When one of the nearly 25 brands at The Estée Lauder Companies wants to introduce a new product in a new region—launching a new night cream, for instance—the process is complex. Each team, across each brand and at each location, has its own consumer insights, from social listening to market trend data. But those insights are often siloed. Research can be duplicated, valuable time can be lost, and translating insights to execution can be a challenge.  

“ELC has such rich proprietary insights. One of the biggest challenges is finding and synthesizing the data quickly across our large, global organization,” says Kalindi Mehta, Global Vice President for Foresight and Predictive Analytics at the global beauty company. “A central system of shared intelligence prevents teams from spending hours tracking down information, leading to faster speed in decision making and ensuring the consumer is at the center.” 

That’s why ELC built ConsumerIQ, a custom agent designed to connect and streamline information, generate intelligence, and help turn insights into action. Instead of sifting through scattered reports and endless back-and-forths, teams can pull up actionable intelligence instantly. “They’ll ask ConsumerIQ a question and get a data-informed answer in seconds,” says Jennifer A. Lee, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Predictive Analytics. “It equips our team with the right insights to make the right decisions at the right time.”  

Using the night cream example, ConsumerIQ could instantly confirm that nighttime skincare is booming. The agent could then surface what customers prioritize—deep hydration, recovery, repair—helping product teams refine formulas. Marketing teams would see what messaging resonates best: Do consumers want a ritual? A scientific breakthrough? A luxury experience?  

ConsumerIQ scans a centralized repository of insights across ELC’s brands. When someone wants to know the makeup trends for active women (waterproof mascara? color correcting powder?), the answers are already there, with no need to start from scratch.  Clearer data, sharper strategy. “Beauty startups may be able to leap on the latest TikTok trend, but they don’t have 80 years of market knowledge and deep consumer understanding like ELC does,” Mehta says. “And now we have the technology to harness it.” 

It equips our team with the right insights to make the right decisions at the right time.Jennifer A. Lee Director of Strategic Initiatives and Predictive Analytics, The Estée Lauder Companies.