Alice Bézirard-Fischer
Media lead, Coty
Years in current position : 3
Years with company: 4
Size of department: 10
Previous jobs
• 2011-2014: Global account manager at Awin (Europe’s leading affiliate marketing agency)
• 2014-2017: Head of Affiperf (trading desk) at Havas Media Middle East
Recent campaigns
Measuring impact of online advertising on in-store sales – Bourjois (September 2019). Reinventing product trial in a post lockdown world – Max Factor, Rimmel, Bourjois (May 2020).
Career highlights
Throughout my career, I have had the fortune to be part of transformational initiatives, from launching a trading desk from scratch in the region to leading the in-housing of digital media at Coty in the Middle East.
Recent achievements
Getting away from the digital media bubble, and expanding the work we do into other departments, working much closer with production, retail partners and our own beauty advisors.
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What is your objective in your current role?
Make sure that we are always innovating and the first to try alphas and betas.
Do you have a guiding principle?
Always move forward.
How do you make agency relationships work?
They work best when both client and agency interests converge, and everyone truly feels as one team.
What have you learned from a specific failure?
I’ve learned to step back, evaluate and action-plan. There are a lot of learnings in failure, but it’s the analysis that drives change.
What work do you wish you had done?
I love the Burger King guerrilla tactics. I also love brand integrations, and hip hop is one of my passions; I think the recent Drake and Nike collaboration is a brilliant use of product placement.
Who inspires you professionally?
Too many to mention, but I’ve had a lot of mentors in my career who share the same traits: they are fearless and will do what’s right for tomorrow vs. right now.
How has Covid-19 changed your business?
It changed everything. From the way we engage with consumers to how we’ve become more efficient and focused in the way we deploy media.
What is the biggest challenge in marketing at the moment?
In beauty, maintaining aspiration in a hyper-fragmented media ecosystem.
What is the next big trend in marketing?
The transformation that we will see from the rollout of 5G – augmented reality will be everywhere.
What can we expect to see from you and your brand in the next year?
Striking a better balance between brand-building and e-commerce.
Agency reference
Antoine Challita, head of CPG in MENA, Snap Inc
Alice has been a key player and contributor to our partnership with Coty Inc. Over the last 12 months we have managed to work closely with Alice to leverage leaned-in audiences in the Discover side of Snapchat, and help build brand equity and proximity for Coty’s consumer beauty products. Alice has been very perceptive as well for opportunities in Snapchat’s camera-based advertising solutions that create and accelerate consideration and demand for Coty’s brands.
I am very proud of our partnership and how we have managed to work with Alice to ensure that Snapchat’s advertising solutions’ value gets captured efficiently across Coty’s business. What has been enriching for us is the insights and feedback that come across our many collaborations. The way our partnership grew over time – and how Coty sees us as a valued partner – is something that we constantly celebrate at Snap.
What we pride ourselves on the most would be the ongoing work we are doing with Coty on augmented reality (AR). The best output we have usually comes from the clarity in thinking of decision-makers on the advertiser’s side. In the case of Coty, Alice formulated a clear problem that we had a solution for. I recall some of our conversations when we were tasked to support Coty in attracting existing and potential shoppers to try on beauty products in a safe way at home and in the retail environment. Given the utility Snapchatters see in our camera, and the scale we see in usage across the world and in this region specifically, we identified the effective routes to deliver on Alice’s objectives. The information and business results that Alice shares with us throughout these projects keep us engaged and we are really proud to have delivered top-line business results.
I would say that Alice is clear on what she wants and is very collaborative. she doesn’t mind debating ideas, but she is very conscious that there is time for discussions and time for getting the job done.
Rapid fire
What are you working on?
Becoming a better photographer. I also recently attended a street art workshop as part of Expo 2020.
Who are you following?
Cinema Akil, SoleDxb, The Good Life, and a lot of Street art artists across the world.
What are you craving?
Din Tai Fung. I go there at least once a week.
What are you hiding from?
Covid-19.
What are you playing?
I discovered Overcooked during lockdown. It is my first time playing games with my husband on the PS4, and I am addicted.
What are you listening to?
Mostly US and French hip-hop.
What are you reading?
I just finished The Culture Map by Erin Mayer, and am starting a French graphic novel about the history of hip hop.
What are you watching?
The Queen’s Gambit. Who knew chess could be visually exciting?
Where are you isolating?
At home.
What did you learn over lockdown?
Stop planning. ‘After corona’ is the new ‘Inshallah’.
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