Stéphane Rinderknech is L’Oréal's next Executive Vice President North America

05-Sep-2019 - Last updated on 05-Sep-2019 at 15:38 GMT

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Next month, Rinderknech will take on leadership of a business division that accounts for just over one quarter of the company’s sales. And he has his work cut out for him; the most recent L’Oréal financial report describes the North America division’s sales as “sluggish.”

This week, L’Oréal announced the new role for Stéphane Rinderknech, saying that he will begin serving as Executive Vice President North America at the start of October.

A track record in Asia

Rinderknech began his tenue at the company as part of L'Oréal's Travel Retail business in the US in 2001. But much of his experience at L’Oréal has been in the Asian market. According to the company’s media release, he became general manager of Lancôme in Japan in 2005; head of L'Oréal China's Luxury Division in 2011; then head of the company’s Consumer Products Division in China; and for the past 3 years served as CEO of L'Oréal China.

The business Rinderknech has been overseeing for L’Oréal has been doing quite well. L’Oréal looks at its business in 4 divisions: Luxe, Consumer Products, Active Cosmetics, and Professional Products. L’Oréal’s half-year financial report for 2019 (published in June) states that “L'Oréal Luxe is posting strong growth in Asia Pacific, particularly in China and in Travel Retail.”

The Consumer Products division ‘is clearly accelerating in Asia, particularly in China, India and Indonesia.” So far at the Active Cosmetics division is concerned, the SkinCeuticals brand “is growing very fast across all Zones, with a record performance in Asia;” and CeraVe has successfully launched in China under Rinderknech’s leadership. While the Professional Products division has the “winning market share” in the Asia Pacific.

So it’s reasonable to assume that the company has moved Rinderknech to the North American division in hopes that he will replicate that success here.

Chain of command

For Frédéric Rozé, the Rinderknech appointment means a shift of responsibility. Rather than serving as Executive Vice President North America himself, he will now oversee Rinderknech in the role. Rozé is staying on in his larger role with L’Oréal, that of Executive Vice-President of the Americas Zone.

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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.