On October 4, Unilever announced that Mary Carmen Gasco-Buisson has been appointed as the new CEO of its Prestige Beauty division. Gasco-Buisson will officially join Unilever on November 1, succeeding Vasiliki Petrou, who announced her resignation in June. She will report directly to Priya Nair, President of the Beauty & Wellbeing division.
Gasco-Buisson previously worked at Unilever, where she served as the global brand leader for popular personal care brands such as Axe and Lynx, managing their P&L. More recently, she was the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Executive Vice President of Global Business Units at jewelry brand Pandora, where she spearheaded high-profile campaigns featuring Pamela Anderson and established a partnership with the British Fashion Council. These achievements significantly elevated Pandora’s marketing strategy.
In addition, Gasco-Buisson brings over 20 years of experience in the beauty and prestige sectors, including her time at Procter & Gamble (P&G). Unilever has expressed confidence in her leadership, stating she has “strong experience building both entrepreneurial and more established brands, and is the right person to lead Unilever Prestige during this next phase of its growth journey.”
In a LinkedIn post, Gasco-Buisson expressed her excitement: “Unilever Prestige is a portfolio of 10 beautiful brands across skin, hair and colour cosmetics, built over the last 10 years by Vasiliki Petrou – a leader I know and respect enormously. I have worked in beauty for most of my career and I am thrilled to be returning to lead these brands and teams of entrepreneurial, talented and passionate people into the next chapter of growth.”
Under Petrou’s leadership, Unilever’s Prestige Beauty division has grown into one of the company’s key business pillars. The acquisition of brands such as Dermalogica in 2015 and the recent addition of K-18 Biomimetic Hair Science has strengthened Unilever’s presence in the premium beauty market.
However, the Prestige Beauty division has seen a slowdown in growth recently due to the deceleration of the U.S. market. In Unilever’s financial results for the first half of 2024, overall sales growth reached 7.1%, but the Prestige segment experienced some stagnation.
This new leadership announcement comes at a time when Unilever is reportedly considering selling some of its Prestige brands, such as Ren and Kate Somerville, as part of the company’s broader strategy to streamline operations, improve profitability, and deliver more value to shareholders.