PARIS — Shiseido said it is creating a unified division, called Shiseido Travel Retail, which joins its cosmetics brands with fragrance labels from subsidiary Beauté Prestige International under single management for the travel-retail channel.
Shiseido said the new division, which is operational starting on May 1, marks a key step in the group’s Vision 2020 corporate strategy plan instigated by chief executive officer Masahiko Uotani.
Shiseido Travel Retail is one of six regional entities in the new structure laid out under Vision 2020, which the company said was created to make it more responsive to fast-changing consumers and markets, bolstering growth and profitability.
The other regional entities are Japan, China, Asia, the Americas and Europe.
Shiseido said the unified travel-retail division, based in Singapore, will be a streamlined organization with equal strength across the skin-care, makeup and fragrance categories. Its objectives are to reinforce partnerships with retail operators; boost retail operations excellence, and create strong and innovative brands.
Philippe Lesné is to be president of the organization, reporting to Uotani.
“We want to create new synergies between our cosmetics and fragrance businesses, and become a more agile and efficient organization to better serve our consumers and partners, speaking to them in one voice through a coherent global travel retail strategy,” stated Lesné.
Other management appointments include: Elisabeth Jouguelet as vice president of marketing; Kenji Calméjane as general manager of travel retail in Asia-Pacific; Olivier Decazes as general manager of travel retail in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Vincent Baland as general manager of travel retail for the Americas.
Shiseido Travel Retail will have 210 employees outside of Japan.
The consolidated brand portfolio includes skin-care labels Shiseido, Clé de Peau Beauté, Anessa and Aupres. In makeup there are Nars and BareMinerals, and fragrances brands comprise Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez, Elie Saab, Alaïa and Zadig & Voltaire, plus Serge Lutens niche scents and the distribution of Burberry in a number of travel-retail markets in Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Shiseido said the labels would benefit from the group’s “centers of excellence” in Tokyo, New York and Paris, which were conceived to push the development of brands and accelerate category innovation.
As reported, Jill Scalamandre was just named president of the newly established Global Makeup Center of Excellence that is located in Shiseido’s New York headquarters.
Shiseido products are sold in more than 120 countries.