Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Chapter 7. Business Marketing

Business marketing is the marketing of goods and services to individuals and organizations for purposes other than personal consumption. M.A.C. manufactures and retails their own products. They provide special training for employees to help customers.M.A.C. Takes great pride in their efficient customer service and quality product. M.A.C. also does business to business electronic commerce. B2B e-commerce is the use of the internet to facilitate the exchange of goods, services, and information bewtween organization.

M.A.C. has a seperate website for professionals, call mac pro. In this website you can find out about different events M.A.C. will participate and trends. On this website professional makeup artist can pay to become memebers to get personal service and get unique mac pro items.
  • MASTER CLASSES
  • PRO ONLY EVENTS & NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
  • PASSWORD-PROTECTED WEBSITE, MACPRO.COM
  • PRODUCT DISCOUNTS
  • COMPLIMENTARY SHIPPING FOR ORDERS OVER $150
  • DISCOUNTS FROM SELECT INDUSTRY PUBLICATIONS
  • DISCOUNTS FROM SELECT MAKE-UP SCHOOLS
  • These are the things that are available to MACPRO members.Through this memebership they are paying a price to get more business for themselves and job opportunities. They get a chance to make connections and show their ability as a professional makeup artist.

    M.A.C. uses UPS as an intermediar for online products. However, many of M.A.C. sales are done instore because of their personal selling strategy. Also M.A.C. has create a few strategic alliances. A strategic alliance is a cooperative agreement between business firms. M.A.C. has doen alliances with Macy's and different fashion show during fashion week. M.A.C. trust thst Macy's is a wellknown and diverse company that will sustain the M.A.C. position as a high quality and convient cosmetics. On the other hand, Fashion shows trust that M.A.C. PRO teams will be able to achieve the looks that the fashion show directors are looking for.Trust is the condition that exists when one party has confidence in an exchange partner's reliability and integrity.







    Sunday, December 1, 2013

    chapter 8.Segmenting and Targeting Plans

    M.A.C. Markets to different market needs. A market is define to be people or organizations with needs or wants and the ability and willingness to buy. These markets are composed of different market segments, a market segment is a subgroup of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product needs. Therefore, when the market is divided into meaningful, relatively similar, and  identifiable segments or groups it  is called market segmentation. M.A.C. uses market segmentation to achieve their company's objectives;to create cosmetics for all ages, sexes, and races.

    The different variables in segmentation


     Geographic segmentation is self explanatory. It is segmenting markets by region of a country or the world, market size, market density, or climate. M.A.C. Marketing strategy varies according to where it is located and what is the trend of their locations. M.A.C. has many locations in in south and west Africa. They change their stock according to the skin pigmentation of the people in that continent.

    Demographic segmentation is segmenting markets by age, gender, income,ethic,background, and family life cycle. M.A.C. has cosmetics for everyday use, theatre, models,actors, men and women. M.A.C. does not have cheap products, but they are affordable for an average American. However, they do change the size of the product to make prices a little lower to teenagers and other people with lower income that are still interested in using M.A.C. Products.

    Psychographic segmentation is segmenting markets on the basis of personality, motives, lifestyles, and geodemographics. Marketing in china, M.A.C. Uses hello kitty and other cartoon characters for packaging. Due to the fact, that they are big fans of cartoon characters. M.A.C. Markets to Brazil and India by having strong pigmented colors and many different cosmetics that enhances the facial features. Employees at M.A.C. Show customers how to do contour that will refine the nose and make cheekbones look more defined. One important location also is Paris because they are very involved in fashion. 

    Benefit segmentation is the process of grouping customers into market segments according to the benefits they seek from the product. M.A.C. Groups their products according to skin conditions, skin pigmentation, everday cost ices, and professional theatre cosmetics.


    M.A.C. Cosmetics are positioned as high quality. M.A.C. Cosmetics are mostly advertised by word of mouth, between regular customers and makeup artist. M.A.C. is known to be the best cosmetics for  cameras and heavy theatrical lights.

    Sunday, November 24, 2013

    Chapter 11. Developing and Managing Products

    Many different companies manufacture different product, that we purchase blindly. Therefore, i believe it is important to understand what is a new product and the process of it. First an foremost, A new product is a product new to the world, the market, the producers, the seller, or some combination of these. M.A.C. is consistently coming up with different products with their new product strategy. A new product strategy is a plan that links the new product development  process with the objectives of the marketing department, the business unit, and the corporation. When creating new product, M.A.C.  Looks to enhance and facilitate consumers makeup techniques, increase their variety, and of course increase sales.


