Stéphane Bérubé, a 12-year veteran at L’Oréal Canada, has been named its chief marketing officer following the Febuary departure of Marie-Josée Lamothe.
Stéphane Bérubé
Bérubé has almost 20 years experience in the industry and has been with L’Oréal Canada since 2002.
The new chief marketer says there are two big projects on his radar – personalizing L’Oreal’s relationship with consumers, and tapping into fast-growing markets.
“We have some great opportunities coming,” he said. “We are up to speed on the digital and e-commerce side of the business and now my priority is to work on leveraging that big data.”
The next step, says Bérubé, is to engage with consumers in a highly personal way. “We need to find out how we get that relationship to the next level. Consumers are talking to us through all of these digital channels and we have to listen.”
Bérubé also said he wants to harness the fastest growing community in Canada – the south Asian market – and buying power of baby boomers.
The CMO says he loves L’Oreal because it has the budget of a big company but the entrepreneurial spirit of a small one. “Beauty is a great business to be in because, regardless of the economy, consumers are loyal and passionate. And L’Oreal is a first-to-market firm that is always willing to test new things, and believes in an entrepreneurial spirit.”
Bérubé started his tenure with the beauty firm as a marketing director for the Maybelline New York brand and was part of the team that won the marketer of the year award in 2003. He then moved on to become brand director of the L’Oréal Paris brand in 2005, moving up to general manager two years later.
More recently, he was the general manager of media and innovation for L’Oréal Canada. In this role, he oversaw the company’s media investments and negotiations, as well as large‐scale corporate sponsorships.
This appointment is the first structural change announced by Frank Kollmar, L’Oréal Canada’s newly appointed president and CEO. Kollmar was until recently president of the consumer products division in Canada after a 15‐year international career within the L’Oréal Group.
Former CMO Lamothe, who held the dual role of chief marketing officer and chief communications officer, had been with the company for nearly 12 years, holding a number of senior-level positions including international marketing director, and VP, general manager, luxury brands.
