In the latest episode of Data Talks, Wolfgang Fengler sat down with Asmita Dubey, Chief Marketing & Digital Officer at L’Oréal and one of the world’s most celebrated marketers, to discuss her journey from mathematics to marketing, the balance between creativity and technology, and the evolving future of the beauty industry.
Asmita’s story begins in India, where her love for both numbers and words shaped her career. A BSc in Statistics gave her the analytical grounding she still draws on today, while her early pursuits in poetry and writing- she became a magazine editor in college- fed her creative side.
Her professional path began in advertising, because, as she puts it, “advertising is a good way of being commercial in the creative side of life.” When she made the bold decision to move into media at a time when computers were just beginning to transform the industry, it in turn opened doors to the “math” of marketing.
Asmita’s global career took her to China in 2005, where she witnessed firsthand the country’s transformation into a digital, affluent, and innovative hub. It was during this period that she joined L’Oréal, a company she describes as having a “culture of poets and patents” blending the creativity of brand building with data analytics and technology. Today, she leads L’Oréal’s global marketing and digital strategy from Paris.
Asmita describes her marketing philosophy as balancing the “dual muscle” of creativity and technology, what she calls math and magic.
“We want to augment marketing with both creativity and technology. The blend is very powerful in today’s world.”
Technology, from AI to large-scale digital infrastructures, is redefining consumer expectations, while creativity fuels brand storytelling and cultural relevance. Marketers, she says, must build brands that deliver both short-term ROI and long-term brand equity by mastering this balance.
As a Gen X parent raising Gen Z children, Asmita also reflected on the differences between the two generations in the beauty industry.
Gen Z consumers are especially strong in emerging markets. Gen Z is very experimental when it comes to their product choices. They are highly digital, driven by peer-to-peer reviews and cultural trends. They are very aware of value for money.
Gen X is influential in the developed world. They are interested in products related to longevity and wellness, with routines shaped by TV, streaming, live sports, and value-driven consumption.
The beauty industry, she explains, must adapt to both groups.
L'Oréal's beauty tech initiatives represent what Asmita calls “a new kind of relationship with consumers, one that is based on technology, on data, and on AI."
Examples include products like Air Light Pro, a hairdryer using infrared light for faster, healthier drying, as well as services such as virtual try-ons, skin diagnosis, and Spot Scan, AI-driven tools for personalized routines.
Asmita outlined several macrotrends shaping the future of beauty:
L’Oréal is responding with what Asmita calls a “beauty stimulus plan” anchored in innovation across science, technology, and creativity. AI tools like Beauty Genius (a 24/7 consumer advisor) and Korea Tech (a generative AI content platform for marketers) are already reshaping both the consumer journey and internal workflows.
When asked about her favourite number, Asmita gave two answers that perfectly captured her philosophy: Infinity, for its magic of “infinite possibilities”, and zero, a reminder to “come back to ground zero” for clarity in a complex world.
Her advice to the next generation of marketers? “It’s such an exciting time for marketing,” she says, “ they can use their left brain as well as right brain, they can play with both creativity and technology.”
Listen to the full episode of Data Talks: Math and Magic with Asmita Dubey https://www.buzzsprout.com/2530763/episodes/17766048