Week 14 -Segmenting and Targeting Markets

M.A.C. Cosmetics have a potential market for the buyers offering an affordable prices for all ages, sexes, races, gender and socio-economic groups. Their target market or target audience is the market segment which their product is marketed to globally. M.A.C.’s market targeting is the process in which the intended actual markets are defined, analyzed and evaluated just before the final decision to enter is made. M.A.C. targets its market, which is their strategic approach to creating a marketing mix for a specific, targeted market segment and set of buyers. Therefore, it leads to the company’s success. The beauty of M.A.C.’s target marketing is that it makes their promotion, pricing and distribution of M.A.C.’s products and services easier and more cost-effective. Target marketing provides a focus to all of M.A.C.’s marketing activities. M.A.C. Cosmetics knows who they are targeting to on the basis of demographic information because it is widely available and often related to consumers buying and consuming behavior on bases of age, gender, income, ethnic background and family cycle.

Week 13 - Developing and Managing Products

M.A.C. Cosmetics introduces new collection every season, developing new product ideas from many sources, including customers, employees, distributors, competitors, vendors, research and development and consultant. M.A.C. Cosmetics new Holiday/Winter 2010 collection of eye-catching, “A Tartan Tale,” is in all its posh, punk, ancestral, anarchic, noble and naughty glory. They range from makeup bags, to the eyes and face products that have some flasher fun with mirrored compacts. It also includes two exclusive collectable limited-edition sets packaged in a chic and reusable M.A.C. Holiday tartan tin, M.A.C. glamorous and my scottish fling mineralize Kits. This holiday season, M.A.C.'s special project for Kids Helping Kids is Sir Teddy. All proceeds go to the Kids Helping Kids program, supporting children and people around the world living with the effects of HIV/AIDS. Sir Teddy mini is $12 while Sir Teddy Bear is $15. The Viva Glam holiday kit goes full-out tartan in a bag featuring a clash of red. Another new product launched on November 24^th, 2010 is M.A.C. & Marcel Wanders Collection of Air of Style Solid Perfume, Lipsticks, Lipglosses, Sheer Mystery Powder. Upcoming M.A.C. Cosmetics collection for 2010 and 2011 are M.A.C. & Nicki Minaj Pink Friday 4 Lipstick, U.S. Launch Date: November 29^th, 2010, Cham-Pale Collection, U.S. Launch Date: December 26th, 2010 M.A.C. Stylishly Yours Collection, U.S. Launch Date: December 26th, 2010, M.A.C. False Lashes Mascara, U.S. Launch Date: December 26th, 2010, M.A.C. Peacocky Collection, U.S. Launch Date: January 6th, 2011 MAC & Mickey Contractor Collection, U.S. Launch Date: January 6th, 2011

Week 12 - Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Customer relationship management is the ultimate goal for M.A.C. Cosmetics because they understand their customers as individuals instead of as part of a group. CRM management further enables M.A.C to design its marketing strategy and time focused customers. M.A.C. has an ultimate advantage of the customer value management and they strengthen their customers knowledge or understanding in order to provide strong support for business decision-making. M.A.C.’s latest information technology today, enables and stores customer data and ultimately gets to know their potential customers on a personal basis. M.A.C. does their marketing effectively and efficiently which increases their sales and customer service simultaneously. Thus, resulting in their customer intelligence strategic and tactical decision-making for support. M.A.C.’s customer relationship management highly maintains their customer satisfaction while maximizing overall customer profit contribution. M.A.C. eventually makes a valuable customer information into customer knowledge. They emphasize on enhancing customer relationships by getting the right information to the right person, in the right place at the right time. M.A.C. is a customer-centric company because they build long-lasting relationships by focusing on what satisfies and retains valuable customers. Knowledge management is definitely the most important for M.A.C. to build better relationship between customers and M.A.C. Empowerment is seen strongly as the company values each of their customers. The good interaction between the customer and M.A.C’s representatives is the foundation to develop learning and valued relationships which results in the success of M.A.C. into a lasting and a profitable one. M.A.C. focuses strongly on touch points too, making sure their customers understand and communicate with them. Wholesale M.A.C. online is a very popular touch point for customers since they can evaluate and purchase products. M.A.C. knows their target individual customer needs and wants and have succeeded in profitability with their potential customers for lifetime. When the product and time are both valued, then M.A.C. respectively earns their brand loyalty. Women love to beautify themselves using the best cosmetics for an affordable price, so M.A.C. does their best to influence consumers buying decisions for a lifetime with no regrets. Like, I have become one of their valued customers!!

