Marketing is a dynamic and multifaceted field that is constantly evolving in response to changes in technology, consumer behavior, and the economic landscape. With the rapid development of digital technologies and the globalization of markets, companies must adapt their marketing strategies to maintain a competitive edge.
Kirill Baryshkov, Global Business Partner at L'Oreal Group (an Innovative Digital Marketing Initiative), shared his insights into current marketing trends, best practices, and strategies that will help companies stand out in the market and capture the attention of target audiences.
— Kirill, could you describe your marketing career path before you joined L'Oréal?
My journey in advertising and communication began in 2007, with my first role in print media providing a strong foundation in the industry. The 2008 economic crisis, however, served as a pivotal moment, prompting me to diversify my skills and embrace the emerging field of digital marketing. This shift started a more data-driven and adaptable approach to campaign strategy. During this time, I transitioned to an advertising agency as a media planner, solidifying my commitment to the marketing profession.
At the agency, I managed marketing campaigns for Heineken, overseeing projects across more than 37 brands and integrating international and local strategies. This role expanded my expertise from traditional print advertising to include TV, sponsorship collaborations, and the burgeoning digital landscape.
Collaborating with clients like General Motors allowed me to refine a partnership-driven approach, align goals, and employ innovative communication strategies to deliver tangible business outcomes. Together, we monitored Chevrolet and Opel's sustained leadership in car sales in Russia—a shared success that underscored the power of strategic alignment and teamwork.
The marketing industry during this period experienced rapid evolution, with digital platforms reshaping the landscape. My focus naturally shifted from traditional channels to digital innovations. General Motors embraced this transformation, providing opportunities to experiment with groundbreaking strategies over the next five years.
In 2015, General Motors' decision to exit the Russian market marked a turning point for the agency and my professional journey. It coincided with personal challenges, pushing me to redefine my career path. I advanced to a senior role at Zenith Agency and transitioned to managing a new client portfolio in a completely different sector: beauty and personal care with L'Oréal.
In 2015, I collaborated closely with L'Oréal as the company looked to optimize its brand management strategy, allowing me to apply my skills in digital and analytics in a new and impactful way. I had the opportunity to work with a portfolio of 37 global beauty brands, which separate agencies under Dentsu and Publicis had previously managed. I contributed to optimizing L'Oréal's brand management strategy, leveraging my digital marketing and analytics expertise to drive efficiency and innovation. This transition aligned with significant industry shifts as digital transformation emerged as a central theme in marketing.
Joining L'Oréal in 2016 during this critical period of change marked the beginning of a nearly eight-year journey, during which I supported the company's digital evolution. This chapter of my career exemplifies my broader 17-year trajectory in marketing—one characterized by adaptability, strategic thinking, and a commitment to leveraging innovation to drive meaningful business results.
— How has your knowledge and expertise benefited the company going forward?
A year into my work with L'Oréal, the growing importance of digital innovation across the industry became undeniable. Recognizing my expertise, L'Oréal invited me to transition from the agency side to an in-house role, leading a new team focused on data analytics and media marketing. This position allowed me to drive the company's digital evolution in Russia and shape the approach to consumer engagement and media strategy.
Two factors were instrumental in our success. First, L'Oréal's openness to experimentation created an ideal environment for innovation. The company supported our ideas, welcomed new hypotheses, and encouraged us to test different approaches. Second, the diversity of its brand portfolio offered unparalleled opportunities. From mass-market products to luxury goods, professional-grade offerings, and near-medical solutions, each campaign allowed us to target distinct audiences and explore various industries.
This variety not only made the work engaging but also expanded my expertise across multiple market segments. Navigating these challenges reinforced the value of creativity and data-driven strategies in today's fast-evolving marketing landscape.
— What were your direct responsibilities in this department? What innovative techniques and developments did you implement, and what were the outcomes?
One of my key priorities at L'Oréal was ensuring that every marketing investment was both justified and impactful. This role reinforced the importance of measurable results and ROI, instilling a results-driven mindset within my team. I operated under a simple yet powerful principle: every dollar spent on marketing should not only recover its cost but ideally generate double the profit while positively influencing sales.
In industries where major players often allocate significant budgets to marketing, oversight of spend can easily become blurred. I recognized the need for tighter control and introduced more effective strategies for working with large media platforms. This improved budget management allowed us to reinvest savings into additional advertising opportunities, directly boosting campaign reach and sales performance. Feedback from customers validated these efforts—they remembered seeing our ads on YouTube, Google partner sites, and major social platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Another critical initiative stemmed from observing inefficiencies in agency operations. I advocated for building an in-house team to enhance our agility and responsiveness, which proved invaluable in fostering a collaborative environment and driving efficient campaign management. At the time, this approach was innovative and required thorough justification through audits, profitability analysis, and demonstrated business impact.
The results spoke for themselves. Within the first year, our in-house team had not only paid for itself but had also generated a profit, significantly enhancing our marketing efforts. Over the next two years, the team tripled in size and took on greater digital responsibilities, proving the value of in-house expertise. This success became a model for others in the market, inspiring similar transformations across the industry.
— What was the cost-effectiveness of this project?
When substantial and consistent marketing investments deliver positive results, the next logical questions arise: What's next? When do we reach a point where the current strategy no longer delivers the same returns? These questions became even more pressing during the COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered rapid shifts in consumer behavior. E-commerce surged to record levels, with up to 80% of purchases occurring online, dramatically reshaping the retail landscape.
To stay ahead of these changes, I focused on improving how we collected and analyzed customer information. I hypothesized that deeper insights into consumer behavior could unlock new growth opportunities. This involved analyzing a range of data, from sales figures and ad interactions to consumer emotions, preferences, and habits. By integrating data from multiple sources, we developed a clearer picture of customer preferences and enhanced the precision of our targeting strategies, all powered by big data.
