Jean Paul Agon

Biography

 Agon joined L’Oréal in 1978 after completing his studies at the HEC International Business School. He has spent his entire career in prominent sales and marketing positions across several markets with the company. He started as a product manager for the Consumer Products division in France when he was 24 years old[2] and then in 1981 was appointed General Manager of L'Oréal Greece, where he laid the foundations of a solid business. In 1985, he returned to France as General Manager of L'Oreal Paris, where he oversaw a number of key launches and successes, including Studio Line, Plénitude and Elsève. In 1989, he became International Managing Director for Biotherm, remodeling and endowing the brand with international appeal. In 1994, he became Managing Director of L'Oréal Germany, where he played a key role in dealing with issues related to European markets, at the time suffering a slowdown in growth. In 1997, he was entrusted with the task of setting up and heading the L'Oreal Asia Zone in the midst of an economic crisis. He created subsidiaries in a number of countries, stepped up investment and recruited a new generation of local talent.

Research Interest

 Agon has shaped a new philosophy of global marketing with his doctrine of universalization: beauty for all. Another focus is on expanding into developing countries, with the goal of winning one billion new customers by 2020.[9] In addition to his vision for L’Oreal, Jean-Paul Agon also has strong viewpoints on corporate social responsibility; often being quoted as stating “the leader in beauty must be exemplary in terms of the environment.” To this end, L’Oreal has made the commitment to halve their CO2 emissions, water consumption and waste production within the next 10 years.[10] Jean-Paul Agon has stated that corporate social responsibility issues are as important as business profitability and this is shown with the announcement of the group wide sustainability plan that was announced in 2013.