Strategic Industry Analysis

AMCA programme has reached a critical juncture with Tata Advanced Systems, Larsen & Toubro and Bharat Forge shortlisted to develop the nation's 5th gen stealth fighter while HAL has been left out of contention. This represents a fundamental transformation in India's defense industrial strategy. Unlike traditional defense procurement where HAL dominated as the sole manufacturer, this competition marks India's first major fighter jet program genuinely open to private sector. The selection criteria emphasised technical expertise, manufacturing, financial strength, and order book capacity not legacy relationships.This competitive approach signals that India is prioritising delivery capability, innovation over incumbency. The Rs 15,000 crore prototype development contract, with eventual orders expected for 120+ aircraft, creates unprecedented opportunity for private sector companies to lead cutting-edge aerospace development alongside the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA). The AMCA program's R&D requirements will help India's MSME aerospace ecosystem in several ways including technology transfer & capability Building in stealth design, advanced materials, AI integration, sensor fusion etc. It requires specialised components that the winning consortium must source domestically. This creates downstream opportunities for MSMEs to develop niche competencies in composites, precision manufacturing, avionics and specialised coatings. With production targets of 120+ jets initially and significantly more advanced variants over decades, the program demands robust quality certified supplier networks. MSMEs that achieve aerospace-grade certifications for AMCA will gain credentials applicable to global aerospace markets. The program's advanced technology requirements unmanned teaming, long-range strike capabilities, AI driven systems necessitate R&D partnerships beyond tier-1 contractors. MSMEs with specialised capabilities in software, materials science and electronics can become critical innovation partners. Large scale fighter development creates demand for specialised engineering talent. Training programs and Centers of Excellence established for AMCA will build a skilled workforce that benefits the broader manufacturing ecosystem. HAL’s exclusion underscores a shift toward performance based accountability, signaling that delays and efficiency now carry consequences even for incumbents. It breaks HAL’s long standing monopoly, injecting private sector competition, innovation and global quality practices into India’s most critical fighter program. By distributing risk, AMCA avoids bottlenecks from HAL’s legacy workload while leveraging private players’ global partnerships for future competitiveness. The decision within the next three months will shape not just India's air power, but the trajectory of its defense industrial base for the next 50 years.

Over the past few years, a number of newly created Advisory boutiques have generated extraordinary value in a very short time. They are often founded by former Big Four Partners and senior bankers who chose to step away from the comfort of established platforms. The result is a set of firms that have grown quickly and captured investor attention. The Sumer story is the latest and perhaps most striking example. Founded less than three years ago by KPMG’s former COO, it has already completed more than 30 acquisitions, built a workforce of 2,400 across 65 offices, and is now exploring a sale that could value it around $1bn. Whether or not it reaches that headline figure, the signal is clear: Private Equity now views Professional Services as a scalable, high-margin growth play. Private Equity’s shift is reshaping the industry. Historically cautious about firms built on human capital, investors now see that by keeping Partners invested in equity after a deal closes, they can align incentives and build sustainable platforms. Valuations once thought unachievable for these kinds of businesses are becoming reality. This creates new pressure points. The consolidator model depends on integrating dozens of firms while preserving entrepreneurial energy, and the ability to embed technology and AI into delivery will be a key test. Larger firms may look to the big tech vendors for solutions, but boutiques and consolidators are already deploying practical use cases. If that pace continues, they will only deepen their relationships with investors and clients. The pattern is emerging. The most commercial Partners are leaving to build firms that win clients and attract capital. Private Equity is backing them, creating platforms valued in the hundreds of millions, sometimes billions. The sector is being re-priced, and Professional Services is no longer just about Partnerships, it is about platforms.

