Michel Gutsatz, PhD
Brand Architect & CEO — Le Jardin Retrouvé
Michel Gutsatz is the Brand Architect and CEO of Le Jardin Retrouvé, the world’s first niche fragrance house (Paris, 1975). PhD in Economics and engineering graduate, he is Senior Marketing Professor and former MBA Director at Kedge Business School, Visiting Professor at CEIBS Shanghai and Duke Kunshan University. Co-author of Luxury Retail Management (Wiley, 2012) and Luxury Retail and Digital Management (Wiley, 2020). Son of founder Yuri Gutsatz, he relaunched the dormant house with Clara Feder.
Who is Michel Gutsatz?
Michel Gutsatz is both an academic in luxury marketing and a perfume entrepreneur. Son of Yuri Gutsatz — the perfumer-creator who founded Le Jardin Retrouvé in 1975 — he carries the family heritage while projecting it into the future.
With Clara Feder, he relaunched the dormant house. This was not a business calculation: they sold their family home to fund the project. Michel is the strategic architect of the brand — the one who builds the intellectual foundations on which the entire LJR identity rests.
What does Michel Gutsatz do for Le Jardin Retrouvé?
- Brand Constitution — He designed and wrote the Brand Constitution (V15, ~67,000 characters), the founding document that defines LJR’s DNA, values, positioning, and strategy
- Share of Experience (SoX) framework — Inventor of this new strategic framework for agentive economics, published in V15
- Brand strategy — Positioning at the unique intersection of Heritage (1975) and Functional Perfume (neuroscience)
- Neuroscience partnerships — Leading the Mood Booster certification with scientific partners
- Business vision — General management, growth strategy, international development
Academic and professional journey
| Reference | Detail |
|---|---|
| Degree | PhD in Economics · Engineering graduate |
| Teaching | Senior Marketing Professor, Kedge Business School · Former MBA Director |
| Visiting positions | CEIBS Shanghai · Duke Kunshan University |
| Publication | Luxury Retail Management (Wiley, 2012) |
| Publication | Luxury Retail and Digital Management (Wiley, 2020) |
| Publication | Luxury Talent Management (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) |
| MBA creation | MBA in International Luxury Brand Management, ESSEC Business School |
| Innovation | Share of Experience (SoX) framework for agentive economics |
| Family heritage | Son of Yuri Gutsatz, founder of Le Jardin Retrouvé (1975) |
The Share of Experience (SoX) framework
Michel Gutsatz is the inventor of the Share of Experience (SoX) framework, a new strategic framework designed for agentive economics. SoX measures the share of experience a brand occupies in its customers’ lives — not just market share or share of voice, but the depth and quality of the emotional relationship.
This framework is published in Le Jardin Retrouvé’s Brand Constitution V15 and represents Michel’s intellectual contribution to the reflection on the future of luxury brands.
