Maybelline to number one at dm.
A year-long repositioning of the Maybelline–dm joint business plan — and the first time the brand owned share of voice, share of shelf, and share of basket simultaneously at Romania's largest health & beauty retailer.
- Role
- Brand Manager, Face & Lips
- Client
- Maybelline New York
- Retailer
- dm Drogerie Markt, Romania
- Timeline
- FY 2025, full year
0%
Weighted ownership of Maybelline sales at dm — a first for the brand and the strongest single-retailer concentration on record for the Romanian market.
Maybelline and dm had a long relationship, but it was running on habit. The retailer had the brand; the brand had the retailer; neither side was fighting for the other. By the end of 2024 we were visibly present and commercially average — a position that, in mass beauty, is indistinguishable from being in trouble.
The brief I wrote myself
Category leadership at dm, not incremental lift. Concretely: own a majority of Maybelline's Romanian sales through a single retailer, and do it without discounting the brand into a corner. The KPI had to be weighted ownership — not volume, not distribution — because that's the only number that captures whether the partnership is actually pulling its weight.
What we changed
Three levers, in order of importance. First, assortment discipline: we cut the tail of slow SKUs that were diluting the shelf and reallocated facings to heroes with proven velocity. Second, a stricter promotional grid — fewer, bigger mechanics, timed to new launches rather than sprayed across the quarter. Third, we rebuilt the dm-specific creative so it looked like a dm story, not a Maybelline ad that happened to mention a retailer.
“Retailers don't reward brands that behave like brands. They reward brands that behave like co-owners of the category.”
How it actually got done
A JBP rewrite is a small document and a large amount of politics. I spent the first quarter aligning our sales team, the dm category buyer, and the L'Oréal zone on a single scoreboard — weighted ownership, four check-ins a year, one shared dashboard. Once the scoreboard was real, the arguments got shorter. Launches went in on time. The promotional grid held.
Outcome
Maybelline finished 2025 at 85% weighted ownership of its Romanian sales through dm — a first for the brand. More importantly, the share was built on launches rather than discount depth, which means it carries into 2026 rather than needing to be bought again.
What I'd do differently
Start the scoreboard conversation six months earlier. Most of the year-one friction was about which number we were all looking at; once that was settled, the execution took care of itself.