L’Oréal’s Lubomira Rochet named WFA Global Marketer of the Year

Lubomira Rochet, L’Oréal Chief Digital Officer, has been named WFA Global Marketer of the Year 2019, in recognition of her work in leading the company’s digital transformation. This recognition is based on a combined vote from an expert jury, the industry at large through open voting and WFA members, with each party accounting for a third of the final score.

Lubomira has been driving L’Oréal’s digital transformation that has resulted in a very fast acceleration of e-commerce accounting for almost 16% of the business in 2019, an accelerated digitalisation of media, accounting now for half of L’Oréal’s media investments, a transition to a data-driven marketing and the launch of the services strategy for the Group with the acquisition of L’Oréal’s first beauty tech company, ModiFace.

This massive shift towards building a digital first company has triggered a profound adaptation of L’Oréal’s marketing models, a major upskilling programme for its employees and the integration of technology (AR, VR, AI, voice) into the beauty experience.

“I am beyond grateful and humbled. This is a wonderful recognition of the work achieved by our teams over the past 6 years who have worked to transform L’Oréal into a digital-first company. As L’Oréal’s digital journey continues at high speed, today’s endorsement further encourages us to enable our organisation and partners through upskilling, data and technologies, aiming at creating the best online and offline consumer experience, growing the business and building L’Oréal as a beauty tech company,” said Lubomira Rochet, L’Oréal’s Chief Digital Officer.

“Lubomira has demonstrated the critical role that marketing leaders can play in the transition to digital, enabling L’Oréal to take a leadership position in e-commerce and equipping the whole marketing organisation with the digital skills they need to thrive in today’s complex media landscape. She is a very worthy winner of this important award,” said Raja Rajamannar, WFA President & Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of Mastercard, who headed up the expert jury.

“I’d like to congratulate our exceptional shortlist for the huge inspiration they provide to our industry and thank my fellow jurors, as well as all those who voted, for helping us celebrate outstanding global leadership in marketing,” he added.

WFA Global Marketer of the Year 2019, which has been run in partnership with The Drum, is designed to celebrate the role that global and regional marketers play in changing their businesses, the industry and society for the better.

Rochet was one of six global marketers to be shortlisted for the award, the others were:

• Fernando Machado, Chief Marketing Officer, Burger King. Fernando has revitalised the Burger King brand, one that agencies recognise as a ‘great client’ because he’s ready to work hard for bold creative ideas.
• Syl Saller, Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at Diageo. Syl is a leading voice on marketing leadership and the power of a diverse and representative team. She combines rigour with creativity in a way that enables the company to increase investment on the back of proven gains in return.
• Cheryl Goh, Group VP of Marketing & Founding CMO at Grab. Cheryl is part of the early founding team at Grab. Starting in Kuala Lumpur as a one-man marketing team, she has built the marketing practise across South-East Asia over the last six years. Today, she leads marketing in more than 300 cities in eight countries, covering all of Grab's business verticals including transport, food, payments and logistics.
• Richa Goswami, Senior Director, Office of Marketing Value, Global Digital and Technology Excellence for J&J Consumer Health. Richa has been the driving force behind one the most disruptive, inspiring and celebrated pieces of work by J&J, Project Free Period. This project brought J&J multiple awards, including a Spikes Grand Prix for creative effectiveness, back-to-back Lions at Cannes and the inaugural D&AD Impact Prize Fund for an idea that can positively impact lives.
• Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer at Procter & Gamble. Marc has ensured marketing powers P&G’s results, revamping its agency model, tackling media transparency and creating powerful ad experiences to address the challenges of brand citizenship.

The shortlist was selected by an expert jury from across the industry, following nominations from WFA members. Rochet and the other global marketers on the shortlist demonstrated outstanding leadership in three key areas:

1. Evolving their organisation to be more people-centric, better able to respond to consumer needs and building happier, more engaged teams internally;
2. Working smarter with partners, be they agencies or vendors, and ensuring that the whole team is aligned to the same goals;
3. Delivering inspiring work that genuinely makes a difference, be that cultural, social or for the business.

Stephan Loerke, CEO of the WFA, said: “The value that smart marketers bring to their business, as well as to society, is showcased by all six of our fantastic shortlisted candidates. It’s no easy task being a global marketer in today’s fast-changing environment but those that get it right add enormous value to their companies’ bottom lines and can inspire positive action on issues that really matter for society.”

This is the third year that the WFA has run its Global Marketer of the Year Award. Global Marketer of the Year 2017 went to Unilever’s Keith Weed and in 2018 it was won by Mastercard’s Raja Rajamannar.