INTERVIEW
“We can’t wait to write our next chapter”
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail Global President Israel Assa talks about the people, values and vision that have propelled ELC Travel Retail’s 30-year success story.
“Time and again, our industry and ELC Travel Retail have shown their ability to adapt and manage through challenges, and this can certainly be seen throughout our 30-year history.” So says The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail Global President Israel Assa as he considers the 30-year journey that helped ELC Travel Retail become the powerhouse in the channel that it represents today.
In this interview, Assa discusses the people and values that have propelled ELC Travel Retail to its position of strength, its enduring commitment to environmental and social responsibility and how it is supporting the important work of ELC’s Breast Cancer Campaign. Notably, ELC Travel Retail is making a US$250,000 donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation this year. The company will also feature this year’s Breast Cancer Campaign 30th anniversary creative at the Hotel Barrière Le Majestic in Cannes to drive awareness for breast cancer at this important industry event.
Assa also shares his views on the evolution of the beauty category, the accelerated digitalisation of the industry and the importance of luxury and artisanal fragrances and big beauty activations to ELC Travel Retail’s strategy.
Despite the sector’s many evolutions throughout the last 30 years, according to Assa, ELC Travel Retail’s vision and commitment remain the same. That is to “be the prestige beauty leader for the travelling consumer and inspire the next generation of travellers with transformative products and innovative, high-touch experiences.”
The Moodie Davitt Report: It must be a proud moment for you personally being at the helm of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail business as it celebrates its 30th anniversary. Tell us about those emotions.
Israel Assa: I am extremely proud and honoured to serve as Global President of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail division as we celebrate our 30th anniversary this year. Since our founding in 1992, we’ve become one of the highest growth channels for ELC, contributing greatly to the company’s success. From our humble beginnings, ELC Travel Retail now covers approximately 150 countries and territories around the world, introducing travellers to our portfolio of prestige brands and products.
As I reflect on ELC Travel Retail’s 30-year history, it is due to the innovative brand experiences and high-quality products we’ve demonstrated to our consumers; the strong relationships we’ve fostered with retail and industry partners; and the work of our amazing, talented teams around the globe that have driven our incredible success throughout the years.
Our success is also deeply rooted in our commitments to social impact and sustainability initiatives, focusing on environmental, social and governance, as well as inclusion, diversity and equity practices, and the positive impacts to our employees, our consumers, our communities and the planet.
How is The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail celebrating this milestone anniversary?
In addition to being The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail’s 30th anniversary, this year marks the 30th anniversary of ELC’s Breast Cancer Campaign, the company’s largest corporate social impact programme. Over the years, ELC Travel Retail has supported this important cause to help advance developments in breast cancer research.
This year, we will deepen our commitment with a US$250,000 donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). Additionally, at this year’s TFWA World Exhibition and Conference, the outside of the Hotel Barrière Le Majestic will be dressed in our 30th Anniversary Breast Cancer Campaign imagery to drive awareness for breast cancer at this year’s TFWA, an important industry event.
To celebrate our 30th anniversary with employees, we will issue an internal call-to-action and hold a global town hall to recognise this incredible milestone in our company’s history. Within the regions, our employees will also gather for their biannual sales cycle meetings.
The celebration will continue as employees come together for a special event with researchers from the BCRF, who will discuss the diversity of breast cancer and address breast cancer disparities that exist for minorities and other vulnerable groups.
Tell us about your own travel retail journey and how you have seen the channel and The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.’s (ELC) approach to it evolve down the years?
I joined The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail team in 2001 and have held brand, regional and commercial roles. I am now privileged to lead the company’s Travel Retail division.
We are used to volatility and change in this dynamic industry, especially as retail and consumer demand and expectations continue to evolve. Technology will continue to revolutionise online and physical retail, forcing rapid change and innovation with consumers expecting more frictionless, tech-enabled experiences.