    The development of a product is influence by many different factors. The different factors that influence the product development are makeup artist, M.A.C. employees, product reviews made by customers, M.A.C. Pro teams, and fashion show directors. M.A.C. Brainstorms about all the different ideas that are created to vary a product and solve different product errors. Through this M.A.C. Has maintain their competitive  advantage. M.A.C. has branched out and developed many different products. Such as nail polished , a fragrances, skin care products, and top of the line makeup brushes.They have innovated different products by making the same product into convenient travel size items, oil free, and full coverage. Products that are oil free and full coverage I must say from experience are products that are very successful at achieving a confidence boost in customers. Makeup is made to enhance beauty and create a difference from your natural self. This is why M.A.C. Is successful at creating new products, because they make customers feel good with the compliments they receive. Due to the fact, that the products are great quality and achieve the purpose
    of its use.  

     
     M.A.C. Has also expand by developing products with the face of different artist, such as Rihanna. Rihanna as the face of  "RiRi loves M.A.C." product Line, has help M.A.C. promote their products. M.A.C. manufactured the lipstick Ruby Red for Rihanna.However, donating all the money made from that product to HIV awareness. Having her as the face of the item ruby red, has attracted more people to buy it because they feel they are supporting her as a fan, receiving a great product, and contributing to good cause.

    Sunday, November 17, 2013

    Chapter 18. Social Media and Marketing


    Social media is any tool or service thats uses the internet to facilitate conversations. However, many different companies have used social media as a marketing channel. Social media is meant to give people a social experience not a marketing experience. M.A.C. uses Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and youtube to keep a connection with their consumers and most importantly market their current and innovative products. M.A.C. also use social commerce as a social media. When purchasing anything on M.A.C.'s website, M.A.C. provides rates and reviews to assist the consumers online buying.



    M.A.C. is not the company to overwhleme customers with advetisement. They advertise by word of mouth , as i said in my previous blog, they have trained makeup artist at their different location,to help sell products. However, they have used social media to create a channel between the customers and M.A.C.. They want consumers to be able to speak to M.A.C. employees and other people who have used M.A.C. Some of the Employees at M.A.C. are assigned to do the social media monitoring. Social media monitoring is the process od identifying and assessing what is being said about a company, individual, product, or brand. The employees also answer questions. MA.C. has over 6 million followers on facebook,over 300,000 on twitter, over 200,000 on instagram, and youtube in my opinion is the best social media for the marketing for M.A.C. products. On youtube you have alot of whats called crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is using consumers to develop and market products. The reason why i say this is because you have different makeup artist on youtube using M.A.C. products to do makeup tutorials. On youtube you learn different techniques on how to use M.A.C. brushes and what colors to coombine to creat different looks.


     <---Rihanna tweets Also helps with the marketing of M.A.C. products. Her tweets invites her fans that may have not been M.A.C. consumers to buy M.A.C. products to support her.

    Instagram collages of M.A.C. consumers and M.A.C. products--->











    Blogging is also a form of social media. A blog is a publically accesible web page that functions as an interactive journal, whereby readers can post coments on the authours entries. My blog page is consider a marketing strategy to further understand M.A.C. as company. Also to get more involved with M.A.C.'s objectives.

    Sunday, November 10, 2013

    Chapter 10. Product Concepts




    M.A.C. Cosmetics can be both a business and consumer product. A business product is a product that facilitates an organizations operation. Photographers, theatre industries, and fashion show directors all need cosmetics to give models and actresses the creative ideal look. M.A.C. facilitates these different industries with high pigmentation and long lasting cosmetics. M.A.C. Cosmetics was originally made for professional users, which is why it looks amazing behind cameras and bright show lights. On the other hand, a consumer product is a product bought to satisfy an individual's personal wants. If we use women M.A.C. consumers as an example, we will notice that many women are looking to make up for their flaws. Such as acne, wrinkles, uneven skin tone, and scars. M.A.C. Cosmetics is capable of transforming your face completely, if done correctly. however, M.A.C. products are not a convenience product. M.A.C. products are a shopping product. A shopping product is a product that requires a comparison shopping because it usually more expensive than a convenience product and is found in fewer stores. what makes M.A.C. a shopping product, is that it is not found at your local drug store.

