欧莱雅CEO：我喜欢“有组织的混乱”

当让-保罗·安巩于1978年加入欧莱雅的时候，他并不打算在这家化妆品巨头度过自己的整个职业生涯，更不用说成为该公司第五任CEO。但数十载光阴转瞬即逝，“有组织的混乱”(organized chaos)仍然在激励安巩引领这家现已108岁高龄的公司不断迎接新挑战，并赶赴遥远的前沿从事冒险活动。在2006年接掌最高权杖之前，他先后负责希腊、德国和亚洲分公司的业务，还曾担任欧莱雅美国公司总裁。在安巩的任期内，拜全球扩张、精明的收购，以及对数字化的积极追寻所赐，欧莱雅的营收和股价一直在稳步增长。（2016年，欧莱雅斩获286亿美元营收，电子商务收入飙涨33%。）

日前接受《财富》杂志专访时，现年60岁的安巩畅谈了购物中心的未来，品牌真实性，以及如何驾驭“数字海啸”等话题。以下是经过编辑的访谈摘要：

长期以来，传统的消费品和零售企业一直对互联网，以及互联网有可能对它们产生的影响持否认态度。你是什么时候意识到这种颠覆性力量的？

大约七年前，一些来自数字世界的朋友不断地解释正在发生的一切，我意识到一场海啸即将到来。我可以远远地看到它。就像宣战或者发布动员令那样，我宣布2010年是欧莱雅的“数字年”。没有人知道它意味着什么。

在欧莱雅，一件值得肯定的事情是，大家都很积极。那一年，在欧莱雅的每个部门，包括每个国家和每个品牌，所有人都突然开始做数字化。非常无组织，非常混乱。但至少每个人突然意识到了一场巨大的转型即将到来。由于数字化，今天的一切都比以前更有趣，更强大。

哪些数字化举措行之有效？哪些行不通？

我们有4个部门，34个品牌，足迹遍布140个国家。根据定义，数字化意味着去中心化。因此，公司内部涌现出了数百个举措和实验。经过尝试，其中一些行不通，另一些则很有效果。近四年来，我们从外面雇佣了1600位数字专才，并且将他们完整地嵌入营销团队。下一步是，我们打算在今年晚些时候要求每一位新招募的营销人员获得数字认证。现在做不涉及数字化的营销，实在是过于疯狂。

社交媒体的兴起一直被誉为是推动化妆品销售热潮的强大力量。人们希望自拍照中的自己更加靓丽。另一方面，年轻人也渴望在网上获得更加真实的产品。不过，真实性和大众市场品牌似乎存在一点冲突。

我不确定两者存在冲突。可能会有一定的张力。品牌必须是真实的，但对于消费者来说，这意味着品牌是透明的，它表达的东西是有诚意的。在这方面，我们正在努力做到最好。像科颜氏(Kiehl’s)这样的品牌，不仅是大品牌，而且是一个被视为完全真实的品牌。小品牌更容易让人觉得真实，但只要你尊重这些规则，我并不认为大众市场品牌不可能具有真实性，哪怕你是一个大品牌。

欧莱雅是一个积极的收购者。除了钱，你还为企业家提供了什么东西，诱使他们把公司卖给你？

我们充分尊重其品牌的身份、文化、精神和灵魂。当你走进世界上任何一家科颜氏专卖店的时候，无论它是在韩国、中国、法国，还是阿根廷，你会发现它仍然洋溢着我们在2000年收购的那家科颜氏专卖店的精神、灵魂和身份。我们一直忠于和培育该品牌的精神。只有一个差别：它现在是一个价值10亿美元的品牌。

如果你是一位打算把接力棒传递给别人的企业家，这一点是非常重要的。看看衰败城市(Urban Decay)，该品牌的创造者仍然在和我们一起管理业务。

几年前，你非常看好欧莱雅在2006年收购的Body Shop，并打算扭转这家零售商的困境。但在今年2月份，你将该公司挂牌出售。发生了什么变化？

我们一而再再而三地尝试。在这个案例中，我们或许过分忠诚于该品牌的精神。因为我们不想做太多的改变，事实上，我们改变得不够多。这种平衡总是很难把握的。你必须得演变，但也要尊重品牌。我们真的付出了长达10年的努力。我仍然认为它是一个美丽的品牌，在世界各地都有很高的知名度，或许其他人可以做得更好。

考虑到过去十年来，Body Shop以自然和环保产品著称的整体气质日益成为主流。现在选择出售这个品牌，的确令人惊讶。

确实如此。但也许是因为它已经变得越来越主流，它也就不那么独特了。凡事总有两面性。

你是否像许多数字颠覆者那样，认为购物中心即将走到尽头？

我并不认为，在未来的零售业态中，电子商务和专卖店是一种“非此即彼”的关系。我们将让消费者选择不同类型的服务和体验。比如，欧莱雅在2014年收购的专业美容品牌NYX，就结合了电子商务和独立商店两种模式，专卖店不仅摆放着一系列琳琅满目的产品，还附带提供数字化体验。你也可以在塔吉特百货和Ulta美妆店这类商场购买种类相对有限的产品。这就是我们眼中的未来——为消费者提供不同类型的服务和体验，让他们自己选择。商场专卖店也将成为这种选择的一部分。