For the first time in our Future Readiness Indicator's history, Tesla has lost its top position to BYD, scoring 98.1 to BYD's perfect 100. But this historic power shift isn't an anomaly. Instead, it’s the culmination of years of strategic patience and relentless innovation from Chinese manufacturers. Here's how the automotive competitive landscape has fundamentally transformed in 2025: BACKGROUND: Traditional automotive manufacturers are in crisis. Stellantis, VW, BMW, and Mercedes have reported declining revenues while Chinese EV makers like BYD, XPeng, and Li Auto are experiencing substantial growth. We've spent years analyzing why this historic power shift is happening: - Chinese EV makers aren't just winning on cost—they're reimagining cars as "computers on wheels" - BYD's R&D intensity grew 23.35% (3Y CAGR) while obtaining 1,880 new patent authorizations last year, a 113.64% increase compared to 2023 - Traditional OEMs are stuck in hardware-centric models with 5-7 year development cycles - EV makers iterate in 18-36 months with startup-style organizations In 2019, I would have bet on Tesla maintaining dominance indefinitely. Their software-first architecture gave them a seemingly insurmountable advantage. But Chinese manufacturers didn't try to beat Tesla at its own game. They played the long game. XPeng adopted an "experience-first" strategy, designing user interfaces and autonomous features before mechanical elements. Li Auto's rapid iteration cycle meant yearly upgrades incorporating real-time customer feedback, while incumbents were still retooling factories. And BYD? While Tesla stagnated (-9.4% Q1 2025 sales growth), BYD's revenue grew 52.8% (3Y CAGR) with inventory turnover at 6.17—operational excellence at scale. The lesson is clear: EVs are becoming commoditized, but software ecosystems and rapid iteration cycles are not. For automotive executives, this means three essential strategic shifts: 1. Treat cars as "computers on wheels" where software features and rapid updates are paramount 2. Build supply chain agility with digital tracking systems and localized production of critical components 3. Invest in brand differentiation; as technology becomes commoditized, trust will determine winners The most important insight from our research: future readiness is never a finished state but a continuous process of adaptation. Even market leaders can be challenged when competitors commit to the long game. The race is far from over, but the rules have fundamentally changed.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 “𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗺 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁” 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆! ⬇️ At IBM, we’ve surveyed 101 automotive OEM executives across the US, UK, Germany, and India and gathered insights into how AI is transforming their industry. And there is one overarching takeaway: 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁; 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆. Here’s why: 1. 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲-𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱: ➜ AI is at the heart of this shift. In just a few years, 79% of automakers expect to have software-defined vehicles (SDVs), making AI the essential motor for driving this change. 2. 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀: ➜ The future of automotive isn’t just about vehicles; it's about services. Automakers are set to generate 51% of revenue from digital and software services by 2035. From predictive maintenance to in-car experiences, AI is creating new business models. 3. 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Automakers are rethinking their operating models, and AI is leading the charge. **65% of executives** already have a clear strategy for integrating AI into their long-term plans. This includes everything from **autonomous driving** to creating personalized in-car experiences. 4. 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:  AI is improving everything, from customer insights to predictive maintenance, and it’s streamlining manufacturing and operations. By implementing AI, the industry expects a 40% boost in productivity within three years. 5. 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱: ➜ In a world where the automotive landscape is changing rapidly, AI investments are no longer seen as optional. 79% of executives say AI is strongly supported by senior leadership and will drive measurable competitive advantage. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁: 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆. You can download the study below or via this link: https://lnkd.in/gWCv6kJZ --- Next in the IBM Institute for Business Value industry series is “Oil & Gas in the AI Era,” followed by eight other industries, one each month until the end of the year.

I’m pleased to share the Kingdom’s success story in the aluminum industry—now one of the key pillars powering sectors such as electric vehicles, aviation, and renewable energy. The journey begins at the Al Baitha mine in Qassim, which produces 5 million tons of bauxite annually. From there, it travels through the Kingdom’s railway network to Ras Al Khair Industrial City, where the transformation process unfolds: • From the alumina refinery with a capacity of 1.8 million tons annually • To the smelter with a capacity of 820,000 tons annually • Then to the casthouse with a capacity of 1 million tons annually • Supported by aluminum scrap recycling furnaces with a capacity of 100,000 tons annually • Integrated with the rolling mill that has a production capacity 460,000 tons annually. Together, these operations form Ma’aden’s fully integrated aluminum complex in Ras Al Khair—the largest of its kind worldwide, taking aluminum production from mine to market. One of its most notable milestones is supplying aluminum sheets to major European automotive manufacturers. The ecosystem extends further, supporting the production of 1 mn tons of downstream Aluminum including: • Extrusion plants serving the Kingdom’s mega construction projects needs of doors and window frames • ⁠Castings plants • Electrical cable factories • Beverages Cans and packaging This strong foundation is delivering high-quality, value-added products, strengthening global confidence in Saudi capabilities, and positioning the Kingdom as a true hub for mining and industry. Beyond industrial impact, it is also creating thousands of jobs and enhancing the competitiveness of the national economy.

