62: David Daniels, Ex-CEO Asia, Le Creuset

62: David Daniels, Ex-CEO Asia, Le Creuset


David Daniels shares his global experience managing various
luxury cosmetics, retail and manufacturing companies in Europe
and APAC, successfully rebuilding struggling businesses.


 


Mr. Daniels spent 12 years at Yves Saint Laurent, starting out as
an intern in Paris, and experienced several roles in marketing
and sales including an Area Manager and Brand Manager in the UK.
He was eventually promoted to Marketing Manager, leading a team
of 16 staff at the age of 29. Mr. Daniels has since then
experienced various leadership roles in a global environment as
Vice President and General Manager of Marketing Services at Coty
Prestige, President of Asia Pacific at Georg Jensen, and General
Manager Middle East at Saks Fifth Avenue, and President/CEO Japan
at Folli Follie Group. Mr. Daniels most recently led Le Creuset
Asia as their CEO.


 


After an extensive career in the cosmetics industry as a
marketing and sales manager at Yves Saint Laurent and Coty
Prestige, Mr. Daniels moved to Australia where he experienced
first hand the challenge of engaging the local market with
headquarters. Yet Mr. Daniels’ fascination with Asia led him to
work at Georg Jensen, a Danish watch and jewelry company, as
their APAC President. Once in Japan, Mr. Daniels fell in love
with the country immediately. At Georg Jensen, Mr. Daniels
successfully bought out Georg Jensen from a joint venture
partnership with Takashimaya.


 


Mr. Daniels then worked to bring more energy to the operational
management side of the organization. By spending time in the
stores and asking his staff for feedback, Mr. Daniels discovered
that although the Japan team had many great ideas on organizing
promotional activities and creating customized products, it was
not being communicated clearly to headquarters. Therefore, Mr.
Daniels set up a product council who worked to create Japan
exclusive products, which later became best sellers. In doing so,
the engagement level between the Japan office and headquarters,
as well as within the Japan team increased.


 


Mr. Daniels then moved onto Saks Fifth Avenue to lead their
business in the Middle East in Dubai. Mr. Daniels helped set up a
new department store in Bahrain, which he calls a challenging but
incredible experience. Mr Daniels recalls his father, who was a
veteran in the luxury retail industry was a great mentor to him
during this time.


 


Mr. Daniels next took on the opportunity to join Folli Follie as
their Japan President in 2010, when the company was struggling
from the aftermath of the Lehman shock and some great internal
talent had been lost. Mr. Daniels started by visiting all the
retail stores and talking to the store staff as well as the
finance people to look at the numbers in detail. In engaging with
the staff, Mr. Daniels claims that his Japanese language skills
helped him gain more trust. Mr. Daniels further explains:
“Ultimately we had to close quite a number of stores that was
painful…But the business changed quite quickly. Within 12 months
we'd had three years of decline and suddenly the business started
growing again, month for month.” After leading other Asia
subsidiaries including Korea, Taiwan, Hawaii, Guam and Singapore,
Mr. Daniels left Folli Follie after 9 years and stepped into his
recent role at Le Creuset.


 


At Le Creuset, as the Commercial Director for Asia, Mr. Daniels
managed nine Asian subsidiaries including Japan. Again, Mr.
Daniels sought to bring more positive energy to the business. Mr.
Daniels sought to bring more stability to the leadership team and
improve their retention rate, communicating with people to
increase their motivation. Mr. Daniels says: “One of the lessons
that we know in Japan is the “hai”, or even “wakarimashita” does
not mean, yes, I'm going to do this. All it means is I've just
listened to what you've told me.” By taking careful steps in
explaining to each individual their role and what their
accountability is, Mr. Daniels says the execution is often
flawless.


 


On advice to new incoming foreign leaders, Mr. Daniel recommends
actively listening to the local staff to look beyond what’s being
said, and carefully observe what is not being said, as well as
the body language. He adds: “be consistent, respect everybody,
and talk to everybody…don’t stop asking questions”