Wella Company Marks First Year as Standalone Organization

Wella Company is marking its one-year anniversary as a stand-alone company. Home to brands such as Wella Professionals, Clairol, OPI, Nioxin, Sebastian Professional and ghd, Wella was founded in Germany in 1880. It returned to independent operating status on in December 2020, led by KKR investing a majority-equity stake, which it has twice increased over the past year.
 
Despite the challenging global environment during COVID-19, Wella said it hired nearly 1,100 people.
 
“In our company’s first year, our team has much to be proud of. We achieved independent status at a difficult time for the beauty industry and have posted strong revenue growth compared against both 2020 and 2019. Our fiscal year, which began on July 1, has started strong. Our overall business is very healthy, and our financial performance is over-delivering against our annual targets across every business and every geography,” said Annie Young-Scrivner, CEO of Wella Company. “We are poised for growth across the globe. We remain focused on delighting customers and consumers with differentiated product innovations, and we will continue to expand across channels and geographies as we unlock the potential of our brands.”
 
Over the past 12 months, the company says it has hit many marks in product performance.
 
For example, True Grey, for consumers who embrace their greys, signed up 10 salons every hour in the first two months across the EMEA region. Koleston Perfect, its permanent professional hair color line, eached a new benchmark, with one tube purchased every second globally, according to Wella.
 
The two biggest brands in the company’s retail hair portfolio, Clairol and Wella, have benefited from reinvestment and brand overhaul. Clairol is now posting strong share gains over seven consecutive months, according to Wella. 
 
On the Wella retail front, the brand delivered a record market share of 24% in Mexico and currently holds the No.1 market position in the Middle East and is also the No. 1 premium brand in Brazil.
 
OPI launched its first natural-origin vegan nail lacquer, Nature Strong, in over 20 markets this summer. Nature Strong has performed even better than anticipated, helping the portfolio grow double digits.

Throughout 2021, Nioxin grew net revenue double-digits over 2020, as more consumers focused on in-home self-care and treatments, including for scalp care and hair loss, during the pandemic.
 
Supporting the salon industry artists to stay ahead of trends and hone their craft and skill sets is part of Wella Company’s DNA, according to the company. Throughout the last year, Wella Company offered hundreds of online education classes to inspire and train stylists. In April, when most of the world was still in lockdown, the Company produced its first global virtual event “WeCreate,” convening industry-leading stylists and educators to tap new skills and rediscover their passion for the craft to enable successfully reopening their salons after lockdown. WeCreate reached more than 100 thousand beauty professionals across 100 countries, and the company donated the course fee to give back to the industry – an investment worth approximately $30 million.
 
“We are privileged to support the salon industry and believe in the power of lifting up the stylists and technicians who make it so unique,” said Young-Scrivner. “These small business owners are the backbone of their communities. We believe that when the industry succeeds, we do too. Our support for beauty salon owners across the globe is just one way we are building a purpose-led business.”
 
STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Wella Company’s most recent personnel appointments made in November extend the global beauty industry capability of the management team:

Yannis Rodocanachi, who has been appointed president, Americas. Rodocanachi brings extensive global beauty experience, having worked with both blue-chip consumer products companies and in high growth private equity-backed hair and beauty startups. He spent nearly 20 years at L’Oréal, expanding hair and beauty portfolios globally, and worked across sales, marketing and general management in Europe, Asia and the U.S. For the last two years, he has been CEO of LA-based BH Cosmetics, where he led the Gen Z-targeted company’s transformation to a diverse, equitable, and sustainable business, while scaling for growth in direct-to-consumer.

Emmanuel Miran, who has joined in the newly created role of chief global technology officer, a move integrating and accelerating the company’s digital and technology ambitions under one organization. Miran brings extensive beauty, CPG, media and healthcare experience, and has served in multiple leadership roles including CIO, CTO and CDO, leveraging and monetizing data and technology to drive growth. He spent more than 16 years with L’Oréal in digital and technology leadership roles. Prior he served as chief technology and digital officer for Mondelez International, News Corp. and most recently International SOS.
 
The company’s management team also includes the additions of Global Chief Financial Officer Virginie Costa; Global Chief People Officer Gretchen Koback Pursel; and President of Global Brands and Global Chief Marketing Officer Hugh Dineen, who all joined in August. 
 
Wella Company now has more than 6,000 employees across more than 100 countries. Currently, 57% of Wella’s employees globally are women and 45% of the women at Wella are at the director level and above. Since December 1, 2020, nearly 70 percent of new hires have been women and about 60% of the total promotions at the company have been earned by women.
 
“We are an industry built on the backbone of women – salon colorists, stylists, nail technicians. In fact, nearly 90 percent of the professional salon industry in the US and UK are comprised of women – but a negligible number are owners of the businesses,” noted Young-Scrivner. “We want to support the success of the industry overall and believe that means doing our part to support women in this industry.”