Jesus Abia, Managing Director L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific, Interviewed
18 minutes read
Introduction by: Peter Marshall
At TRunblocked.com we pride ourselves on never conducting mundane, predictable interviews. We like to question the answers given, to provide you with interviews of substance that are content-rich and entertaining. Interviews that reflect our different editorial approach and best extract the DNA and personality of the business and individual we feature.
At TFWA Singapore this year I conducted just such an interview with Jesus Abia who, as Managing Director, has been at the helm of L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific for just over a year. As you would expect, given the scale of L’Oréal’s business in the region, the interview is comprehensive. The take out? In spite of the region’s current difficulties, there is a clear vision from the market leader across the company’s entire range of brands.
You can see so much evidence of a creative, enterprising and pioneering spirit that expresses itself in an extraordinary series of activations and beauty tech-based concepts designed to meet today’s consumers needs and accelerate growth. And then there is the pentarchy, which effectively redefines strategic business partnerships in travel retail today. All of this wrapped up in a ‘can-do’ mentality that acts as a beacon to us all.
It’s a very impressive, dynamic and optimistic interview which delivers L’Oréal’s brand new vision. I hope you enjoy it.
Peter Marshall (PM): Jesus, hola. And welcome to TRunblocked.com.
Jesus Abia (JA): Hola Peter!
PM: It’s been a fairly tough time out there, hasn’t it? Yet L’Oréal appears to be navigating the market volatility well. Yes, there’s been a small decline in North Asia sales, and there’s still stormy weather in China and Hainan. We know the reasons. The question I’m bound to ask is this: what specific strategies are you implementing to regain growth momentum in travel retail in these critical markets? And can you give us some examples?
JA: Great to have you here, Peter. It’s a pleasure to do this interview. I think you are right. I think the market dynamics have radically changed even since I was in Hong Kong in 2019. When I came back in 24/25, the region has shifted and the category has shifted.
Also the travel demographics. We were always talking about having the traveller at the centre, and it’s true that has changed. So we have more GenZ, we have more millennials, we have way more emerging markets. And we have great news – all are really travelling now, especially the middle class that is travelling in the emerging markets. But the one thing that is common is that 47% of our travellers want immersive experiences – something that before they were probably not looking for when they were travelling.
So we see a lot of opportunities. You know that the appetite for travel is stronger than ever. Yet we do have a challenge of conversion. You know the appetite for beauty, too. We are L’Oréal, we have a good tracker about the appetite for beauty, being the number one beauty group in the world. And beauty has been growing for many, many years. That’s why we are here today at TFWA Singapore, to present our new vision.
And that is ‘shoppertainment” – how do we make our airports exciting again? We see this as our duty, and we want to inspire the whole industry with that.
PM: Well, let’s talk about that a little later. Because first and again this year you’ve done a complete volte face in terms of the design of your space here at TFWA Singapore. Last year it was about a lounge experience – cool colours, comfy seating, very sympathetic, discreet brand placement. You even had an upstairs level as well. This year, it’s altogether different and you’ve got different zones that say different things. Just walk us through what they are.
JA: I think first of all, already from outside, you can see it’s a bit see-through. So I think it’s inviting.
PM: It’s just like my grandmother’s net curtains!
JA: Ha ha ha, I think it’s inviting you to enter, to experience what we call the five travel retail senses. First of all, the sense of service that you can have. When you go to an airport, you have a lot of time, so you want to have a quick, beauty touch up. So you can enter, you can have a quick skincare touchup and then a makeup touch up, and then you are ready to fly.
Then you have what we call a sense of ultimate luxury that you can see at the end of the booth with Lancôme. Here you can have a special treatment to rejuvenate, to pamper yourself. You have time to spend more than 20 minutes, half an hour.
And the next, and I love it, because its focus is on men. Basically, it’s all about a sense of time, a sense of gifting, a sense of place. Because it’s our space of lifestyle and grooming that, by the way, many of our operators would like to implement one day in an airport. Because, just imagine, you are a man, what’s better than having a place where you can take a cocktail, you can work, and you can try the best skin care products. At the same time, you can have a haircut, you can have someone trimming your beard, grooming your face and having a skincare treatment. So in the end, I think it’s a fantastic experience that we are creating here this year.
