Christopher McClement, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Henkel Consumer Brands North America, oversees Henkel Beauty Care, as well as its laundry brands. Here, he shares his outlook on how the global company (No. 14 on our annual list of Top 20 Global Beauty Brands) plans to grow its beauty care business, drive innovation, pursue sustainable practices and apply leading and emerging technologies to innovate and remain “future-ready.” 
 
 
Jamie Matusow: What are your priorities for Henkel’s beauty care business this year? 
Christopher McClement: This year I look forward to continue growing our consumer brands, with a strong focus on driving innovation and sustainable practices. These two key areas will help us remain future-ready and equipped to meet the needs of our customers. 
 
For example, Henkel’s Hair Color and Styling Brands have done tremendous work over the past year to kick-off 2024 with innovations that cater to eco-conscious consumer needs. Our new göt2b Color Remix line boasts a vegan formula, 0% silicones, and a 100% recyclable aluminum color cream tube. Additionally, our new göt2b Glued Brow & Edge Gel and Smooth & Hold Mousse are also vegan formulas, showcasing the brand’s commitment to offering innovative, sustainable products to hair consumers.
 
JM: How do your priorities fit into Henkel’s vision and overall goals? 
CM: At Henkel, sustainability and innovation are central pillars of the company’s strategy for purposeful growth. These focus areas are also the main drivers of consumer preference in today’s marketplace, so the goals of our consumer brands are very closely aligned with not only the company strategy, but position us well for future growth. 
 
JM: What consumer trends are you seeing when it comes to beauty and personal care products? How are these trends informing Henkel’s areas of focus?
CM: Consumers want sustainable options, from product formulas and ingredients to packaging. Along with wanting to do our part to create a better world, these consumer insights help us develop strategies to operate more sustainably, from the products we innovate to the way we make and deliver them to our customers and consumers.
 
The beauty and personal care space continues to evolve as more consumers are showing their authentic selves through colorful hair, minimalistic beauty and wellness routines and more. These trends play a distinct role in informing our innovations, partnerships, and causes we choose to support through our brands. With an eye on authenticity, we recently announced Sofia Vergara as Schwarzkopf’s global brand ambassador for the brand’s “What Story Will You Tell?” campaign that aims to inspire everyone to be their true selves and own the story they tell the world. This campaign is an example of trend insights informing our programming, from campaign narrative to how we select our brand ambassadors. 
 
JM: As sustainability has been a focus area for Henkel, can you share what your sustainability approach has been for beauty care and any major progressions you made in the past year?
CM: While our consumer brands may have different sustainability initiatives, all our efforts lean toward making impactful progress in Henkel’s sustainability goals. As a company, we share the same approach in ensuring we are making positive strides in company-wide sustainability strategy which contains long-term ambitions in three dimensions: Regenerative Planet, Thriving Communities and Trusted Partner, all of which include concrete ambitions and targets.

One of our major accomplishments last year was the Dial Body Wash PET bottles. The packaging uses 100% post-consumer recycled content, is recyclable and uses less plastic than previous designs. It also leverages the How2Recycle labeling system that shares disposal instructions with the public. This was launched in collaboration with our designers, package engineers and supply chain partners.
 
JM: How is Henkel utilizing emerging technologies to inform and drive innovation for its beauty and personal goods products? 
CM: The use of leading and emerging technologies has been a staple in how we innovate and remain future-ready. With tools like artificial intelligence, we’ve been able to collect and analyze insights on consumer behavior and trends and respond to them faster through our products.