有句名言说，只有偏执狂才能生存。你对什么特别偏执？

消费者的新愿望。我们必须永久地适应，甚至永久地预测消费者的需求、愿望和梦想。每一位欧莱雅人都痴迷于此。你必须永久性地适应趋势的演变。

许多年来，我们的竞争对手，特别是美国的竞争对手，把我们称为一种“有组织的混乱。”因为在他们看来，欧莱雅不是一家特别有组织的公司。这是有意为之，因为它恰恰让我们始终对新想法保持开放的心态，随时准备跳上新趋势，抓住新机会。（财富中文网）

作者：Erin Griffith

译者：Kevin

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 “organized chaos” of the now-108-year-old company kept Agon stimulated with new challenges and far-flung adventures. He ran divisions in Greece, Germany, 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) 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 realize it?

Around seven years ago, some friends in the digital world were explaining what was going on, and I realized a tsunami was coming. I could see it from far away. I declared—like you declare war or mobilization—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 everyone started something in digital. It was very disorganized, 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?

We have four divisions, 34 brands, 140 countries, and digital is by definition pretty decentralized, so you have hundreds of initiatives and experiments. Some of them, they try and see it’s not working. Some are doing really well. In four years we hired 1,600 digital people from the outside. We completely embedded them into the marketing teams. The next step is that [later this year] we'll make every new marketing recruit get digital accreditation. It would be crazy to have someone doing marketing today that does not do digital.

The rise of social media has been credited for the boom in makeup sales. People want to look good in their selfies. On the other hand, young people also crave more authenticity online. There’s a bit of a conflict between being authentic and being a mass-market brand.

I’m not sure there is a conflict. There could be a tension. Brands have to be authentic, but for [consumers], it means the brand is transparent and there is sincerity in what they express. That’s what we are trying to do our best with. A brand like Kiehl’s is a big brand, but also a brand that is seen as totally authentic. It’s easier to look authentic when you’re very small, but I don’t think it’s impossible, even when you are a large brand, as long as you respect these rules.

L’Oréal is an active acquirer. Besides money, what do you offer entrepreneurs to entice them to sell their companies to you?

We offer them the total respect of the identity, culture, spirit, and soul of the brand. When you go to a Kiehl’s store today anywhere in the world—in Korea, China, France, Argentina—it is exactly the replica of the spirit, of the soul, of the identity, of the Kiehl’s store we bought [in 2000]. We have been more than loyal and cultivated the spirit of the brand. Except that now it’s a $1 billion brand.

This is very important if you are an entrepreneur and you want to pass the baton to someone else. And that’s what we guarantee. Look at Urban Decay—the creators of that brand are still with us and managing the business.

A few years ago, you were bullish on turning around the Body Shop, a retailer L’Oréal acquired in 2006. Then in February you put the company up for sale. What changed?

We tried and tried and tried. And maybe in this case we are being too loyal to the brand’s spirit. Because we didn’t want to change too much, in fact, we didn’t change enough. This is always a difficult balance. You have to evolve, but also be respectful to brands. We really put in our best efforts for 10 years. I still think it’s a beautiful brand with great awareness everywhere in the world, but maybe someone else can do something better with it.

It’s surprising, given that the Body Shop’s whole ethos of natural, eco-friendly products has become more relevant and mainstream in the past 10 years.

That’s true. But maybe also because it has become more mainstream, it’s less unique. There is always a flip side.

Do you predict, as many digital disrupters have, the end of shopping malls?

I don’t think tomorrow it will be either e-commerce or store. The future that we can see is to offer consumers a choice between different types of services and experiences. NYX [a professional beauty brand L’Oréal acquired in 2014] is a combination of e-commerce, freestanding stores where you find a huge range of products with [supplementary digital experiences], and you can also buy a more limited assortment in stores like Target and Ulta. That’s what the future that we can see is—to offer consumers a choice between different types of services and experiences. Stores in malls will be a part of this choice.

There is the famous saying that only the paranoid survive. What are you paranoid about?

The new aspirations of consumers. We have to adapt permanently, or even anticipate permanently, the consumer’s demands, desires, and dreams, so this is the obsession of everyone here. You have to adapt permanently to the evolution of the trends.

For many, many years, our competitors—especially here in the U.S.—called us a kind of “organized chaos,” because for them, we are not very organized. It’s intentional, because it allows us to always keep our mind open to new ideas, ready to jump on new trends and take new opportunities.