Careers in Focus - Gael de Talhouet, VP Brand Building

Gael de Talhouet, Vice President Brand Building, recently sat down with us to share a little of his journey at Essity and the success factors to Brand Building. He gives us a look into how we work across brands and business units, the skills and attitude needed and some of our successes thus far. 

Gael has been with Essity for 4 years, bringing a passion for Brand Building, Artificial Intelligence (AI), e-commerce and User Experience (UX), as well as a long track record of developing big brands. Be sure to watch the video to learn more about Gael and how we build superior brand experiences across the whole consumer and customer journey. 

Q: Hello Gael. Thank you for taking the time to sit down with us. Can you tell us a little more about you and your role at Essity? 

As Vice President of Brand Building, I focus on reaching and understanding people at the interplay of technology, marketing and commerce. Brand Building is a team that works with all brands and all business units across the company and our objective is to build superior brand experiences across the whole consumer and customer journey. It involves identifying best practices within the company and decoding them into success recipes, which can then be applied by other brands. 

Q: Quality experiences and a love for tech seems to be important to you. Can you tell us more about these passions and your affinity for consumer experience? 

I believe we can make the world a better place by creating experiences that improve our lives both individually and collectively. This instinct for the consumer experience grew out of a relentless interest in discovering new things, allied to an entrepreneurial career. I have enjoyed a fascinating career with several great companies where I experienced a wide range of mature and emerging markets. I also view, "Marketing Intelligence” as the future of commerce, in which marketing, AI and tech will seamlessly deliver a smooth customer experience, anticipating on the customers' needs and desires. 

My personal objective for the future is to discover how to use AI and UX to create “Marketing Intelligence”. I see Design Thinking shaping interactions between people and machines, today’s jobs and future skills and their power to make the world a better place.  

Q: As a leader who works across geographies, functions and business units, what do you feel are important attributes for a leader today? 

Whatever I do, I believe trust and giving back to people is fundamental. There's no greater pleasure than trusting someone and then seeing that person really go beyond and do more than you ever expected. You are repaid one hundred times! 

Q: What do you like to do when you check out for the day? 

When I’m not interacting with consumers I make time to interact with my family. Even so, I’m a techie at heart and I spend a lot of time interacting with AI leaders, UX and design thinking specialists and gamers on my PlayStation. Of course, Alexa, Google Home and other devices are part of my life, as well as investigating new gadgets and watching sci-fi movies. I also like to read philosophy and books about quantum physics. 

Thank you, Gael. Watch and learn more about Gael and how we build superior brand experiences across the whole consumer and customer journey.  

Quick Facts: 

Based in: Ismaning 

Joined Essity in: 2015 

Background (business): Digital start-ups, FMCG B2B marketing 

Hidden talents: I have a passion for Quantum physics, I did a training as a fashion designer, I buy and sell internet domains (I have about 300 registered domains)  

Role model: I don’t have one, why should you copy someone or try to be someone else? 

Personal motto /quote: Winning is fun, fun is demanding. 

Favorite movie: it´s a TV show, Marvel Agents of Shield  

Favorite music: all the songs I like 

Other: Playing football is a lesson for life