CEW (UK) Business Breakfast
Clive Christian, founder, Clive Christian; Marcia Kilgore, founder and creative director, Soap and Glory and FitFlop; George Hammer, CEO, Urban Retreat; Samir Arora, co-founder, chairman and CEO, Glam Media; Matthew Gwyther, moderator.
Posted: February 16, 2009
Despite the snowy weather that has reaked havoc with travel in England, CEW (UK) members turned out in force on February 5, 2009, to listen to George Hammer, CEO, Urban Retreat; Marcia Kilgore, founder and creative director, Soap and Glory and FitFlop; Clive Christian, founder, Clive Christian; and Samir Arora, co-founder, chairman and CEO, Glam Media; discuss the current market situation and how they were dealing with it.“Every crisis we face on the business and on the personal front is an opportunity as well as a threat," noted Roisin Donnelly, corporate marketing director, P&G; CEW (UK) chairman, prior to the event. "It is an opportunity to re-invent your brand, to re-invent your company and to re-invent yourself. It is an opportunity to focus on your strengths.”
In a spirited, lively and sometimes funny debate each member of the panel fielded questions such as:
- Will the new austerity spell trouble for the beauty industry?
- What are the opportunities to start a new beauty venture in the current climate?
- How will the face of retail change for the beauty industry?
- Is there room for more beauty brands in a very crowded market?
The overall impression of many of those in attendance was that the impact of the economic downturn was not having as bad of an impact on the beauty industry as some other consumer categories. Each of the speakers was very upbeat about their business and the outlook for 2009.
CEW (UK)’s next events is the Mentoring Series (March 27, 2009), featuring Judy Deuchar, director of merchandising, QVC UK.