Ecommerce Leadership for Fashion and Fragrance Giant

I had just finished reading Clayton Christensen’s ‘The Innovator’s Dilemma’ when we were asked to help this €4Bn family-managed, global, fragrance business based in Barcelona. It was fascinating to see the book’s theme vindicated by a real-life example.

bringing digital to a classic fashion and fragrance brand

Puig was supremely effective at what had worked in the past. The business was so brilliantly focused and efficient at managing the 20th century model of retail distribution that they found it difficult to interpret their place in the digital world. Split into a traditional FMCG model of Brand and Market, there was a tension between aesthetics and sales when it came to their strategy around marketplaces like Amazon.

However, it wasn’t just the potential of new routes to market that was causing confusion. Traditional clients like Macy’s were beginning to sell more Puig brands through their on-line marketplace rather than their physical stores. Although Puig had a well-oiled global structure handling physical sales and merchandising it had almost no-one with the expertise to handle the commercial, legal and data elements of these new marketplaces. Another driver for change; more Puig product was sold on Amazon than any other channel – but through the grey market. Was Puig losing control of its brands? Puig wanted a London based head hunter as they (rightly) saw London as the deepest pool of talent for ecommerce professionals in Europe.

finding the right Digital Leadership Talent

The brief description above is the condensed result of a number of meetings with HR and senior leadership. Our role was to act as a mini-management consultant to triage the problem, to educate the client on the marketplace for talent and then setting up the search. We worked hand-in-hand with HR to draw up the responsibilities of the role and to outline the kind of experience required to set up the right candidate for success. Time spent in the Barcelona office was crucial for understanding the essential elements for good culture fit.

Even after this careful preparation, close work with the client was critical to fine-tuning the short-list and ultimately to a successful hire.