Join us for M·A·C Halloween Face-Off, our first ever reality inspired co...

M·A·C Halloween Face-Off: Episode 2

M·A·C Halloween Face-Off: Episode 1

Week 9 - Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

Personal selling is one of the oldest forms of promotion. M.A.C. Cosmetics follows this strategy and is a stand-out in the beauty world today. M.A.C. performs the task of selling through individual or representative by face to face, an oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention of making a sale. M.A.C. focuses initially on developing a relationship with the potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to “close the sale”. Whereas, for sales promotion, M.A.C. does short-term use of incentives like discounts, displays, exchange offers, exhibitions, fashion shows and movies and television, to attract the potential customers and to achieve more sales value. M.A.C. promotes recycling through their Back to M.A.C. program where if you return six M.A.C. primary packaging containers to either a M.A.C. counter or online, then you will get a Free M.A.C lipstick of your choice. This is their way of “thanking you” for helping them keep our planet "green.” The WAD promotion doubles M.A.C.’s usual philanthropic commitment, which directs 100 percent of the sales price of its Viva Glam line of lip products to the M.A.C. AIDS. M.A.C. Pro, M.A.C. Pro Student and M.A.C. Pro Preferred members can redeem their discount in selected partnered stores, at any freestanding M.A.C. Store or M.A.C. Pro Store around the world. Discounts may vary from country to country. M.A.C. is for all occasions from high school proms to fashion shows. M.A.C. is so much fun especially on holiday season like their new Halloween Faceoff. They make the scariest of the holidays into a stylish one. They have got three of their makeup artists, going to create an amazing Halloween costume in under three hours. All they will use is their makeup kits, creativity, and a mischievous mix of hair-raising hardware, wacky wigs, and other perilous props.

MAC AIDS FUND

MAC AIDS Fund's Nancy Mahon: Tying the Cause to the Brand

MAC Cosmetics Hosts An Electric Audience with Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper.

MAC Cosmetics Ad Designs

Week 8 - Advertising and Public Relations

M.A.C. Cosmetics was initially distributed among friends only in the fashion industry and till today M.A.C. does not ever have to conduct any kind of advertising, and yet all the same succeeds in bringing in the customers and make a great deal of sales. This is all credited to word of mouth publicity and celebrity endorsements, which usually includes models, pro make-up artists and actresses. M.A.C. Cosmetics are endorsed by celebrities like Diana Ross, Elton John, Boy George, RuPaul, Kd Lang, Sandra Bernhard, Raquel Welch, Eartha Kitt, Missy Elliott, Dita von Teese, Mary J. Blige, Pamela Anderson, Fergie, Christina Aquilera, Cyndi Lauper, Lady Gaga and more. “I have always resented the image of the nineteen-year-old beautiful blonde, white model being shoved down people’s throats.” To prove the point, M.A.C.’s first spokesperson was drag queen Ru Paul. “M.A.C. has broken the traditional industry way of selling product,” says Toskan. Toskan and Angelo’s business model relied on a formula of low prices and word of mouth, no advertising, and no gift with purchase promotions. “I always believed in earning your customer, not buying her,” says Toskan. Without this sales pressure, the M.A.C. people could concentrate on giving service that would keep the customers coming back. In addition to creating the beauty trends on the runway, fashion shows around the world play a critical role in the M.A.C. Cosmetics Product Development process. Artists use this unique opportunity to test-drive product prototypes sometimes years before they reach consumers. M.A.C. Cosmetics is the official sponsor of Fashion Week in London and Sydney and supports fashion weeks in cities throughout the world including Athens, Copenhagen, Delhi, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Singapore, New Zealand, and Moscow. M.A.C. also co-sponsors Tokyo Fashion Week. Beginning in New York, M.A.C.’s international team of over 120 PRO Makeup Artists joined by the most talented freelance artists from around the world embark on the fashion migration trail going from New York to London, Milan and Paris. The M.A.C. PRO Teams work closely with such legendary makeup artists as, Charlotte Tilbury, Val Garland, Lucia Pieroni, James Kaliardos and Polly Osmond and play key roles in creating the makeup looks on the most famous runways in the world. M.A.C. signature cosmetics are also co branded with Hello Kitty to target bubbly younger girls attracted to use luxury cosmetic brands. Along with treating customers with respect, M.A.C. Cosmetics is also acknowledged for its recycling program. In return of every 5 products, M.A.C. gives each customer one free lipstick of her choice. Viva Glam lipstick was introduced in 1994, and since then, the highlight of M.A.C., is with every purchase of this lipstick or Lipglass (retail price 14 $), 100% of the selling price is donated to the M.A.C. AIDS Fund.