PM: Yes, the airport lounge bar there is impressive, just loved the fragrance-based cocktails. And another interesting area is the silver tube in the middle. Take us through that.
JA: That’s what we call the Skin Mist pod. So basically, it’s really for travellers who will have, maybe, five minutes spare. You know, it’s a time when you want to have a great rejuvenation of your skin, but you have a flight to catch. You are tired and you still want to have a pick me up. So when you switch the Mist Pod on, you open your pores for one minute, and then there is a beauty consultant standing there to consult you on your travel journey and advise what your skin needs are like. So you are travel ready!
JA: I think one of the great opportunities that we have in the future of this region, because the market is still very small, it’s about fragrances. We not only see the Indians coming to the region and all the people in Southeast Asia – they love fragrances – but also even the Chinese now. They are starting to use fragrances on a daily basis.
So we are promoting here, first of all, our high end fragrances, our niche fragrances. This is because now people are looking for fragrances that are special and unique. At the same time, we are offering these cocktails, that you mentioned, that are linked to fragrances for Prada, Valentino, and YSL.
PM: Well, let’s just take a short break here and look at the film we produced that covers all these elements.
PM: I just want to go back to asking you about the critical markets that you’re in, and for you to give us some examples of what you’re doing to not only sustain, but actually accelerate growth?
JA: So I think I would like, first, for you to travel to Osaka. We are in the middle of the cherry blossom season, you know, and Expo is in Osaka this year.
PM: Indeed.
JA: That’s why we decided to launch – for the first time there – our exclusive animation between Lancôme and Monopoly. We are celebrating the 90th anniversary of each of these two brands.
So we are doing an amazing activation and it is only in Osaka. The Monopoly set is exclusive for the travellers traveling there. And after this animation in Osaka, we are scaling up to the rest of the Asia Pacific region.
I think this is a great example about how we want to bring experience to the next level at the airports and to accelerate growth because, in the end, we want to gain market share. And the good news is that, yard by yard, today we are gaining market share.
So despite the market challenges, we are very proud of that. And then another example is what we have right now in Singapore airport. For the first time we are animating YSL Beauty in all four terminals. You can visit right now. And in Terminal 1 we have a big outpost where you can have fantastic experiences. We are using artificial intelligence such as an AI-powered DJ, so you can have an experience which I think is fantastic. More than 1,000 people have already used it since the pop-up’s launch.
And the most important thing, and I’m talking about working in silos here, is that this is the first time we have a real pentarchy. This is because we are also collaborating with our media partners, Grab and meta. You go to the airport, then we will target you with this animation all along the way.
We are working with Shilla, of course, and our partner in Changi Airport.You know, Changi Airport is always ready to pioneer with Singapore Airlines Krisflyer. That, I think, is the membership program that is helping us with the data, and that’s all.
So this is effectively creating a real pentarchy – creating and using the data of the whole ecosystem to create value for the travellers and offer them unique experiences.
PM: You produced a great film of YSL pop-up at the airport, so let’s just pause and take a brief look.
PM: So, for you, the only way is up. On a more general note, are there any new trends in beauty that you can identify in the Asia Pacific region? I mean, are preferences actually changing? You alluded to this slightly earlier in our conversation.
JA: Yes, as I said, 47% of consumers are looking for new, different, immersive experiences when they travel. For example, let’s take the example of a brand like Aesop. I think Aesop is bringing you this sense of time. Whenever you enter an Aesop store – first of all, every Aesop store is different from the next – and it’s always linked to the place where this store is built. So when you enter the store, you definitely want to stay there. We are offering tea to the consumers, for example, to make sure that they can enjoy their moment and enjoy their time.
So this type of experience, I’m not sure you can find it in an airport so easily. Everything is in a rush. I think we need to give time to travellers to enjoy the moment. And this is our vision. And so this is the first thing in terms of experiences that I wanted to say about Aesop. And at the same time, in the new trends that I see, of course, as I said before, fragrance is a huge opportunity in the region.
