The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) today (2 April) announced British communications, advertising, public relations, technology and commerce holding company WPP as its first-ever global media partner.
The appointment marks what the US beauty products group dubbed a key advancement of its ‘One ELC’ operating model – a scalable system designed to operate faster, execute with greater discipline and drive growth.
In fully establishing One ELC, ELC also reached a milestone in its ‘Profit Recovery and Growth Plan’s (PRGP) Restructuring Program’, an integral element of the sweeping ‘Beauty Reimagined’ strategic vision unveiled by ELC in February 2025.
ELC President and Chief Executive Officer Stéphane de La Faverie said, “With the appointment of WPP as our first-ever global media partner, our One ELC operating model is now fully established.
“This more unified and scalable system will enable us to be faster, more agile and efficient, and support unlocking additional growth. Together with our execution progress, we are confident that we are on a trajectory to deliver sustainable, profitable long-term growth.”
De La Faverie added, “Building on our strong fiscal 2026 first half results, which included increased consumer-facing investments to restore sustainable sales growth, today we announced an important milestone in the Profit Recovery and Growth Plan’s Restructuring Program.
“We have now approved initiatives to achieve the high-end of the target gross savings range and affirmed we are on track to realise the vast majority of PRGP’s full run-rate benefits in fiscal 2027. The PRGP has instilled a strong sense of cost discipline into our organisation that is now embedded in our ways of working.”
Advancing a new operating foundation
ELC said it has fundamentally changed how it operates and now has the foundational pieces in place to complete its transformation. At the centre of this is the company’s One ELC operating model, an integrated system built on three elements: One Team, One Culture, and One Operating Ecosystem.
One Team was deployed in July 2025 to simplify the organisation with fewer layers and silos, clearer ownership and faster decision making.
One Culture, introduced in February 2026, reinforces how teams work every day, grounded in “accountability, bold, entrepreneurial thinking, and agility”.
One Operating Ecosystem, built over the last year and now fully in place, brings together shared platforms, data and strategic partners to enable consistent, scalable and effective execution across brands, regions and functions.
Establishing a unified global media model
ELC said the appointment of WPP as its first global media partner establishes a unified, enterprise-led approach to media buying designed to enable greater scale, precision and impact.
The company is moving from a decentralised regional media structure to a connected global system powered by data, technology and AI. This model is designed to strengthen the company’s ability to generate and capture demand while improving media effectiveness and efficiency at scale and at speed.
ELC Chief Digital and Marketing Officer Aude Gandon said, “Today, beauty is discovered and experienced across a constantly evolving mix of platforms.
“To lead in this environment, we are building a connected, AI-enabled media system that brings brand building and performance together at global scale. Partnering with WPP strengthens our ability to invest with greater precision, move with greater speed and deliver stronger, more measurable returns, while keeping creativity and brand leadership at the centre of everything we do.”
Delivering a connected ecosystem with strategic partners
With WPP’s appointment, ELC’s One Operating Ecosystem is now in place and brings together a coordinated set of best-in-class strategic partners to modernise and scale how it operates globally, the company said.
Accenture is transforming shared services through the ELC’s Enterprise Business Services (EBS) model, driving standardisation, efficiency and scalability across core functions. The company has designed EBS and begun transitioning services, with the model on track to be fully in place before the end of calendar year 2026.
Shopify powers ELC’s global direct-to-consumer omnichannel experience, creating what the company called a modern and unified commerce foundation.
Initial implementation with Tom For Beauty’s brand.com in the USA has already delivered improved sales, conversion and average order value performance – all encouraging signs as the foundation scales, ELC said.
Following the initial implementation phase, the company expects to have launched 50% of the in-scope direct-to-consumer business by the end of calendar year 2026.
By partnering with best-in-class organisations, ELC said it is transitioning from a fragmented data landscape to a more unified one. This will create a scalable foundation for real-time insights, a single consumer view, and more effective activation across brands and markets, ELC added.
Delivering against the Profit Recovery and Growth Plan
Since expanding the Restructuring Program when it introduced Beauty Reimagined in February 2025, ELC has reshaped its cost structure and operations, allowing for increased consumer-facing investments.
As of 31 March, EALC has approved initiatives expected to deliver total gross benefits at the high end of its targeted range of US$0.8 billion to US$1.0 billion, a portion of which has been and will continue to be reinvested in consumer-facing initiatives, with expected total charges at the mid-point of the estimated range of US$1.2 billion to US$1.6 billion.
With a line of sight to additional gross benefits, all business case approvals for the Restructuring Program are still expected to be made by 30 June. This progress reflects disciplined delivery against clearly defined priorities and has supported the company’s ability to reinvest for growth, ELC said.
The company expects execution of the PRGP to be substantially complete by the end of fiscal 2027 and affirmed that the vast majority of PRGP’s full run-rate benefits, including its Restructuring Program, are to be achieved during fiscal 2027. ✈
