Estée Lauder teams up with Hong Kong University on retail experiences
Known as a pioneering provider in professional and continuing education, HKU SPACE, has made a bespoke accredited postgraduate certificate programme for The Estée Lauder Companies’ Hong Kong & Macau Affiliate.
The new programme brings together digital-age retail management and shopper-centric marketing strategies to offer an APAC-specific education course, a report by the South China Morning Post revealed.
Embracing interaction
“We wanted to encourage participating employees to think about the creative retail experience and how we could optimise the integration of omnichannel – online, offline, digital and social platforms as well as e-commerce,” noted Vicki Au, Managing Director of The Estee Lauder Companies Hong Kong & Macau Affiliate.
“It was also essential that the module on leadership should help our middle management develop the skills to foster a new coaching culture targeting millennials.”
Ps for perfection
Estée Lauder chose to work with the University as it shared its ‘4P Principle’ outlook, which focuses on prospective, professional, practical and perspective methods.
“We wanted practical theories for our employees to apply at work. We believed that the course should integrate these 4Ps so that it would complement our existing in-house training programmes,” Au added.
Evolving consumer behaviours, digital marketing such as social media and online shopping have led to significant shifts in Hong Kong’s retail landscape.
New ways of thinking
Conceptual and innovative retail experiences are high on the agenda for multinational and indie brands as they adopt and combine design thinking and apply market understanding.
The first intake on its tailored The Estée Lauder Companies’ Hong Kong & Macau Affiliate course brought retail managers and mid-level marketing managers on-board.
Course content
Integrating academic theories and real-life cases, the course covers theoretical ideas such as branding, creative thinking, technological innovations, along with practical applications.
Understanding consumer purchasing decisions makes up an important element of the course, along with assessing real-life cases from multiple perspectives. For example, students explored a module on customer relationship management (CRM) and digital marketing.
