L'Oréal vs Mars

Hightouch Names Matthew Lubeck General Manager EMEA

Hightouch, a leader in data and AI for marketing, has appointed Matthew Lubeck as General Manager for EMEA. Based in London, Lubeck will lead all go-to-market functions across the region as Hightouch drives adoption of agentic marketing. The company reports over 100% growth in each of the past two years and recently closed a $150 million Series D. Hightouch already has offices in London and Paris, native-speaking teams across multiple European markets, and a new team in Dubai. Lubeck brings 20 years of experience, having previously launched and led Amperity's EMEA business and held leadership roles at L'Oréal and Estée Lauder. Hightouch's platform supports EU data residency and runs inside customers' data warehouses, with clients including Accor, HelloFresh, Currys, and Telenor.

• Hightouch appoints Matthew Lubeck as General Manager EMEA, based in London.
• Lubeck previously launched and led EMEA business at Amperity.
• Hightouch reported over 100% growth in each of the past two years.

L'Oréal rolls out internal GPT to 90,000 employees

In a podcast interview, L'Oréal's DACH CIO Arooj Humayun detailed the company's three-stage plan for integrating generative AI across its 90,000 employees. The plan includes awareness building, training, and tool deployment. To ensure data privacy and compliance with stringent German regulations, L'Oréal developed its own internal platform, L'Oréal GPT, which runs on-premise and uses vetted large language models. This prevents any data from leaving the company. Additionally, they use a tool called CreateTech for image generation. The company is now moving towards AI agents, dubbed 'Companions', which can execute actions like booking travel. Usage is measured via anonymized prompt counts. The initiative aims to empower employees in various departments, including finance, HR, and marketing, to automate repetitive tasks.

• L'Oréal has 90,000 employees.
• L'Oréal developed its own internal AI platform called L'Oréal GPT.
• L'Oréal GPT runs on-premise and uses vetted large language models.

Omnicom Media Group Wins L'Oréal's €350M Media Account

The Omnicom Media Group has won the media pitch for L'Oréal's €350 million account. The dedicated agency for the cosmetics giant will be named Beauty Co-Lab. The new agency is set to launch in January 2027. This follows the recent announcement that Wavemaker, the incumbent, lost the account. The article provides details on the agency structure and confirms the name of the new entity, but the full details are behind a paywall.

EXTRA's Spotify Campaign Boosts Gen Z Brand Link

Mars Wrigley's chewing gum brand EXTRA launched a back-to-school campaign on Spotify targeting Gen Z. The campaign featured a song titled 'Kotti d'Azur' with Berlin artist Zah1de, integrating the brand into the music content. Sponsored Playlists, video headers, and audio spots were used to reach young consumers during moments like studying and commuting. According to Nielsen, the campaign significantly improved brand metrics among 18-25 year olds: message association rose by 17 percentage points to 63%, ad recall by 30 points to 66%, and top-of-mind awareness by 6 points to 78%. The campaign was based on Spotify's Culture Next report, highlighting trends like 'Fandemonium' and 'Dark Side (But Fun)'. The campaign achieved 20 million impressions and 3 million unique reach. This marked Mars Wrigley's first major artist collaboration with sponsored playlists in Germany, with insights feeding into their DACH media strategy.

• EXTRA (Mars Wrigley) launched a Spotify campaign with the song 'Kotti d'Azur' by artist Zah1de.
• The campaign used Sponsored Playlists, video headers, and audio ads to reach Gen Z.
• Nielsen reported a 17-point lift in message association to 63%, ad recall up 30 points to 66%, and top-of-mind awareness up 6 points to 78%.

Checkout Zone Redesign: Impulse Buying Shifts to Pre-Pay Area

At the manned checkout, customers wait nearly two minutes, but at self-checkout terminals only twelve seconds. This reduces impulse purchase access rates from about six percent at manned tills to two to four percent at self-scan modules. Rewe Group and Mars Wrigley won the ECR Award for their European NextGen Checkout project, which optimized over 2,500 checkout zones and 7,000 impulse modules across eight countries. Experts Marco Koppenstein and Anna-Katharina Kraus discuss shifting impulse sales to the pre-checkout area, improving orderliness, and adapting assortment to trends like GLP-1 medications and protein bars. They emphasize that optimizing the entire checkout zone as a whole, not just individual terminals, is crucial for maintaining impulse revenue.

• Mars Wrigley and Rewe Group won the ECR Award for the European NextGen Checkout project.
• Self-checkout terminals reduce impulse purchase access rates to 2-4% vs. 6% at manned checkouts.
• About 25,000 self-checkout terminals are now in German grocery retail, doubling in two years.

Mars launches Pet Adoption Resource Hub and opens THB 7 billion Pringles plant in Thailand

Mars has launched a Pet Adoption Resource Hub and officially opened a THB 7 billion Pringles manufacturing plant in Thailand, among other recent announcements including the release of its Cocoa for Generations 2025 Progress Report.