India's Critical Mineral Paradox: Sitting on a Goldmine While Importing at Premium Prices I’ve spent time building businesses across consumer tech, telecom, and industrial sectors. Reading Alkesh Kumar Sharma’s strategic analysis on critical minerals was a wake-up call: India is racing toward clean energy leadership while dangerously dependent on imports for the very minerals that make it possible. Here’s the link: https://lnkd.in/dpjKHMsb This isn't just policy. It's national security and controlling our destiny in the 21st century economy. The vulnerability: India is 100% dependent on imports for lithium, cobalt, and nickel, over 90% for Rare Earth Elements. China controls 60% of global REE production and 85% of processing. We're targeting 500 GW renewable energy and net zero by 2070, while handing veto power over our clean energy future to geopolitical competitors. Having run P&Ls across markets, I know 100% import dependence isn't a supply chain. It's a strategic chokepoint. But India is sitting on untapped wealth. Geological Survey identified 5.9 million tonnes of lithium in J&K, significant REE deposits in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Yet mining contributes just 2.5% to GDP versus 13.6% in Australia. We have only 1% of global REE processing capacity. The government launched the National Critical Minerals Mission with ₹34,300 crore and auctioned 20 mineral blocks. The 2023 Mines Act opened private exploration. But execution determines everything. The urban goldmine: India generates 4 million tonnes of e-waste annually, only 10% formally recycled. Inside? The same minerals we're importing at massive cost. Attero proves what's possible. This Noida-based deeptech company achieves over 98% extraction efficiency in recovering rare earths like neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium, the exact elements we currently import. With over 200 patents filed and strong profitability, Attero’s revenue crossed approximately ₹1,000 crore in FY25, growing more than 50% year-on-year. The company works with all leading auto and battery manufacturers and is now expanding capacity sixfold to process 3 lakh tonnes annually, backed by significant capital infusion across India, Poland, and the US. India banned black mass exports, powder from shredded batteries we exported as cheap scrap to China, Korea, Japan who sold it back at 15-20x the price. This ban forces domestic refining. Attero proves we have the technology. The window is closing. If we don't build resilient supply chains through domestic mining, processing, and recycling, we're building our clean energy future on someone else's foundation. We have deposits, waste streams, and companies like Attero proving Indian technology competes globally. What we need is execution speed. #CriticalMinerals #CleanEnergy #AtmanirbharBharat #Sustainability #India

Q3FY26 Corporate Results: Growth momentum is buoyant We analyzed the Q3FY26 corporate performance for 2961 companies across manufacturing and services sectors (excluding BFSI). Our sample companies’ revenue grew 8% YoY, fastest growth in 11 quarters, from 7.2% YoY in Q2FY26, and higher from 6.2% YoY a year ago. Sample companies’ expenditure growth too inched up to 6-quarter high of 7.6% YoY, up from 6.1% YoY in Q2FY26 and 6.1% YoY a year ago. This is the fastest increase in expenditure growth since the quarter ending Jun 2024. The expenditure growth was driven by faster pick up in raw materials, and wage costs. Even as expenditure and revenue growth picked up, operating profit of sample companies moderated to 9% YoY as against 10.4% YoY in previous quarter. However, net profit declined to a greater extent at 11.6% YoY vs. 17.2% YoY in Q2FY26 and 6.7% YoY in Q3FY25. This can be explained by higher allocation for the implementation of the new labour codes under ‘exceptional items’. This has impacted sectors with higher labour costs such as the IT sector. Continued uptick in revenue growth and commentary by firms shows that economic growth remains robust. Manufacturing companies’ revenue growth remained steady at 8.1% YoY in Q3FY26 vs. 6.6% in Q2FY26 and 5% YoY for the same quarter last year. Excluding refineries, revenue growth was comparatively better at 10% YoY in Q3FY26, a 3-year high. Manufacturing sector’s expenses grew by 7.1% YoY in Q3FY26, which was the highest in six quarters. The same was primarily driven by higher raw material costs (due to rising global commodity prices) which grew 7.7% YoY in Q3FY26 vs just 1.6% YoY a year ago and 5.4% YoY in the previous quarter. Similarly, wage costs inched up to 9.6% YoY. Profit margins remained steady. Due to broadly similar growth in revenue and expenditure, profit growth and margins for the manufacturing sector have remained steady. The sector’s gross margin inched marginally higher to 37.8% in Q3FY26, from 37.4% in Q2FY26, and 37.6% a year ago. Services firms’ (ex-BFSI) revenue growth softened to 7.5% YoY, vs. 9.6% YoY in Q2FY26 and 11.2% YoY in Q3FY25. The deceleration in services growth was largely driven by real estate, transport and telecom sectors. On the other hand, hospitality and retail sectors supported overall revenue growth. The marginal uptick in IT sector revenue growth can be explained by the depreciation in the INR. Expenditure growth for the service sector witnessed a marginal uptick to 9.6% YoY in Q3FY26, vs. 8.9% in Q2FY26 and unchanged at 9.6% YoY in Q3FY25. The upside was largely driven by higher raw material costs (9.5% YoY vs. 8% YoY in Q2FY26). Due to faster expenditure growth vis-à-vis revenue, operating profit growth for services softened to 6.8% YoY in Q3FY26 vs. 11.2% YoY in Q2FY26 and 14.3% YoY in Q3FY25. Further, the surge in ‘exceptional expenses’ due to the labour code implementation impacted PAT growth severely.

