Premium Beauty News - You seem to be optimistic regarding the BeautyFULL Club and its development in 2009?

Charles-Emmanuel Gounod - Yes, I am. Only six months after its launch, our association, which aims at gathering leaders from the entire health-and-beauty industry, from the producers of perfumed components and cosmetic ingredients to final retailers, through manufacturers of packaging and finished products, is totalling more than sixty members. It’s a very encouraging figure.

Rexam’s Charles-Emmanuel Gounod , President of the BeautyFULL Club

Premium Beauty News - What is the main reason for this success?

Charles-Emmanuel Gounod - I think there are many reasons for it but, one thing is certain, the BeautyFULL Club’s vocation to gather all the industry in order to work on common issues is addressing a real need.

Whether your name is Intercos, L’Occitane, Kurz or Sothys, Clarins, or Guerlain, the need to share the work on some common issues has become evident. More specifically, I’m thinking about everything linked to environmental concerns, to counterfeiting or professional training.

It’s no longer possible to go it alone, with the risk to miss a key factor within the industry and with the subsequent risk that all the energy invested in a project be slashed by such a lack of connection with other concerned people. That’s the philosophy under the work made by our Environment Working Group, which is chaired by RPC’s Gérald Martines.

Additional working groups are being created and will be operative in 2009.

Premium Beauty News - What about the Club’s actions so far?

Charles-Emmanuel Gounod - I just mentioned the working groups, some of them are starting producing results, and we are finishing to set up the others. We also launched a monthly newsletter that is informing our members about the progression of our actions. And we just debuted our monthly business breakfasts successfully. The first edition was fully-booked, and we were delighted with the presentations made by Jean-Louis Matthiez, a product development consultant, about innovation, and by Attorney Matthieu Bourgeois, about recent evolutions regarding intellectual property rights. This kind of informative meetings perfectly matches with our members’ needs.

Our website, which will make the link between our members, is being created and will be functional during the first months of 2009.

Next February, we’ll invite the BeautyFULL Club members and all those interested in our activities to join us on the occasion of business lunch in Paris, with the participation of the leading industry players. The lunch will be the occasion to debate about development opportunities for the perfumes and cosmetics industry.

Eventually, with the help of our Vice-President, Thierry Lucereau, we are cooperating with the leading trade events worldwide. I’d like to thanks Aurelian de Sanctis, chief executive officer at Sogecos, the organiser of Cosmoprof, Nathalie Grosdidier, Luxe Pack general manager, and David Bondi, president of ITEC France, the organizer of Beyond Beauty Paris.

Premium Beauty News - How many new members do you expect in 2009?

Charles-Emmanuel Gounod - Actually we do not have specific targets in this matter. However, if we want the BeautyFULL Club to be influential and representative of the industry, it’s clear that we need more than a handful. A hundred members is a target that is both reasonable and realistic, considering the level of “influence” we want to reach.

The most important is that the BeautyFULL Club be representative of the industry’s common interest. It’s important also to note that the Club is bound to be international. That’s the reason why we’ll participate in the leading trade events worldwide. It’s also why we are working at the very next opening of the BeautyFULL Club’s North American branch.

Premium Beauty News - Economic forecasts are not very positive for 2009? In such a context, what do you have to say to the health and beauty industry?

Charles-Emmanuel Gounod - I do not want to appear as a presumptuous person but I think that the right message is very simple. It’s true that next months will be harsh. Precisely, the Club can help to solve a large amount of problems. Talking and working together on important issues, for the common interest of the whole industry: what is more exciting?