This data-driven approach delivered a holistic understanding of our customers. It revealed how they searched for information, interacted with our 37-brand portfolio—including Garnier, NYX, Maybelline, La Roche-Posay, Vichy, Lancôme, Prada, Redken, and Armani—and how their purchase of one product influenced sales across the portfolio. We also identified patterns in customer preferences for media channels, reasons for delayed purchases, and triggers that encouraged them to complete transactions.
The impact was transformative. Our brands not only topped national sales charts but also grew several times faster than the market average. This approach enabled more agile decision-making, allowing us to quickly adjust campaigns or redirect resources for maximum impact. For example, by tracking the effectiveness of marketing communications in real-time, we were able to account for factors like seasonality, economic shifts, and major disruptions like the pandemic.
Internally, this project reshaped operations across the company. It underscored the interconnectedness of marketing, finance, logistics, and other departments. For instance, a successful advertising campaign that boosted sales would trigger a ripple effect—requiring increased production, inventory purchases, and adjustments to budgets. As a result, departments began functioning like the synchronized gears of a Swiss watch, gaining a deeper understanding of one another's roles and accelerating overall processes.
This digitization journey not only positioned our brands for sustained success but also fostered a culture of agility and collaboration, ensuring that the company could adapt to the fast-changing demands of the digital age.
— What innovations and projects are you working on now that you have moved to the company's global office in Paris?
My current focus is on a digital marketing initiative aimed at enhancing our understanding of consumer behavior and refining sales strategies. By employing advanced analytical tools, this project uncovers actionable insights into how various marketing activities influence performance across diverse markets. These insights allow us to track trends in real time, adapt strategies dynamically, and maintain a competitive edge.
One of the most transformative aspects of this initiative is its ability to predict sales with remarkable accuracy tailored to specific regions, brands, and product categories. My involvement in international projects has provided valuable experience in addressing cultural nuances and market-specific demands, enabling us to customize marketing approaches for key regions such as Germany, the UK, the US, and China.
This initiative goes beyond traditional analytics by scaling to unprecedented levels of complexity. As the data sets expand, our understanding of sales processes deepens, creating a comprehensive view of consumer behavior and market dynamics. To date, no other company has undertaken a comparable large-scale, in-house solution. We are charting new territory, setting a precedent for how marketing analytics can drive innovation and elevate performance on a global scale.
— In addition to your work at L'Oréal, you are actively involved in education and mentoring. What is your mission in these roles?
Mentoring has become a true passion of mine. It's not just about passing on expertise; it's also an opportunity to gain fresh perspectives from younger professionals, which keeps me adaptable and forward-thinking. This dynamic exchange of ideas fosters a unique understanding of the business and ensures we remain open to innovation.
One of the greatest lessons I've learned from mentoring is how valuable it is to challenge established routines. Long-standing experience can sometimes create blind spots where familiar processes are followed without question. Younger team members, however, often ask why things are done a certain way or suggest ways to accelerate them. Their insights often lead to breakthroughs, proving that faster or more efficient approaches are indeed possible.
My passion for knowledge transfer extends beyond the workplace. I actively collaborate with universities to share insights on digital marketing, highlighting its importance not only in e-commerce but also in driving a company's overall financial performance. I've conducted several educational programs designed to inspire and equip the next generation of marketers with actionable skills and strategies.
Currently, I'm preparing a new course on digital marketing for a leading educational platform in Russia, where I'll serve as both the author and instructor. This initiative allows me to combine my professional expertise with my enthusiasm for teaching, helping to shape the future of the marketing industry while staying energized and inspired by the process.
— You actively engage with professional marketing associations and serve as a jury member for various marketing awards. What is the essence and value of this work?
Being actively involved in professional organizations has been instrumental in keeping me attuned to industry developments. I am a member of the Interactive Advertising Development Association (Russia) and the Association of National Advertisers (USA), two key organizations shaping the future of advertising. Beyond membership, I regularly contribute as an invited jury member for prominent industry awards. This year alone, I had the privilege of evaluating entries for the E+ Awards (formerly Effie Russia and MIXX Russia Awards), the Digital Awards (Armenia), and the Silver Mercury (Russia).
Serving on award juries provides a unique vantage point—a helicopter view of current market trends and emerging innovations. It helps me gain deeper insights into the industry's evolution and allows for constructive dialogue on navigating controversial or unconventional solutions. These experiences are invaluable for identifying ambitious ideas that can inspire and influence my professional strategies.
What excites me most about this work is the opportunity to collaborate with talented and visionary professionals who share a commitment to progress and creativity. The wealth of innovative concepts I encounter through these platforms fuels my thinking and often provides actionable insights that I can adapt and integrate into my business practices.
— What trends in marketing do you recommend following right now? What trends do you consider to be the most promising?
The rapid advancement of AI, machine learning, and generative technologies is opening up transformative possibilities for marketers. These tools are redefining how we approach strategy, providing deeper consumer insights, and enabling more personalized, meaningful interactions. As these technologies evolve, they not only enhance efficiency but also unlock new creative opportunities for brands to connect with their audiences.
Among these innovations, GPT chats and other generative tools stand out as game-changers. By simplifying business processes and automating repetitive tasks, they free up valuable time for strategic thinking and innovation. This shift allows marketers to focus on what matters most: crafting campaigns that resonate and drive results.
Equally important is keeping a close eye on market leaders like Apple and Meta. Their bold moves often dictate the direction of marketing trends, reshaping the industry landscape for both marketers and consumers. Understanding and adapting to these shifts is essential for staying competitive and future-ready.
The convergence of these technological advancements with the influence of industry giants presents an exciting era for marketing—one that requires agility, foresight, and a commitment to innovation.