It's out! Today, Textile Exchange has published its report, authored by yours truly, exploring how we can reimagine growth in the fashion, apparel and textile industry. This landscape analysis is intended to provide a state of play on this highly complex and contentious topic - outlining why we need to shift from exponential increases in production and consumption volumes based on unchecked resource extraction. Instead it provides a vision for alignment with regenerative economy and post-growth principles, centering a complete reimagining of value creation. Very simply, continued improvements on the product and process level are not going to be enough for the level of change required. What this report shows is the need for reduction as an active strategy, addressing head on the tension that presents. Importantly, it emphasises doing so as necessary to ensure resilience; mitigating future risk due to supply chain instability, resource depletion, overreliance on finite resources and incoming legislation. The report proposes a suite of pathways for change, including eliminating virgin fossil-based synthetics, designing products for longevity and reflecting externalities in their pricing, scaling circular business models, and addressing marketing practices. It further explores new success metrics, mobilising finance and alternative ownership and governance models, as well as the need to ensure a just transition—protecting the rights, livelihoods and well-being of people across the value chain. These pathways will require systemic support to achieve anything close to a post-growth future, with the need for ambitious government policy and collective corporate commitment to get there. The report calls on business leaders, policymakers and financial stakeholders to take immediate, meaningful steps. This isn't simple and it won't be easy. As I say in the press release: “Reimagining growth represents a fundamental paradigm shift, requiring not just incremental adjustments but a complete transformation of how the industry operates. As a challenge of systems change, inherently rooted in complexity, it will demand contributions from all stakeholder groups to achieve a more sustainable and equitable future.” Thank you to all of the incredible people who contributed to this report in consultations, workshops, expert interviews, review processes and ear bending by me. And mostly thank you to Beth Jensen and Claire Bergkamp for their incredible support and leadership on this work over the past three years, and for having the courage of conviction, alongside the Textile Exchange board and wider team, to table this topic and publish something so bold and so crucial for the future of our industry, our planet and the people on it. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eScK9uyy #postgrowth #sustainablefashion #overconsumption #fashion #textiles 📷  Madeleine Brunnmeier 

