ABOUT ME
Nikola Blagojević.
I’m an independent consultant for beauty brands. Brand to Business (B²) is the name of my consulting practice.
I support founders and teams in distribution, marketing and commercial development decisions to enter or grow in the Italian market.
My consulting draws on experience in distribution and the Italian subsidiaries of international groups, with responsibility for brand development and team leadership.
My career.
I have worked in beauty for over 17 years. My career has taken me through L’Oréal, Coty, Beauty & Luxury and Puig.
I spent eleven years at Beauty & Luxury, taking on increasing responsibility and progressing to Chief Brand Officer. I subsequently became Niche Marketing Director at Puig Italy.
I have worked across fragrance, skincare, make-up and haircare, handling marketing, distribution agreements, launches and commercial development, alongside founders, international headquarters, retailers and sales networks.
Coty.
Before Beauty & Luxury, I worked at Coty, handling marketing for the relaunch of Roberto Cavalli. At the time, the project was the Italian subsidiary’s top priority.
Beauty & Luxury.
I led marketing for Burberry and subsequently Christian Louboutin Beauté, working with the teams to develop the brands in the Italian market. I then took responsibility for the Development and Haute Parfumerie divisions.
Projects I worked on alongside the company’s teams include OLAPLEX’s entry into perfumeries and pharmacies and the development of Elizabeth Arden across multiple channels, with a differentiated portfolio for perfumeries and drugstores.
I worked on the launch and established distribution agreements for Interparfums Inc. brands, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister and GUESS. Together with the teams, I developed exclusive partnerships with major perfumery and drugstore retailers and coordinated promotional activity. The portfolio grew to a scale that justified opening an Italian subsidiary. I also worked on the development of independent brands such as Pepe Jeans, which became a key player in its segment.
I also led the team in building the Niche Fragrance division, with brands including Vilhelm Parfumerie, BORNTOSTANDOUT, Bond No. 9, D.S. & DURGA and Clive Christian. I defined distribution agreements and business plans with the brands and negotiated agreement renewals. I coordinated launches and their execution in the market, bringing together the sales force, marketing, communications, retail activation and training.
Puig.
As Niche Marketing Director at Puig Italy, together with my team, I worked on the development of BYREDO and Penhaligon’s and the opening of their Rome flagships.
Why I do this work.
I love the energy that comes from a team working together to bring a brand’s vision to life. I enjoy coordinating the work, exchanging ideas and seeing a retailer pleased to have the right product, with the tools to tell its story and sell it well.
Once, we were running late for an in-store event. With us was an extraordinary perfumer: French, living in New York, he had worked on the creative direction of some of the most important fragrances of the 1990s and 2000s. His dream was to create a brand of his own. A "Monumental" brand...
He was someone who had inspired me enormously. Someone who used his nose to think. Talking to him, I felt he read the world through its scents.
That day, our minds were on the time, the event and everything still left to do. As we stepped out of the taxi, ready to rush off, he stopped us for a moment. His smile was almost a grin, but warm and knowing. And in the middle of all that hurry, he reminded me, in just a few words, why we were doing that work:
“The world deserves to smell better”.
Those words have stayed with me. I believe our work can make the world smell a little better and feel a little more beautiful. And I find real pleasure in working together to make that happen.
How I think.
When I assess a project, I consider brand positioning, sales, margins and investment together. I look at retailers’ needs and the resources available to the people who will carry out the work.
That is why distribution, sales and marketing are part of the same plan: the choice of retail locations, the assortment, training and communications need to support one another.
I also look at what happens after launch: how products sell, whether reorders come in and what activity is needed to sustain sales over time.
Working with STUDIO.
When a project calls for the combined contribution of several senior professionals, I can also work on it with STUDIO, the beauty consulting firm I co-founded with Stefano Malachin and Carlo Bianchini.
We draw on our combined experience to work through strategic, commercial and organisational decisions with clients. Many of the challenges we advise on today are ones we have already faced while working within companies.
Outside work.
I was born in Belgrade and grew up in Italy; I feel like a citizen of the world. Today I live in Milan with my wife and son.
I read a lot, train with weights and play acoustic and electric guitar, often with my family, with a few off-key notes my loved ones know well.
CONTACT
Let’s talk about
your brand.
Tell me where your brand is today, what you want to achieve in Italy or which challenge you want to address.
Write to me