Managing L'Oréal's ‘Organised Chaos'

Jean-Paul Agon, now in his second decade as CEO of the world’s largest cosmetics company, on keeping a corporation flexible in a digital age.

- Erin Griffith

WHEN JEAN Paul Agon joined L’Oréal in 1978, he didn’t plan to spend his entire career at the cosmetics giant, much less become its fifth CEO. But as decades passed, the “organised chaos” of the now-108-yearold company kept Agon stimulated with new challenges and far-flung adventures. He ran divisions in Greece, Ger many, and Asia and served as president of L'Oréal USA out of New York City before taking the top job in 2006. Over Agon’s tenure, L’Oréal’s revenue ($28.6 billion in 2016 or Rs 1.8 lakh crore at current rates) and share price have steadily grown, thanks to global expansion, savvy acquisitions, and an aggressive focus on digital. (Last year the company’s e-commerce revenue grew by 33%.)

Agon, 60, spoke with Fortune about the future of shopping malls, brand authenticity, and navigating the “digital tsunami”. (Edited excerpts follow.)

For a long time, traditional consumer goods and retail businesses were in denial about the Internet and the impact it would have on them. When did you realise it?

Around seven years ago, some friends in the digital world were explaining what was going on, and I realised a tsunami was coming. I could see it from far away.I declared—like you declare war or mobilisation—that 2010 should be “the digital year” for L’Oréal. And no one knew what it meant.

The good thing at L’Oréal is people are positive. That year, every division of L’Oréal—every country, every brand, suddenly every one started something in digital. It was very disorganised, very chaotic, but at least suddenly, everyone got conscious of the huge transformation that was coming. Because of digital, everything today is much more interesting and more powerful than it was before.

What has worked and what hasn’t?