It is time for #NVIDIA, #AMD, #Intel and every other AI hardware vendor to stop hiding the true environmental cost of their products. Billions are being invested in AI hardware, yet we still lack transparent data on embodied emissions, resource use, water intensity and toxicity impacts. NVIDIA (et al) release selective impact assessments designed to meet compliance needs but conveniently exclude everything that matters. A great new study helps to fill some key gaps: “More than Carbon: Cradle-to-Grave Environmental Impacts of GenAI Training on the NVIDIA A100 GPU”. Its got so much valuable info and is worth a read. https://lnkd.in/eSwzd624 Unlike most studies that rely on secondary data, the researchers physically dismantled an NVIDIA A100 GPU ground it up and carried out a full elemental composition analysis. Using that data, they modelled sixteen environmental impact categories across the entire life cycle, covering raw material extraction, manufacturing, model training and end-of-life. The findings are so interesting: 1. Manufacturing is the dominant source of impact a) Manufacturing a accounts for 81.8% of the total climate impact and 80% of fossil resource depletion before it trains a single model. b) 71% of mineral and metal depletion and 94.5% of cancer-related human toxicity impacts occur during manufacturing. c) The copper-heavy heatsink alone is responsible for 91% of cancer related toxicity, 86% of freshwater eutrophication and 91% of land use impacts. d) Semiconductor fabrication at 7nm is a hotspot, with each square cm of silicon requiring significantly more energy, chemicals and water than previous generations. 2. Training is highly energy intensive but not the whole story a) Training GPT-4 on A100s consumed the equivalent of 11,522 people’s annual climate-change budget. b) In Iowa, where GPT-4 was trained, the carbon-intensive grid drives 96.8% of the training climate footprint. c) Focusing on energy efficiency alone will not solve the problem. Operational carbon dominates the impact, but toxicity, water stress and mineral depletion are driven by manufacturing. 3. AI’s material dependency is huge and invisible a) An A100 contains dozens of rare earths & critical minerals including copper, gold, palladium, platinum and tantalum. b) They found a 33% increase in mineral and metal depletion impacts compared with standard LCAs (i.e. secondary data significantly underestimates things). c) Semiconductor fabrication is concentrated in water-stressed regions such as Taiwan, South Korea and Arizona, yet vendors do not disclose water intensity per GPU. This is why hardware vendors must conduct full component level PCF's incl. verifiable embodied impact data. Without transparency we are literally flying blind whilst they make trillions of dollars. This study is an important milestone, but it also shows how little we really know about the environmental impact of AI hardware. Vendors... stop hiding

Complexity beats simplification in beauty; that's L'Oreal's masterclass. And they make it look so easy. While we're crunching the numbers and gathering more input for 2025, here's a holiday treat from our team: some headlines from our growth playbook. 💡L'Oréal has achieved what most CPG brands aspire to: 7X growth over 30 years, $47B in revenue in beauty (76% larger than Unilever), and category dominance representing 33% of the Top 8 global cosmetics market ($141.2B). The playbook summary below synthesizes L'Oréal's proven strategy with emerging competitive dynamics. 𝗣𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗥 𝟭: Portfolio Architecture & M&A Mastery Your Strategic Principle: Complexity as a competitive advantage through strategic optionality at scale You need to build a portfolio across all price tiers, no exception. 1. Mass Market (Volume drivers): Maybelline, L'Oréal Paris, Garnier 2. Professional (B2B + loyalty): Matrix, Kérastase, Redken, ColorWow 3. Active Cosmetics/Dermocosmetics (Medical credibility): La Roche-Posay, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals, Vichy 4. Luxury (Margin maximizers): YSL, Lancôme, Kiehl's, Urban Decay, now Creed + Gucci/Balenciaga licenses Each tier serves different channels, price sensitivities, and consumer occasions—creating portfolio resilience against market volatility. 𝗣𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗥 𝟮: Channel-Specific Optimization - Cerave dominates Amazon 1P - Lancôme owns Sephora counters - Kérastase Paris leads salon professional - La Roche-Posay USA controls pharmacy 𝗣𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗥 𝟯: Retail media leadership will give you wings, so you should implement category-leading retail media investment. 2025 Benchmarks (Beauty & Personal Care) from ecommert Navigator Global Retail Media Benchmark Allocations Report (you can find it in the comments) 👇 - 22.7% of total ad spend (US: 23-27%, EU: 18%) - 2.35% of net revenue on average - $6.60+ ROAS when executed well 💡Beauty leads ALL #FMCG categories in retail media maturity—treating it as core infrastructure, not experimental spend. 𝗣𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗥 𝟰: You must master consumer behavior and data-driven personalization. Step 1: Build the first-party data ecosystem to capture first-party data from minimum 30%+ of your consumers within 18 months. Step 2: Leverage AI for hyper-personalization, use LLM beauty assistants, predictive replenishment and launch conversational product discovery. Step 3: You'd better master the "Niche-to-Mainstream" funnel 🚨Old Model: Mass production → broad distribution → heavy discounting 💡New Model: Limited drops → atelier collabs → data-driven micro-batches → TikTok → Duty Free (in weeks, not quarters) 𝗣𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗥 𝟱: Digital excellence requires robust organizational design, so revamp your org. Investment benchmark: Winners invest >10% of revenues in digital technologies and #eCommerce. Size doesn't guarantee growth; omnichannel execution + retail media optimization does. More to come, stay tuned. #FMCG #Beauty #Growth #Strategy