The Estée Lauder Cos. has looked to the food industry for its latest hire.
Aude Gandon has been appointed chief digital & marketing officer, effective Aug. 1. She joins from Nestlé, where she most recently served as global chief marketing officer. Prior to that, Gandon held leadership roles at Google, including global managing director for platform and ecosystems. Her earlier career includes senior roles in global advertising agencies such as Publicis Worldwide, McCann, and Leo Burnett, working with clients including L’Oréal, P&G Beauty, and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Gandon will oversee the company’s digital, marketing and media ecosystem and will report to Stéphane de La Faverie, president and chief executive officer.
While this is a newly created role, it shares similarities with that of former chief data officer and executive vice president, enterprise marketing Jane Lauder, who revealed her departure last year.
“Aude is an exceptional and accomplished global marketing leader with extensive experience transforming major consumer-facing businesses in the digital age,” said de La Faverie. “Her deep expertise across all facets of marketing—from brand strategy and creative development to digital transformation and data analytics—will be instrumental as we continue to build stronger consumer connections. Her global perspective and proven track record of leading large-scale marketing, digital and media transformations make her the ideal leader for this critical role as we shape the future of prestige beauty.”
“I am thrilled to join The Estée Lauder Cos., a company with an unparalleled portfolio of powerful brands and a strong heritage of innovation,” added Gandon. “As consumer behaviors continue to evolve, the opportunity to lead the digital and marketing transformation for a premier prestige beauty company is incredibly exciting. I look forward to partnering with the talented teams there to enhance our digital capabilities, deepen consumer connections, and drive growth across brands and channels.”
De la Faverie has been building out his team and restructuring part of the company as part of his Beauty utility and is now looking for the right person for Reimagined strategy as he works to get the business back on track.I think
After scrapping its previous forecast in October, Estée Lauder said it expects sales to drop by as much as 9 percent in 2025 on the back of continued weakness in Asia and a travel retail, but sees a return to growth next year if “there is meaningful resolution in of the recently enacted tariffs.”