Speichert, 39, became CMO of L’Oreal USA in 2010 after 13 years at Colgate-Palmolive, and was named CMO-Americas in July; but now takes over as global CMO, succeeding Marc Menesguen, who retained global marketing duties in July after becoming president of L’Oreal’s global Consumer Products Division.
“We’re trying to scale what we’ve done in the U.S.,” says Speichert, who will also remain based in New York, but with global responsibility.
“For now I’ll continue to be very involved in the Americas business, particularly the U.S., because it is the flagship CMO organization [for L’Oreal, and] served as inspiration for the other countries. A lot of what’s happening globally in terms of reinvention of marketing is happening in the U.S.”
Digital catalyst
L’Oreal will still have CMOs in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Japan, Europe and China, and may add CMO positions in other countries; whilst the company has said it will not be naming a separate CMO for the U.S. or the Americas, immediately.
Speichert says his top priority, “is thinking about digital as a catalyst for change and marketing reinvention. I’ll still be that champion for the U.S. but also for other countries.”
While the U.S. beauty market has slowed this year, the L’Oreal man claims the company is still gaining share.
While business in developing markets has slowed for many companies, L’Oreal has still been seeing double-digit growth, driven in part by distribution gains in such big markets as China and Brazil; countries that remain among L’Oreal’s top priorities.
Focus
Speichert notes that L’Oreal has consolidated media accounts in the U.S. in recent years, including the digital media buying and planning account for which he just finished the second review on his watch. But he said that doesn’t have implications for creative agencies.
“I’ll be trying to reinforce the partnership we have with our agencies, and champion the collaboration process for agencies in the same groups,” he said.
“We have a lot of creative agencies, and we’re not changing that, because we want to make sure each agency feels the DNA of the brand.”