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View all search resultsYannis Rodocanachi: One face does not fit all for succeeding in the cosmetics industry
(JP/Willy Wilson)Yannis Rodocanachi isnât your regular general manager
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(JP/Willy Wilson) (JP/Willy Wilson)
(JP/Willy Wilson)
Yannis Rodocanachi isn't your regular general manager. He's got a music degree from Berklee, wears his curly brunette locks a few inches below his ears and his crisp, tapered white shirt fits snugly underneath a handsomely cut two-button suit. He also has an infectious laugh and off-the-wall sense of humor. If you met him at a bar, you would probably think that he was a French comedian ' a dapper one at that.
But Rodocanachi is actually the newly appointed general manager for consumer products division of L'Oreal Indonesia, a cosmetic giant that dominates Indonesia's multi-million dollar cosmetic industry. He believes that cultural sensitivity is key in the business of vanity.
L'Oreal manufactures no-frills and accessible personal care products that aim at the middle class segment. The company's clever brand positioning helps boost its global sales, thanks in part to its celebrity brand ambassadors that include Jane Fonda, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Gong Li, and closer to home, Maudy Koesnaedi, Sherina Munaf, Pevita Pearce and Sigit 'Pasha Ungu' Said.
The brand positioning aside, the company owes much of its success to the determination and solidarity of its team. Take Rodocanachi, for instance. Since heading the Indonesian division last May, he regularly visits random Indonesian households to observe the way women use and apply their cosmetics ' a rather eccentric research method for a general manager. But then again, there's nothing conventional about this jazz lover.
The half-Greek, half-French father-of-two says: 'Direct interaction with end users is important. I want to know they way my customers use their personal care products, the amount of cream they apply to their skin, and the desired look they try to achieve.'
Rodocanachi says that research is an integral part of the company's continuous effort in sustaining its position as a market leader. He cites the local version of the BB cream by Maybelline and Garnier (BB stands for blemish balm), an alternative foundation that contains skin-benefiting nutrients, as an example.
With the advent of K-Pop, in which dewy procelain skin is prized, the L'Oreal team formulated BB cream that caters specifically to the Indonesian market. It took years of marketing research and technical testings to produce the BB cream. Today, BB cream is the best selling product under L'Oreal Indonesia.
'Just like its overseas counterparts, the L'Oreal team in Indonesia understands what the local market wants,' says the former general manager for consumer products division in L'Oreal Korea.
'I've spent some time in South Korea researching and developing our brand. I can tell you it isn't easy to win over the Korean market because everyone there is a comestics expert. Did you know on average, Koreans use 10 to 20 grooming products a day?' Rodocanachi says.
So what does he think of the Indonesian market?
'Indonesia offers a young and dynamic market, with such distinctive character as being adaptive and technologically inclined. The diversity of the culture makes this market even more interesting. On a personal note, I find the Indonesian people warm and smiley,' he says.
Rodocanachi describes Jakarta as a walking contradiction that offers millions of opportunities. He is stil getting to know the city, but he says he is loving it so far.
'The contrast of Jakarta makes it magical. Very dynamic. Every morning I try to take different routes to my children's school and to the office,' says the 38-year-old, who resides in Cipete, South Jakarta.
Sense and sensibility
What constitutes beauty may differ from one culture to the other, and Rodocanachi reckons that to thrive in this business a cosmetics company shouldn't try to standardize the definition of beauty.
'Our success lies in the fact that we empower regular people. We make them feel confident, and we make them aspire to be the best version of themselves,' Rodocanachi says, refering to the famous L'Oreal 'Because You're Worth It' tagline.
'The goal is to make the customers feel confident. The business is pretty simple ' find out what the market wants, formulate the products and rest assured you will be successful. But the initial stage of understanding the market is crucial. Again, direct interaction with customers is key,' he adds.
Suffice to say that Rodocanachi's understanding of the cosmetics business runs deep. Sure he's got two master's degrees ' a business degree from the prestigious REIMS Business School and a corporate law degree from ASSAS respectively ' to help him run a global company. But he credits his education and interest in music for his success in this industry.
'Music taught me to be sensitive and observant ' two skills that proved to be crucial in the cosmetics industry,' he says.
The fact that Rodonacachi is interested in culture, too, has helped him build an international career.
'I personally love to discover things about culture and people. It enriches me as a person. Perhaps my mixed heritage makes me more open to different cultures,' he says.
Mastering a local language, he adds, is crucial. It took him six months to be able to understand ' read and write ' the Korean language. And he's determined to do exactly that in Indonesia.
'Contrary to popular belief, the reading and writing is the easy part ' stringing a sentence is the hard part,' he says of the Korean language.
'In Indonesia, I make it a point to surround myself with people who don't speak English as much as I do. I want to push myself to learn the language,' he says.
So how long will he take to master the Indonesian language?
'I will tell you the answer to that question in three months,' he quips.
Yannis Rodocanachi
Place/ date of birth: France, July 1975
Experience
More than 12 years in L' Oreal. Holds position as general manager of the consumer products division of PT L'Oreal Indonesia since early May, 2013. Previously, he held strategic managerial positions, including general manager of consumer products division in L'Oreal Korea since the end of 2011, the national account director of Carrefour in 2010 and global vice president for Garnier. He started his career as part of an international marketing team created at L'Oreal's Paris headquarters in 2001.
Education
Holds a Master of Science in Business from E.S.C. REIMS Business School and Master of Corporate Law from ASSAS French Law University.
