Estee Lauder 2004 Annual Report Download - page 12

Our online business, for example, has become a channel-of-choice for a growing number of consumers. This year
our e-commerce business grew 36%. But the real benefit of our Internet activities is the deeper rapport we are
building with our consumers by telling them about new launches and inviting them to the counter.
NEW PEOPLE FOR OUR FAMILY
Our family of companies grows every year. This year we welcomed many wonderful new people to the fold.
We will be working with Doctors Katie Rodan and Kathy Fields, two Stanford-trained dermatologists, in growing
and expanding a highly effective line called Rodan + Fields Multi-Med Therapy. As practicing dermatologists,
Doctors Rodan and Fields witnessed the physical and emotional scars that acne, rosacea, hyperpigmentation
and other skin conditions leave behind. Their mission is to maximize the health and well-being of skin through
products that deliver proven results.
Late in the last fiscal year, we also joined forces with the Paris-based company Laboratoires Darphin. Darphin is
botanical beauty refined to the most sophisticated and advanced level. Darphin has three commitments to its
consumer: targeted personalized skin care treatments, holistic plant benefits and the highest quality ingredients.
Darphin is primarily available in independent European pharmacies, a new distribution channel for us. We are
delighted to have the opportunity to enter these highly professional pharmacies,which are growing more rapidly
than either perfumeries or department stores in Continental Europe.
In this exciting year, we announced the creation of a new division, BeautyBank, a think-tank for new brand
concepts and global business opportunities. In October 2003, BeautyBank’s first project was born. We entered
into a strategic alliance with Kohl’s department stores to build and manage new cosmetic departments for their
stores. We are currently the sole provider of branded cosmetics and skin care for approximately 600 Kohl’s stores.
This fall you will see three new brands developed by our BeautyBank entrepreneurs debuting at Kohl’s:
• American Beauty, a full collection of makeup and skin care celebrating the beauty of American style
• Flirt!, a makeup line with more than 250 shades that encourages the consumer to flirt with the possibilities
• Good Skin,™ a skin care line that is easy to choose, easy to use and doctor-formulated to deliver targeted results
This year we associated ourselves with some very exciting celebrities. Actress Ashley Judd is the ideal
spokeswoman for our new American Beauty brand. We also signed a license agreement to create a
line of fragrances and other beauty products with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and his Sean John fashion label. Through
his success in music and theater, and by most recently winning the Council of Fashion Designers in America
Menswear Designer of the Year award, Mr. Combs is unquestionably a leading trendsetter of our times.
Additionally, the Tommy Hilfiger Toiletries division created a new fragrance called True Star in cooperation with
superstar Beyoncé Knowles.
THANK YOU TO FRED LANGHAMMER
No discussion of people in our Company would be complete without talking about Fred Langhammer. Fred, a vital
part of our Company for 30 years and our President and Chief Executive Officer for the last four years, decided
to retire at the end of fiscal year 2004.
10
WITH COUNTRIES SUCH AS RUSSIA, CHINA
AND INDIA CREATING VAST NEW MIDDLE-CLASS
COMMUNITIES, OUR PROSPECTS ABOUND.