                 A product item is a specific version of a product that can be designated as a distinct offering among an organization's products. M.A.C. is an example for product item. M.A.C. has used different cartoon character and famous music artists to product different product lines. A product line is a group of closely related product items.Such as Riri loves M.A.C., Archie's girl, Wonder Women, Hello Kitty, etc. All of these product lines are created by the product mix of M.A.C. product mix are all the products an organizations sells. The products M.A.C. sells that are part of the different product lines are Lipliners, lipsticks, lip glasses, blushes, eyeshadows, makeup brushes, and eyeliners.The video below also shows a variety products of M.A.C.  products and colors.

    M.A.C.  has been successful at keeping their brand equity. Brand equity is the value of company and brand name. This has be proven because many people buy M.A.C products, aside from the high price they are required to pay. Also because M.A.C. does not o much advertising most of their advertising is done through word of mouth. M.A.C. brand is a global leading brand. A global brand is a brand that obtains at least a third of its earning from outside its home country, is recognizable outside its home base of customers, and has publicly available marketing and financial data. M.A.C. has made itself available online and has placed different locations all over the world. M.A.C. also adapt each store to where it is located. M.A.C. has used their Hello Kitty product line to sell China. 
                             

    Sunday, November 3, 2013

    Chapter 17. Personal Selling and Sales Management


     Personal selling is a purchase situation involving a personal, paid-for communication between two people in an attempt to influence each other. This has its pros and cons. All of the M.A.C. stores have a minimum of 3 make-up artist that are willing to help, at all times. They also have a live chat on their website. M.A.C. employees have personal selling skills and knowledge of the cosmetics, which give them the ability to find cosmetics that fit the customer best. Therefore, it leads the customer to discover other cosmetics that they didn’t know about. The pros are that the customer will buy an item that they are completely satisfied with. However, for some people the cons are that the customer will end up spending a whole lot more than they expected.


    Never the less, I believe M.A.C. is a Customer centric company. Customer centric is a philosophy under which the company customizes its product and services offering based on data generated through interactions between the customer and the company. Having this philosophy impacts a company’s decision for future innovation. One of the systems M.A.C uses to learn about the customer is online rating and reviews. Also, M.A.C. has individual records of what people buy in stores. When purchasing at M.A.C. they ask for basic information to keep track of what you have bought in the past. This not only helps to build a relationship with your potential customer but also to develop a personal selling process.

    Saturday, October 26, 2013

    Chapter 16. Advertising Public Relations and Sales Promotion

    M.A.C. heavily relies on testimonials and advertisements through fashion shows, celebrities, magazines, and makeup artist that are blog owners. Compared to other cosmetic companies, M.A.C. Does not invest nearly as much money on advertisement.However, M.A.C. Invests not only money but a lot of time in their HIV awareness campaign. Although this campaign is to bring awareness and knowledge of how to prevent HIV, it has also invited new consumers to buy their product. Consumers that agree with the campaign will buy products from M.A.C. To show support. Therefore, it will lead to the consumptions of more products once they are in the store or searching online.

    The HIV/aids campaign was establish in 1994 by the founders of M.A.C.,Toskan and Angelo. All the money made by the "Viva Glam" lipsticks and lip glasses are given completely to the M.A.C. Aids fund. The annual reports show that in 2012, they raised 250 million dollars. In this cosmetic line of Viva Glam, M.A.C. has had Nicky Minaj, Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga, and Fergie advertising their products. The publicity that these artist have, has also encourage fans to buy and support this campaign.

    M.A.C. Cosmetics is the official sponsor of the Fashion Week in London, Sydney and co-sponsor for Tokyo's fashion week. M.A.C. as you can imagine is also involved in the fashion week in New York City. M.A.C has a pro team of over 120 makeup artist. The Pro team has worked with the finest makeup artist. Such as Polly Osmond, James kaliardos, Lucia Pieroni, and much more. M.A.C.'s Pro team is in charged of creating most of the makeup looks for very well known runways around the world.

    M.A.C. has also made a cosmetic line call "RiRi loves M.A.C.". Being that this line is influenced by Rihanna, other social media have be updating on her makeup. Such as hollywoodlife, MTV, perezhilton, just jarred, and Rihanna herself has also posted tweets with information on her new products. M.A.C. Does not emphasize on advertise but in being able to bring forth a product of  quality. This strategy has made not only the media but consumers to want to speak and advertise M.A.C. products.
    http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/10/18/rihanna-mac-collection-riri-hearts-mac-holiday-makeup-cosmetics-2013/
    http://style.mtv.com/2013/09/12/rihanna-new-mac-ad/
    http://perezhilton.com/cocoperez/2013-09-16-rihanna-versace-mac-fall-collection-hong-kong-launch

