L'Oréal reorganises global operations

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
Nov 5, 2020

It's a time of change at L'Oréal. Recently the company confirmed the appointment of Nicolas Hieronimus as the successor of the iconic Jean-Paul Agon as CEO. Now the conglomerate, which reported 29.87 billion euros in sales in 2019, has announced that it is redrawing its world map. 

The company has revised its geographical zones and is assigning the leadership of these regions to new executives. Furthermore, the group has decided to create the new position of chief global growth officer in order to coordinate and supervise its operations around the world. This role has been confided to Frédéric Rozé, current EVP for the Americas and member of the company's executive committee. 

Following the departure of APAC president Jochen Zaumseil, who is set to retire at the end of the year, the company is hoping to "give greater coherence to each zone, particularly in terms of consumer behaviour and market maturity, to create the conditions for the transversal transformation of the organisation, and to maximise growth."

In terms of specific changes, current L'Oréal China CEO Fabrice Megarbane will take over the North Asia zone, which will cover mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. 

Vismay Sharma, who has been with the company since 1994, will take responsibility for SAPMENA, a gigantic zone incorporating South Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa. The executive's most recent role at the company was CEO of L'Oréal in the UK and Ireland, prior to which he served as CEO for Indonesia.

Finally, Burkhard Pieroth will take over the newly created Sub-Saharan Africa zone. Having arrived at L'Oréal from Procter & Gamble three years ago, Pieroth has served as general manager for emerging markets and the consumer products division since 2018. 

"First of all, I would like to pay tribute to Jochen Zaumseil's remarkable record during his 37-year career at L'Oréal. In particular, he has done tremendous work leading the APAC zone, which has grown by 70% over the last four years. I would like to thank him warmly and wish him the best for this new step of his life," said Jean-Paul Agon in a release. "This new organization will allow us to respond even better to the diversity of our consumers and their expectations, by providing them with products and services adapted to their local realities, wherever they are."

According to L'Oréal, this new structure will be gradually implemented starting early 2021.