Holiday 2010 MAC Tartan Tale Swatches & Product Details

Week 11 - Happy Holidays to All!! and come celebrate this holiday season with M.A.C. Cosmetics

Go! and shop for yourself and your loved ones this holidays at M.A.C. Cosmetics and feel the difference!! Remarkable news of M.A.C. Cosmetics, celebrating this 2010 holiday season with their collection of eye-catching, “A Tartan Tale,” in all its posh, punk, ancestral, anarchic, noble and naughty glory. Royal and raunchy, colors and patterns collide, fantasies come true, punk fairies take flight with enchanted new looks. They range from makeup bags, to the eyes and face products that have some flasher fun with mirrored compacts. It also includes two exclusive collectable limited-edition sets packaged in a chic and reusable M.A.C. Holiday tartan tin, M.A.C. glamorous and my scottish fling mineralize Kits. This holiday season, M.A.C.'s special project for Kids Helping Kids is Sir Teddy, officially knighted as the international symbol of KHK, at the pleasure of her M.A.C. Majesty. All proceeds go to the Kids Helping Kids program, supporting children around the world living with the effects of HIV/AIDS. Sir Teddy mini is $12 while Sir Teddy Bear is $15. The Viva Glam holiday kit goes full-out tartan in a bag featuring a clash of red. M.A.C. crest and the complementary duo of Viva Glam lipstick and lip gloss. All proceeds go to the M.A.C. Aids Fund to help support people living with HIV/AIDS and the best part is about the annual Kids Helping Kids greeting cards.

Week 11 - Integrated Marketing Communications

M.A.C. Cosmetics does their promotion in the most unique way and have always been on the cutting edge with their way of promoting their brand image. They inform, persuade and reminds potential buyers through the word-of-mouth strategy. First of all, M.A.C. knows their target audience and knows how to focus the promotions. M.A.C. has a total competitive advantage in the cosmetics market and are recognized by their target market as significant and superior. Moreover, there are no media advertisement and no online sale through Internet outside the United States and people often do not even know about the products and their advantages. Since there is a lack of promotional campaigns with no free samples, the company can only rely on the existing customers to spread the information about M.A.C. products. The company uses celebrities as representatives or models. However, there is lack of advertisements and promotional campaigns that would attract ordinary women to try the brand make-up. M.A.C. sure knows how to keep a positive public image when it comes to public relations. M.A.C. is known for the back to M.A.C. program and M.A.C. Aids fund program where they stand out for being a socially responsible company. It is for all age, sex and race. Also, they have fashion parties for different occasions, where it brings the celebrity world and the outside world together. This way, M.A.C. benefits a great deal for their publicity. The highlight of M.A.C. is their sales promotion which stimulates their immediate increases in demand. Their employees are well trained for their job. Their sales representatives offer the best personalized customer service. Research has shown that sales promotion yields faster sales. Personal selling between M.A.C. and its customers is a well paid-for communication where the customer is ultimately satisfied with the product and its affordable prices. M.A.C. believes in interpersonal communication which is direct and a face-to-face communication. In every M.A.C. stores, the sales representatives are very attentive and their direct speaking with their customers is an advantage and an effective way of selling their products. Facebook, Twitter, My Space have a strong impact for M.A.C. Cosmetics. M.A.C. has its corporate blog under www.maccosmetics.com, where one can get all the updated information about M.A.C.

Week 10 - Product Concepts

M.A.C. Cosmetics is a specialty product and consumers are very satisfied with it because their extensive search is worth it. M.A.C. uses their word-of-mouth strategy and are status-consious to maintain their product's exclusive image. M.A.C. stands out for their personalized customer service. Different cultures favor brand name for their quality product and research has shown consumers do not mind paying a higher price to purchase M.A.C. Cosmetics which being a product line of Estee Lauder, is priced higher than the average drugstore cosmetics but consumers are aware of the higher quality they are paying for. M.A.C.'s product line ranges from eyes, face, lips, mineralize, multi-use, skincare, fragrances, brushes, nails, kit essentials and accessories. Over the last 10 years, 160 shades of lipsticks in 7 different finishes, 150 eye shadows, 60 blushes and hair care have been created for the public. M.A.C. is a global brand product and it is well-recognized outside its homebase of customers, and has publicly available marketing. Repeat sales takes place in M.A.C. since, the consumers have known their own favourite brand M.A.C. and are satisfied, they wish to buy again and avoid those they do not. Back to M.A.C. recycling program is available at all M.A.C.'s counters & stores. At the M.A.C. stores you can return 6 empty primary containers and you can redeem them for 1 lipstick or lipgloss.

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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.

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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.

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