Traditional marketing channels will continue to blur as retailers embrace a more direct-to-consumer model and the fulfilment experience will become an increasingly critical execution point. Health and safety concerns will also continue to linger.
While the industry has changed quite a bit over the years and with it, our approach, a few things remain the same. Our vision is to be the prestige beauty leader for the travelling consumer, inspiring the next generation of travellers with transformative products and innovative, high-touch experiences across our brand portfolio.
We remain laser focused on the consumer, ensuring we enhance the travel experience and help create long-lasting memories. We will continue to build new capabilities, invest in new technologies and develop our incredible talent to maintain our leadership position within one of the most attractive marketplaces for prestige beauty.
“We can’t wait to write our next chapter of success and work with you all to propel the travel retail industry to new heights”
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail Global President Israel Assa
We are seeing rapid evolution within the beauty category. Luxury and artisanal fragrances, for example, are seeing a powerful emergence in travel retail. How do you see your brand and category mix evolving to adapt to changing consumer demands in travel retail?
The resurgence of fragrance is fantastic and The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail is well positioned to meet the changing consumer demands we’re seeing. Jo Malone London, Tom Ford Beauty, Le Labo, Kilian Paris and Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle each rose by strong double digits and expanded in every region, including in travel retail in Europe, Middle East and Africa, for fiscal year 2022.
The outstanding performance of our luxury and artisanal fragrance portfolio affirms our strategic pivot to these accretive segments of the category. We will continue to invest in our fragrance brands, immersing travellers into their brand stories and introducing new products to the consumer.
Big, experiential beauty pop-ups and animations have become de rigeur within the travel retail landscape. How do you see activations like this evolving in the big bold digital world that lies ahead? How exciting is that for The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail?
Our role is to inspire the next generation of travellers by driving innovation across all touchpoints of the retail journey. Technology is going to play a big role in these experiential beauty pop-ups as consumers demand frictionless, seamless, and engaging activations in their shopping journey.
In travel retail, we know retail expectations are even more heightened due to time constraints. We’re excited about the tremendous opportunities this creates for The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail and our brands to help make for an even more memorable experience with the travelling consumer.
On that note, the beauty category, as with the wider industry, is moving further and further into the virtual and digital world. How do you foresee dynamics such as NFTs, the Metaverse and wider beauty-tech innovations taking shape for The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail in the future?
The world of NFTs, the Metaverse and other beauty-tech innovations is just an example of how technology is revolutionising online and physical retail. Some of our brands, such as M∙A∙C, Origins and Dr.Jart+ have already started to experiment in these newer spaces.
The Metaverse/Web 3.0 is an exciting opportunity that points to the future of consumer interaction. We are excited to strategically test and learn in the space, leveraging both our powerful portfolio of prestige brands and our strong partnerships with retailers.
No matter the execution, our goal is to remain in service to The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail’s differentiating strategy of providing high-touch experiences and services to our travelling consumers. As we continue to see consumers experiment with and engage in these new environments, ELC Travel Retail will be listening and investing in new experiences that our consumers have come to expect from us.
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Any overarching message for the travel retail industry reading this interview on this landmark occasion?
Time and again, our industry and The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) Travel Retail have shown their ability to adapt and manage through challenges, and this can certainly be seen throughout our 30-year history. Over the last three decades, we have evolved to become even more consumer focused and have continued to deliver the brands, products and experiences travellers have come to expect from us as industry leaders, while also making strides in our commitments to sustainability, social impact and inclusion, diversity and equity.
As new waves of travel surface, we are excited about the opportunities that await and look forward to helping make memories with travellers for years to come. Thank you to our employees – past, present and future, our travel retail industry partners and travelling consumers from around the world who have helped us get to where we are today. We can’t wait to write our next chapter of success and work with you all to propel the travel retail industry to new heights.
“Our vision is to be the prestige beauty leader for the travelling consumer, inspiring the next generation of travellers with transformative products and innovative, high-touch experiences across our brand portfolio”
The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) Travel Retail Global President Israel Assa
