How does Hilla Ram, P&G Beauty’s senior vice president of global hair care brands and global beauty analytics and insights leader, keep an eye on innovation? With her eyes wide open.
“Our brands have done a good job of remaining relevant over the past 50, 60, 70, 80 years,” she said. “You can see their journey and how the different changes in society, in the world, and in the beauty landscape were taken into consideration and brought them where they are. That’s what keeps them relevant. Really understanding the world around us is our job.”
Related Articles
Ram, who manages Head & Shoulders, Pantene and Herbal Essences in addition to analytics and insights, brings a breadth of brand experience from other categories.
“I joined P&G in 2000 from fabric care, where I spent 12 years,” she said. “Then, I moved into a market operations role, then to a corporate role. By some luck, I met Alex Keith [P&G Beauty’s chief executive officer], who interviewed me to come to beauty, and I moved in 2015.”
She also held roles in skin care and personal care, including Olay and Safeguard, “which was a nice journey to understand China and the Philippines, where the brand is really strong, and understand consumers there,” Ram said.
It’s consumer understanding that drives executives. “I get to go into consumers’ homes all over the world and see everything from the inside,” she said. “To go into people’s homes and learn about their lives, and being able to change their lives a little bit is something I’ve loved since Day One.”
Ram recently went to China, where industry-wide performance has lagged due to COVID-19 restrictions. Though the market remains a priority for beauty brands internationally, she said the landscape has shifted dramatically.
“It was fascinating to see the changes that have happened in the past three years. On a macro level, it was difficult to pay for anything because everything is either WeChat or AliPay. How do we get integrated back into a country that was fairly isolated for three years?” she said. “The media landscape has changed dramatically, with TikTok, livestream selling and the tools we need to have as marketers.”
Her new mandate is finding the sweet spot between consumer behavior and brands with decades of DNA behind them. “Focusing on the brands I manage, there are different consumers, different needs different trajectories and different challenges ahead of us,” she said. “These are big brands that we need to keep iconic over time, keep relevant and even trendy, and prepare them for the future.”
Though there’s lots of runway ahead in terms of sustainability and consumer values, Ram is still measured in her approach. “With brands this size, you have to do it and not just jump to the next thing. You’ll lose the core of the brand,” she said. “At my level, it’s not about you, it’s about the people who work with you, and how you’re going to build them and coach them to be the next generation of leaders.”