When it comes to Public Relations, M.A.C. is very efficient and has earned their brand image. You can walk into any one of M.A.C. stores and trust me, you will get a personalized customer service. I, personally have been their loyal customer for 10 years now. The sales representatives are very customer friendly and knows their job value. They use bold PR. That is, they make sure their clients’ messages are being heard, valued, and covered by the media. This is the most important aspect of public relations, but that goes hand-in-hand with the need to maintain strong media relationships. Editors/writers must know they can rely on them for newsworthy information and angles, to get them what they need in a timely and respectful manner. Plainly, this philosophy is what makes M.A.C. Cosmetics so successful. More significantly, M.A.C. holds parties for different occasions globally, all over the world. Thus, it naturally brings the celebrity life world and the people together under the same roof.

Website: http://www.maccosmetics.com

Week 7 - Retailing

I needed a new compact and as I walked in the M.A.C. Cosmetics store in Soho, Prince Street, as usual, one of the sales representatives greeted me and helped me with my purchase. I did not have to spend much time inside the store too. I am very satisfied with their products and most importantly their personalized customer service. I am a loyal M.A.C. customer and I always get what I want. Customer service is an important factor in M.A.C. retailing and which you can find it in this cosmetic store. I also wanted a red lipstick and as I was looking at them, the sales girl asked me if I would be wearing this lipstick to work or out on a date? She asked me relevant questions like whether I wanted it matte or to sparkle or shine? If I ever tried wearing it with a lip liner or lipgloss? You may go in to just have a look but because of this kind of customer-friendly service, I bet most people decide to purchase at least one or two of their products. M.A.C. Cosmetics has been a successful power retailer and has chosen to excel on selection while maintaining consumer experience, convenience and affordable prices. M.A.C. is one company that caters to its customers. All makeup counter employees are thoroughly trained before they deal with customers. Their artists have been trained to focus on the customer and not the sale. They know their stuff and they know their products. From skin care to hair care, they learn it all. They master all the techniques and adapt them to all different face shapes, eye shapes, skin colors, skin textures and most importantly - customer's experience. The highlight of this store is any woman can get a makeup consultation and application lesson by any one employee for a nominal fee which is applied towards the purchase of any of the cosmetics. This company has a conscience, it loves to make people look and feel good on the outside and on the inside. 

Week 6 - Consumer Decision Making

The decision of a consumer is affected individually, culturally, socially and psychologically, when buying M.A.C. products. Consumer decision-making process is the process we go through when we decide to purchase something. A decision-making process like this can be described as five different stages: Consumers need to make a recognition of the brand M.A.C. Cosmetics first. Then, they need to do a research for the information about the M.A.C. Cosmetics. By doing the research for the information of the product, they have been successful and satisfied when purchasing the product. Moreover, the word-of-mouth strategy is favoring in retaining the M.A.C. market. The name itself promotes to the consumers evaluation of the product. Consumers buy this product unplanned initially and they are not making a mistake on the quality and the product appealing to them. Post-purchase of M.A.C. Cosmetics has always been the right decision they are making on the money they are spending for that product. Therefore, customer loyalty is gained. For example: A dual compact which has both foundation and powder, can make the skin smooth and flawless as compared to a lower price product of a lower quality. Consumers trust recommendations from their real friends as seen in the statistics chart.

Week 5 - Developing a Global Vision

M.A.C. Cosmetics is a multinational corporation and is the number one makeup artist brand in the world. M.A.C. is sold in more than 70 countries and territories worldwide. For 2010, the company estimates revenue of 1.95 trillion won ($1.65 billion) and net profits of 330 billion won compared with roughly 1.77 trillion won and 300.6 billion won last year. M.A.C. Cosmetics sells extremely well globally in Doha, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. One of their target markets is the Airline Industry and there are consumers who are able to use the best quality cosmetic product at a value they are ready to pay. From my personal perception, when I used to fly for Qatar Airlines as a Flight Attendant I loved all of M.A.C. Cosmetics and still do. It gave me a great satisfaction for the value for money I spend and I really saw a lot of difference compared to the rest.  When I walked into any of the M.A.C. stores, the sales representatives always wore a smile and gave the best personalized customer service. Also, M.A.C. Cosmetics offering a free glam lipstick for every 5 of their used products is another attracting offer for me, which adds to being globally conscious of the green marketing. Services available at these M.A.C. Cosmetic stores include:

• False eyelash application
• Full make-up application up to one hour
• Make-up lessons up to 90 minutes.

The Gulf region is one of the fastest growing cosmetics markets in the Middle East, characterised by high purchasing power, sophisticated tastes and a multicultural environment to absorb much of what global brands have to offer. One of the unique brand initiatives seen in the market was by M.A.C. - the hosting of "Industry Parties". Invitations to a party are given out by M.A.C. to industry professionals from the fields of music, media, modeling, photography, movies and event management to gather under one roof and get to know the brand and its representatives. Adding to that exciting way to build rapport with its target audience, every six months, M.A.C. conducts a "Trend Presentation" by professional make-up artists immediately following major fashion shows worldwide. Make-up artists from New York fly in to give a demonstration of the latest trends to users.