This is a new step for both, the former manager of luxury brands, and for the agency created in 1988 by David Nitlich and Elie Papiernik and dedicated to "fine brands". Thibault Ponroy [1] intends to give a new dimension to projects related to construction and transformation of brands, by integrating upstream, concerns from retailers and by supporting the internationalization process of the company.

Premium Beauty News - What are the main reasons for this co-operation?

Thibault Ponroy - In the first place it is a human adventure

I have known David and Elie for nearly 15 years. I have had the opportunity to appreciate their talent when I was President of Guerlain. We worked together on great projects: Habit Rouge, Issima, Terra Cota, Aqua Alegoria, Divinora...

We discovered we had quite a few intellectual affinities, the same vision of projects on the long term, the desire to do things of quality, an aversion for flashy stuff. So the connection was done quite simply. David told me about his project of international development and I offered my services. After that, things followed on. We signed our agreement in July and I arrived at the agency last August 24.

Premium Beauty News - Specifically, what topics are you going to focus on, at the agency?

Thibault Ponroy - Mainly, on two components. The first one is related the international development to which I am going to contribute using my own experience of international markets. The second component is related to my knowledge of issues linked to distribution.

We also want to integrate ahead of projects the essential dimension of “retail”. We have a saying in our business: “retail is detail”. And obviously today, it is inconcevable to design a product without also considering its putting up for sale, its positioning on the shelves among other competitors.

Centdegrés should soon have new strings to its bow with new jobs associated to categories such as management, merchandising, definition of assortments, CRM...

Thibault Ponroy (left), on 11 February 2009 in Paris, during the lunch-debate organized by Beautyfull Club

Premium Beauty - News - It is rather atypical

Thibault Ponroy - If I reflect on my career (almost thirty years in the cosmetic industry and its distribution), I realize that I have made changes in directions every six years.

I like to join a company to solve issues, develop products, and take chances...I arrived at Helena Rubinstein’s, when the brand was struggling on the European market. I took office in RoC to create retinol straight from the lab and invent new creams that have become the brand’s best-sellers...

Centdegrés attracted me because of its great potential, its people, and its projects. And also I made a choice that is priceless. The choice of freedom!

Premium Beauty News - A few words about the Agency Centdegrés

Thibault Ponroy - Like its managers, they are passionate people. About 30 of them. The creative pole has the characteristic of being divided into three sections that characterize the businesses of the agency: volume design, image, architecture.

Centdegrés has developed a methodology of its own: co-creation. The principle is to integrate the client into the creative process. The work done with the brand Herborist, owned by the Chinese group Yahweh, is a perfect example.

In 2006 the agency was consulted by this major Chinese conglomerate, which has a joint venture with LVMH. The challenge was to rethink one of the brands based on traditional medicines, Herborist, in order to seduce the Asian market but also the international market.

The Herborist project went on for two years with many exchanges between China and France.

One of the fifteen designers in the Herborist team in China even integrated for some time, the team of Centdegrés in Paris to end up with a “fair” creation that reflects perfectly the origins of the brand and its ancestral know-how. Centdegrés also designed the network architecture of 200 shops in China and a SPA of nearly 1,000 sqm in Shanghai.

Premium Beauty News - What are in concrete terms the projects of the agency regarding international development?

Thibault Ponroy - Last April Centdegrés opened an office in Casablanca and in May an office in Shanghai.

The story with China did not start yesterday. David and Elie actually created their first structure in Hong Kong in 87. For years now the agency has been working for major actors of the cosmetics industry in Asia. The establishment of an office in Shanghai, managed by Cecile Devillers, will strengthen our presence with these clients. We will be able to better assist them in the development of premium brands for the Asian and international markets.

In addition, Morocco is a country with a high development potential. Politically stable, not really affected by the crisis in the North African countries, the middle class is organizing itself and can prevail upon interesting intellectual elite who will build the country’s economy for tomorrow.

Premium Beauty News - What are the next steps?

Thibault Ponroy - Our development focuses essentially on emerging countries. It is our ability to build major international luxury brands that interest them, our know-how the French way, the "French Touch".

Centdegrés has indeed many references in the cosmetic and perfume sector such as: JP Gaultier, Givenchy, Dior, Guerlain, Lanvin, l’Artisan Parfumeur....etc.