to publicly available information, Mary Carmen Gasco Buisson served as Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Business Unit for jewelry merchant Pandora from October 2022 prior to joining Unilever; From January 2020 to October 2022, served as the Global Brand Head of Unilever. Prior to this, Mary Carmen Gasco Buisson had 22 years of experience in mass market branding at beauty giant Procter&Gamble.
Unilever has its own recognition for Mary Carmen Gasco Buisson, who has entered the management team for the second time. Unilever has revealed that Mary Carmen Gasco Buisson has extensive experience in building both start-up and mature brands, making her the suitable candidate to lead Unilever's high-end brand into the next stage of development.
According to financial report data, Unilever's total revenue for 2023 was 59.6 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 0.8%; Net profit decreased by 13.7% year-on-year to 7.1 billion euros. In addition, from 2018 to 2021, Unilever's revenue remained at around 51 billion to 52 billion euros, with a slowing growth trend. In 2022, Unilever's revenue increased by 14.5% to 60.1 billion euros; The net profit attributable to the common shareholders of the parent company was 2.905 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 6.92%.
Amidst sluggish performance growth, Unilever has placed its hopes on businesses with greater growth value, including high-end beauty.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank Research Institute, stated that consumers' demand for cosmetics is becoming increasingly diversified and personalized, and their requirements for quality, brand, safety, and other aspects are also constantly increasing. In market competition, Unilever needs to timely perceive market changes, adjust product strategies, and meet consumer demands.
Regarding personnel changes, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily interviewed Unilever, but as of press time, no response has been received.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Zhang Junhua