But we have other categories like hair care, you know, we have services here that you can have in your hair,
PM: It wouldn’t take long for me if I go for a service there.
JA: Ha ha. No, but I think it’s great. I think one friend was telling me one day: I want to go.He was telling me: I went to the airport and just asked the brand ambassador: ‘OK, I’m traveling to Singapore. What’s the shampoo that I’m going to need when I’m there?’ And I think this is a very valid question. So I think we should train our BA’s of Kérastase about hair care, about what’s the shampoo or the treatment that you need for your head, depending on your destination. So I think it’s extremely powerful.
PM: I just move my hair around my head.
JA: Ha! Yes.you don’t need to spend a lot of money, Peter.
PM: Look, you know that Istanbul is the epicenter of medical treatments on hair. Everyone’s walking around with purple heads.
JA: I think that macro cosmetics is also a huge opportunity that we have for sun care, for example, for Skinceuticals. Like we have CeraVe – these are super good products, body products. And for sure, for men we see that’s a huge opportunity for the future in the travel retail market. Because it has not been potentialized.
PM: It’s a market to be tapped, for sure.
JA: That’s why we are creating this lifestyle and grooming space for men to enjoy.
PM: It’s not necessarily a new idea, but because you’re behind it, it’s likely to get real traction in airports. That’s the difference.
Anyway, as we all know, L’Oréal has invested heavily in beauty tech, the generative AI beauty consultant at Singapore Changi airport is one excellent example. But how do you measure the ROI and long term impact of innovations like this for both sales and customer loyalty?
JA: So first of all, I think, in L’Oréal, we have been leveraging beauty tech to bring more personalized, inclusive and responsible beauty. So this is what we have been trying. Remember the generative AI beauty advisor that we had with Lancôme at the end of last year? I think this was a fantastic example.
But of course, we are looking at the ROI.That is important, so we see the brand engagement rate, we see if the brand is really engaging with these new tools – the artificial intelligence tools that we’re using. For the YSL pop-up, for example. And of course, we need to know if this is converting into sales or not. The results have been great here.
Beyond this, I really believe that with beauty tech we are still at the baby steps stage. We like to test and learn, we want to pioneer. We track the ROI, of course, but beyond that I think we really want to empower consumers with a way more elevated beauty experience. This is our duty.
PM: OK, so you mentioned Aesop before, with a brand like Aesop added to L’Oréal’s ever-expanding portfolio of brands, how do you plan to differentiate brands like this in the Asia Pacific region, especially as competition increases?
JA: It is true that this is a very recent acquisition of the L’Oréal Group. It’s a brand that everybody would love to have in their bathroom, in your room etc., that inspires everyone. It’s the perfect brand. When you think I was talking before about the five travel retail senses, I think this one is touching every sense of the travel retail senses. Who doesn’t want to have an Aesop gift? Everybody wants.And who doesn’t want to enter an Aesop store – to enjoy, to have a cup of tea?
PM: Well, it’s a real sensorial experience, isn’t it?
JA: Yes, it’s an extremely sensorial experience. And the service. Everything is about the people. We know.
PM: And their knowledge. I have to say that my experience of it is that it’s impressive.
JA: The knowledge, the name of the BA’s, they know everything. I’m very impressed by the Aesop teams, how they talk about their stuff, about their people. They are like the most important part of the brand is the people working for the brand. So I think this is very unique. This is something that is critical in all of our opinions that we are doing.
So staffing is the first step on top of the retail design and the experience that we are offering. So we have, I can tell you, very, very ambitious plans for Aesop in Asia Pacific. We just opened Hainan at the end of last year, the beginning of 2025. We just opened Fukuoka in Japan and there are many more to come very soon.
PM: And Osaka, are you doing anything there?
JA: We are doing a pop-up in Osaka starting in July. And the Fukuoka store, it’s amazing. It’s beautiful. We just opened it.
