Estée Lauder es una empresaria estadounidense que fundó el imperio cosmético empresa «Estée Lauder».2 fotos

Today, it is impossible to imagine the world of perfumes and cosmetics without Estée Lauder products, which are sold in over 70 countries around the globe. Starting with a family recipe for a cream, Estée Lauder founded a family business that generates an annual turnover of 5 billion dollars, accounting for 45% of the American cosmetics market. Estée Lauder is indeed a family-owned enterprise, with half of the shares and 91% of the voting rights held by the founders’ family. They also hold key positions in the company’s management. Estée Lauder (Josephine Esther Mentzer) was born on July 1, 1908, in Queens, New York, USA. Her parents were Jewish Hungarian immigrants. As a child, Estée always wanted to look like her beautiful mother. Later, without completing school, she married accountant Joseph Lauder in 1930 and began selling the homemade creams she produced with her husband. Estée’s uncle, John Schott, was a chemist who made facial creams; the curious niece tried them out herself and then took on preparing them. In 1933, the Lauders placed an advertisement for their products in the telephone directory. They also offered their products for sale in beauty salons and hotels in New York and Miami. It is hard to believe today that this famous cosmetics empire, with tens of thousands of stores worldwide, began as a small family business started by Estée and Joseph Lauder. The advantage of their creams lay in the fact that Estée never deceived her customers—her products were of excellent quality, even though no one knew they were made at night in the kitchen. As a true woman, Estée understood that almost every woman only had ten minutes in the morning and evening to take care of her skin, and during that time, her skin needed to look young and radiant. Therefore, the concept of “fast and effective” proved to be unbeatable, and the company’s main slogan became: “Image is everything.” Once, at a charity event at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Estée presented guests with 80 gift sets containing her new lipsticks—unlike most lipsticks of the time, they were packaged in convenient, shiny metal containers. The sophisticated ladies of high society appreciated this innovation, and as a result, the prestigious department store Saks Fifth Avenue placed its first order for cosmetics, amounting to a huge sum of 800 dollars. This was the first step towards building an empire. In 1946, the Lauders founded Estée Lauder Company, and they personally delivered the products to customers. Soon after, they appointed major department stores as their distributors. Estée was one of the first to offer free samples of perfumes and cosmetics before purchases. Another of her innovative ideas was to include gifts with products, which helped build customer loyalty to the brand—for example, sample kits containing various products. Estée firmly believed in distributing samples for free. In the early 1950s, this was a completely new approach, and although many competitors were skeptical, it proved successful, and this practice later became common in the global cosmetics industry. In 1953, the Lauders began producing perfume products. By investing 50,000 dollars in samples sent free by mail, they attracted a large number of new customers. The company initially produced bath oils, followed by perfumes and colognes. Their products quickly gained popularity among consumers, thanks in part to their clever marketing strategies. Starting from the 1960s, the company began offering an increasingly wide range of products and entering new markets. By the end of the century, 18 of its brands accounted for half of the cosmetics sales volume in American department stores. One of the company’s latest achievements under the founder’s leadership was its entry into the Soviet market in 1981, when its products appeared in stores in Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev. However, after her husband’s death, Estée withdrew from business operations, and her eldest son, Leonard, was appointed CEO of the company. Always kind, charming, and proactive, she maintained a rare passion and determination throughout her life. Even in formal occasions, she often wore outfits in strikingly bright colors. She never sought attention for herself; instead, she emphasized that the true values of her empire were family, home, and children. Estée Lauder passed away on April 24, 2004, in Manhattan, New York, USA.