    Sunday, October 20, 2013

    Chapter 14. Marketing channels and retailing





    M.A.C. Cosmetics have been a success from the moment it was created, and with time it has proven to be a unique cosmetic line. M.A.C. On the contrary too many other makeup lines, does not believe in overwhelming consumers with promotions or advertisement. This is all due to the quality of their product. Although Estee Lauder owns the cosmetic line of M.A.C., M.A.C. is managed differently and separate from Estee Lauder. M.A.C. uses Estee Lauder as one of their channels of distribution, as well as UPS. Estee Lauder Manufactures and distributes the product to M.A.C., and UPS delivers online orders. M.A.C. is a destination store for the most part. However, they do try to accommodate their consumers by locating some of their locations in strategic and convenient places such as Macy's on 34th St., and other large malls. M.A.C. is a chain store that provides nearly 1,000 locations worldwide and offers the convenience of online retailing.
      

    M.A.C. has a distinctive tactic of retailing their products. I am a M.A.C. user myself and I must say every time I walk into any M.A.C. location I feel like a celebrity. The atmosphere is always alive no matter if the place is busy or not. Every location is well lit up and the employees welcome you with an exciting attitude. They are always ready to help you find exactly what you are looking for or better. They sit you down in a studio chair in front of large mirrors, and apply any cosmetics you are interested in. Due to the fact that they are trained makeup artist, they find the perfect cosmetics to compliment your skin and teach you techniques of how to apply the cosmetics for best results. The layouts at M.A.C.’s locations are ideal. All of their cosmetics are at your reach with disposable application brushes and makeup remover for customers who prefer to help themselves. Also M.A.C. keeps the sleek look of black and white for décor. By doing so they are allowing the consumers to appreciate the colors of their cosmetics. They also use the face of different artist and cartoons to add to their décor. Such as wonder women, hello kitty, and Rihanna. All of these elements convince me to say they have an effective retailing mix. Even though the price is not the cheapest, it is affordable and has great quality.

    Sunday, October 13, 2013

    chapter 6. Consumer Decision Making


    A consumer decision will be influenced by different factors such as, psychological, social class, culture, age, personality, and need recognition. For those that don't know much about M.A.C. Cosmetics I'm sure would understand the variety of products just by M.A.C's mission statement "all sexes, all races, all ages". M.A.C. provides a variety products that can create a natural warm look or to the extreme most exotic and theatrical look. Consumers are driven to buy M.A.C. through word of mouth and the amazing quality it provides. As the founders of M.A.C. believe that you have to earn the customer not buy them with discounts or other promotions. Due to the fact that M.A.C. does not have any sales or promotions, what they do to keep customers interested and coming back is having product innovation. M.A.C. always keeps you on your toes. Being that i myself am a M.A.C. consumer, I have found myself consistently on their web page searching for what new products they have. Also being able to create products on their web page is a definite plus to a consumer decision making. Everyone loves being able to have something custom made to their liking.

    When purchasing M.A.C., the cosmetics gives you the liberty to be innovative with creative makeup styles. M.A.C. also  help accomplish an ideal self-imagine you create in our mind. Nevertheless, this leads to another influence in a consumer decision, which is what satisfaction a consumer feels after purchasing the product. When wearing M.A.C. Your skin looks flawless, pigmentation of the products are long lasting, quality and price of  the cosmetics help everyday users to be able to have professional makeup at a attainable price.

    Saturday, October 5, 2013

    Chapter 5. Developing a Global Vision

    M.A.C. cosmetics started to expand in 1984. it went from being made in a kitchen to then having a 10,000 foot manufacturing plant, that they grew out of within a year. Their big opportunity was when they were offer a space in a Toronto department store. However, their retailing strategy was very different from any other cosmetics. M.A.C. owners did not believe in buying customers with promotions, gifts, or high advertisement. On the other hand, they believed in earning customers with quality products and the convenience of having trained and experienced makeup artist employees to help customers. This all led MA.C. to be one of the few successful exports of Canada, aside from maple syrup of course. M.A.C. exported to the U.S., making sales through the prestigious department store of Henri bendel. Women would create long line outside of the store, that would last up to three hours for a pencil liner. This forced M.A.C.  to grow faster than expected. They first branch out to the U.S. and were successful.
    M.A.C. today is a multinational corporation. They have 1000 locations worldwide and place most of their locations in fashion oriented countries. China, France, India, Brazil  and the United States are some of the fashion oriented countries M.A.C. Focuses on to manufacture good that interest them. M.A.C. Also has their e-commerce site to be accessible to those who don't have a locations nearby. M.A.C. stores products are influence by the culture of where it is placed. However, M.A.C. product quality and price remain the same.

