The Moodie ViewIn managing the succession to Olivier Bottrie’s spectacularly successful leadership of the travel retail business, The Estée Lauder Companies has stayed true to a key contributor to that success – continuity. One of the perennial traits – and one could convincingly argue, weaknesses – of many brand companies’ approaches to the travel retail channel has been the disconcerting (both internally and externally) frequency of leadership change, often resulting in the loss of key relationships as well as shifts in strategic priorities. The Estée Lauder Companies has benefited hugely from its retention of a single – highly driven – figure at the helm of a key channel. The results bear testament to that view. Given the sheer scale of the beauty house’s home market in the US, to grow travel retail from approximately 6% of group net sales in 2004 to around 28% in fiscal year 2021 is little short of extraordinary. That growth, though driven by him, has not just been down to Bottrie, of course. Like most top leaders, he is a great believer in the quality of his lieutenants and in Assa and Simon, hugely competent but also highly personable individuals – important in a sometimes insular community such as travel retail – he had two of the best. A carefully managed succession then that will calm any internal and external nerves about Bottrie’s departure. |
The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has appointed Israel Assa as Global President, Travel Retail Worldwide. Currently President, Commercial, Travel Retail Worldwide, he will be based in New York and report to President, International Peter Jueptner.
Assa succeeds Global President, Travel Retail and Retail Development Olivier Bottrie who is retiring from the business after a stellar career.
Javier Simon, currently President, Travel Retail Asia Pacific, has been appointed to the role of President, Commercial, Travel Retail Worldwide, succeeding Assa who he will report to. Simon will be based in Switzerland.
In related news, Senior Vice President General Manager, Global Retail and Head of Commercial, North America Andrea Dorigo will continue to report directly to Mark Loomis, President, North America for his Commercial, North America responsibilities while reporting directly to Jueptner for his Global Retail function.
Assa, Simon and Jueptner will all join the company’s Executive Leadership Team.
“We are proud of the exceptional depth and quality of talent across the organisation, and as Olivier steps into his well-deserved retirement, we are pleased to elevate Israel and Javier, two dynamic, internally-trained and highly experienced leaders into these roles of greater responsibility,” said Jueptner.
“ELC remains committed to investing in and growing our local and international talent around the world, particularly leaders like Israel and Javier, who have extensive first-hand experience in travel retail and deep global expertise across all aspects of prestige beauty.”
Israel Assa is appointed Global President, Travel Retail Worldwide
Well-known and, more importantly, widely respected across the travel retail community, Assa has over 21 years of experience within the organisation and specifically in the channel.
Renowned as a passionate brand builder, Assa has consistently championed innovation within the channel, the company noted.
As Global President, Assa will lead The Estée Lauder Companies’ global travel retail business, which has grown from contributing 6% of ELC’s net fiscal sales in 2004 to a remarkable 28% in fiscal 2021.
Assa has worked in a wide array of roles across the ELC Travel Retail division including working as Regional Lead, Brand Lead and Commercial Lead. He is an expert at bringing brands and retailers together, developing new consumer experiences and scaling distribution to meet consumer demand, ELC said.
As President Commercial, Travel Retail Worldwide, Assa was responsible for growing the beauty house’s regional businesses in APAC, EMEA and the Americas. He created a centralised Center of Excellence in Switzerland which boosted the organisation’s relationships with regional retailers. Since his appointment in 2019 as President, Commercial, Assa has overseen “exceptional growth” for ELC’s travel retail business, the group said.
Under his leadership, ELC Travel Retail built new capabilities, streamlined processes and invested in new technologies, the company said, adding that through his hard work and creativity ELC Travel Retail maintained top market share position during the pandemic.
Assa joined ELC in 2001 as Executive Director, Travel Retail Marketing before becoming Vice President and General Manager, Travel Retail Americas in 2006. In 2014, he was named Senior Vice President and General Manager Estée Lauder, Travel Retail Worldwide before becoming Senior Vice President Business Operations Travel Retail Worldwide in 2016.
Assa is a strong champion of diversity, inclusion and equity. He played a leading role in creating the division’s educational programme at Florida A&M University, a leading Historically Black College/University (HBCU) in the US.
The programme aims to build the next generation of black beauty talent in travel retail. He is also a member of The Estée Lauder Companies Hispanic Connections employee resource group advisory board.
Commenting on Assa’s appointment, Jueptner said: “Israel’s deep understanding of our Travel Retail business, his long-standing relationships with retailers, airports and landlords, and his passion for our consumer make him perfectly positioned to take ELC’s Travel Retail business into its next generation of growth. I look forward to working closely with Israel to drive this business forward in his new position as Global President, Travel Retail Worldwide.”
Javier Simon is named President, Commercial, Travel Retail Worldwide
Like Assa, Javier Simon is a familiar figure within travel retail and a deeply-respected executive with a deep understanding of the channel and an acute insight into its complexities.
In his new role, he will lead ELC Travel Retail’s regional businesses in APAC, EMEA and the Americas as well as the global retail Center of Excellence in Switzerland.
He was most recently President, Travel Retail Asia Pacific, where he oversaw a period of tremendous growth, ELC noted. Through his leadership and powered by the Chinese consumer, Simon leveraged the rise of online pre-order and delivered the highest quality brand experiences, the company added.
In particular, he steered his team through the uncertainties of the global pandemic, shifting focus to Hainan and Chinese domestic travel, which has been critical to maintaining the company’ success, ELC said.
The company noted that Simon is passionate about innovation and meeting consumers whereever they go, diversifying the company’s communications to highlight the value of experience, omnichannel and brand equity. By pushing the boundaries, Simon grew ELC Travel Retail’s business, cultivated the brand portfolio and scaled existing brands to reach new heights, ELC said.
Hailing from Venezuela, Simon joined the organisation in 2000 as Regional Director for Estée Lauder. He became Vice President and General Manager for Americas Travel Retail the following year. In 2006, he was named General Manager for the Swiss Affiliate, before his appointment as Travel Retail APAC Vice President and General Manager in 2009.
Commenting on Simon’s appointment, Jueptner said: “Javier is highly respected by his teams and peers within the industry as an innovative leader who creates a culture of excellence.
“His track record of growth, deep travel retail knowledge and respect for the global consumer will be critical to continually capture and scale the future potential of travel retail. I look forward to his success in this role.”
Global Retail business swells in importance
Andrea Dorigo’s new reporting line to Jueptner reflects the elevation of ELC’s Global Retail business to International to drive retail transformation globally, the company said.
Jueptner said, “I look forward to partnering closely with Andrea to drive retail growth in the brands and across the enterprise through innovative thinking and disruptive growth models.
“Together, we will further strengthen the vision and strategy for the future of retail at our company.”
Click on the YouTube video above to watch The Moodie Davitt Report’s tribute to Olivier Bottrie