And Osaka will be amazing, too.
PM: And they both look different?
JA: Different, yes.
PM: Moving on, and you talked about this earlier in this conversation, you’ve talked up the pentarchy approach to partnerships. Now, as we know, this is not easy, given the existing silo thinking that still festers in this business. Last year you did something with Qatar – Airways, airport and Qatar Duty Free. That was deemed to be a success. This year you’ve got the new YSL Changi experience. Just remind us of what you’ve achieved to date and what are your expectations of the industry to pursue this pentarchy route still further?
You know, it’s not easy. There are not many players that you can do this with. But you’re clearly hoping that what you’re doing – if they are proven successes – will have a domino effect in the business and will obviously set out to influence this business, to look collectively at this opportunity. Correct?
JA: Exactly. I think it’s a very good example of everything that is happening during this week, and we’ll come back to this later. But you are right. I think from working in silos, I’m very, very confident with what is happening right now because, as I said before, that we are here to be the new vision of shopper-tainment. But also we had to reinvent our partnership, what we call the pentarchy. That’s why we’re celebrating by hosting the first pentarchy cocktail event with all of you. So it’s never been seen before, and I hope we can celebrate for many years.
PM: You divided that drink into five parts – for Changi Airport Group, The Shilla Duty Free, Meta, Grab and YSL?
JA: Ha ha. Exactly. So, I think what we want to create is really a seamless, open channel, consumer journey – pre-trip, in-trip, post-trip – leveraging the data of the whole ecosystem to better share our travellers. This is the main objective.
PM: And Meta?
JA: So meta, we use it more on the pre-trip part because we have the details of the people who like traveling, so we can target them. And what I think is very important is that, finally, I see for the first time we are probably in an industry which is the one industry with the most data in the world. This we rewrite.
Why didn’t we use it in the past? I think we have been losing so many opportunities, all of us. But I think this is why an activation like YSL’s is a demonstration that, if we work together, we can create value. We can have 1,000 people coming to visit our AI-powered DJ to have makeup look recommendations. We can have people sitting in a Grab and looking at their phone and they can see that they can have an experience when they arrive at the airport. That they can have a makeup/ touch up session.That they can enjoy a YSL cocktail when they arrive. And I think this is fantastic. I really think we are turning around this industry with this pentarchy model, and our idea is to bring it to the next level across the different airports in Asia Pacific and in the world.
We’ve had some meetings. For example, I just had a meeting with Auckland Airport and Lagardère and what they want to do. They want us to meet with the airport ourselves. They would like to see how we can collaborate for the new opening that they are having at the end of the year and to see how we can build a pentarchy in Auckland.
This is an example, but I can tell you many more.This is just the beginning.
PM: I think what you’re doing, the aim, the purpose, is laudable. You know, really, it’s a great idea. I think the traction might take longer, and I’m interested to know the lead time that it took you to get from scratch to the finished article for the YSL activation?. How long did it take you to get all the stakeholders together to do this? Three months, six months?
JA: It took us a little bit less than five months, as we started in January talking about it. We had meetings, of course, led by our Chief Marketing Officer – from online to offline. So that means all the digital, but also for the BAs, the retail, etc.
We also had the support of the Economic Development Board of Singapore.They are an entity as part of the government of Singapore to support companies to grow. They believed strongly in this project and they have been supporting us a lot. It’s very rare that a government will be here with a company.
PM: That does seem extremely rare. So do you feel the benefits of this project are real, are tangible – not just from engagements with your customers, but in terms of the commercial side of it. Simply put, sales? Just how beneficial is this to you? Is it strategic rather than commercial?
JA: It’s both. I think it’s strategic and it’s commercial. You know our mission, the mission of the travel retail channel for L’Oréal Group is, first of all, brand building and brand windows. So this is really ticking the box because we have an outpost at the airport, we’re building the brand for the group. The second is recruitment. Travel retail is a recruitment channel. This is our mission. And this way, with this pentarchy activation, what we want is to recruit. Our obsession is to recruit new consumers. And if they are not buying here, but they are buying in the local market, that’s perfect. I think I’m happy, we are really doing the job.
So right now it’s strategic, yes, because it’s part of our mission: to repeat, brand building and recruitment. But at the same time, we need to have a clear ROI. That’s why it’s very important to decide: what’s the brand that we are going to push? Of course, YSL is one of the hottest brands in the market, so it’s going to be a magnet. It’s going to be an attraction and a moment. So we decided to do it for weeks to maximize our ROI.
PM: But in truth, not everyone, not every brand can afford the luxury of a five month investment program of resources to bring it all all together. As a business, arguably YSL can afford the luxury of doing that, because it is such a great brand, has got great presence and is much loved. So, the benefits for you can be seen to be real and tangible, because they meet your commercial objectives.
Let’s move to another subject that is one of L’Oréal’s key pillars as a business – sustainability. You’ve always taken a market leader’s approach to sustainability. Are you finding the Asia Pacific market is different at all from the rest of the world and why?
JA: What we see is the strongest demand for sustainable consumption in North Asia and in Europe versus the rest of the world.This is very clear. So refills in the beauty market – they are growing at double digit worldwide at the moment, and this is great news. What we also know is that in Asia Pacific 74% of our travellers are looking for sustainable offers. Different offers. So in the end, I really believe that the consumers there start to see that refills, for example, are great value for money. At the end, they are saving money and, at the same time, they are saving the planet.
So this is what we want to do – to educate the consumer. I think there is still a way to go. We want to join this refill movement, and see how we can also convert and recruit. You know that all the markets, local markets, etc, are becoming more competitive over the last four or five years. So to have these refill offers in our business, I think they are helping us to recruit new consumers. Again, that is one of our missions.
PM: So, now I know you don’t have a crystal ball, but when do you confidently predict the market will positively turn?
JA: We do see a positive turn on the airport business.
PM: Already?
JA: Already. What I think is very good news is that I can say we are also gaining market share in travel retail in Asia Pacific and that is very good news. But, in the end, I still see that this year is going to be a year of stabilization of the business.
PM: Consolidation.
JA: Consolidation, yes, with an airport business that is growing and in which we are gaining market share. We know it’s a bit more challenging for downtown. However, I see the year of 2026 as the year of real turnaround for the industry.
PM: So basically, for you, consolidation is matched by ambition. Is that a yes? I’m saying the company is still intent on underpinning everything it does with a growth dynamic.
JA: Yes, that’s true. Of course our objective is to do better after 2023 and 2024 – these years have been challenging for the industry. Yet, to see this energy and the mindset that I see this year at TFWA, I really feel there’s a little more optimism in our retailers,specifically the ones driving the airport business. We really need to continue this momentum.
And L’Oréal, we want to be an accelerator of this growth. Because in travel retail, when you have a company with this level of market share in the beauty industry, the moment we accelerate I think is going to help the whole market.
PM: For sure, it will pull through. So, one last question, Jesus. If there are three things you want to say to the industry right now, what would they be?
JA: The first one is that we need to continue to pioneer, we need to stay ahead of the game. And that’s why I think what we are doing right now, here, is a good example. What we are doing at the airport with YSL, what we are doing with Monopoly, we need to stay all the time ahead of the game. So I also hope that our competitors, like the other sectors in travel retail, that we all have this mindset.
The second one is about the strategic partnership that we are building. We need to continue. I think it’s just the beginning, what we are doing at Changi airport. But I really believe that we would like to bring this to any airport in Asia Pacific. So this is a message for all our stakeholders, to make sure we really work together, to create value for the industry.
And the last one is about people, because we cannot continue this pioneer mindset to be ahead of the game if we don’t have the right people In the industry. I think we all, as leaders, and this is more a message for human resources, and leaders of the industry, etc – I think we need the best talent in the travel retail industry. And for that we need to make this industry attractive. And how do we make this industry attractive? We make it with these activations, animations.And to the people we recruit? Well, that they feel OK. That they say: I want to join travel retail and I want to enter this business. And this, I think, is the next step that we need to take.