    Sunday, September 29, 2013

    Chapter 4. The Marketing Environment

    M.A.C's target market was initially professional make-up artist, photographers, and the Hollywood industry. However, M.A.C. has produced many different products for all ages, races, and sexes. They have done a demography on today's population to be able to manufacture the products they have now. The products they manufacture are meant to serve the needs of their consumers. They go in depth with the small details because it make a huge difference. To name some products I would say their spray primer that helps make-up stay on and look fresh for a longer period of time; Concealer with silicone to elevate the skin to help camouflage acne and dark spots. Also face moisturizers to put on before the makeup, that are PH-balanced. All of these products lead me to believe their main target are generations X and Y. Mainly Y, Generation Y are people born from 1979 to 1994.Generation y  are innovative, opinionated, creative,  diverse, and love to splurge on themselves. Hence, M.A.C. has tried to be both innovative and creative to give generation Y a reason to not only buy, but buy at an reasonable rate. M.A.C gives Generation Y the ability to show off their unique character through the art of makeup. Due to M.A.C. giving consumers a way of expressing themselves. Most M.A.C's promotion is through word of mouth and credits given to them through magazines or makeup artist that make tutorials on YouTube with M.A.C. cosmetics.

    Sunday, September 22, 2013

    Chapter 3. The Concept of Ethical Behavior

    Ethics are the moral principles or values that generally govern the conduct of an individual or a group. This is a major factor in any company, organization, or industry. Ethics in business are what they call Code of Conduct. Estée Lauder which is the owner of M.A.C. has used these codes in all areas of their business. They have a social and environmental responsibility that makes their production more challenging and at the same time contributes to the sustainability of their company. Estée Lauder has made sure that M.A.C. responds accordingly with social codes for child labor,health and safety, discrimination, harassment, etc. Also environmental codes for recycling, reducing energy use as well their greenhouse gas.
    M.A.C's social responsibility include their contribution to the awareness of HIV/AIDS. M.A.C has introduce their Viva Glam line in 1994. Over the past 18 years they have launched seven exclusive Viva Glam products. They have raised over $250 million with the help of different celebrities(http://www.maccosmetics.com/cms/giving_back/vivaglam.tmpl). M.A.C. also has a program call "Back to M.A.C.". This program was made to be share the environmental responsibility that we all have not only business but also us the consumers. The way the program works is that for every 6 primary packaging containers you return, you receive any lipstick of your choice. This is an amazing way to recycle and continue to please the customer. This act contributes in showing customer value.Moreover, M.A.C. does not test their products on animals, they are "cruelty free".


    Sunday, September 15, 2013

    Chapter 2. Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage



    Reading this chapter has truly opened my eyes to understanding the fundamental needs for a successful business. Estee Lauder bought a percentage of M.A.C., which then led to them buying the rest of it. Estee Lauder brought M.A.C. to a very successful position globally. The market developing of this companion has spread very quickly and efficiently. In my opinion the union of these two companies can be what in this chapter they call a strategic business unit; Two cosmetic companies with a vision to serve all ages, races, and sexes. In addition, M.AC. has been very efficient with their product development. They are making mini items for traveling purposes and for affordability. Not only is M.A.C. Improving with current product, but have had a diversification by including nail polish and the ability to make up your own product online. It is ideal to be able to get exactly what you want for both the customer's advantage and companies
     
     

    On the other hand, all of these advantages we have as consumers are not as easy as we think them out to be. Also on their part it has not been easy to gain the name they have today as a leading cosmetic line. To achieve being a successful business it required great work and dedication. As athletes work hard to maintain an athletic body with a high stamina, so do successful companies. However, M.A.C. does it by having an important element called a marketing plan. This is not a set plan; it changes with every company according to what their mission is. Hence, this plan will only work as good as the effort that was put into it. Leonardo Lauder CEO of Estee Lauder and owner of M.A.C.  has been successful in knowing what their mission is as a cosmetic company. Leonardo is so aware on the success of coming forth with an efficient product, which not only manufactures a product with quality but even has a sleek packaging. Having known this, he feels no need to have any kind of discount needed. All of these things are important when marketing a product. Also, M.A.C. owners are not just aware of the competitive advantage but of the how they have sustained it with the theatre inspired cosmetics. Cosmetics that facilitate consumers with a sort of individuality and self-expression. Aside from all the glamour, CEO Leonardo has made sure to have staff implementing the marketing plan to meet goals. Also, having evaluations being done, to make sure the plan is working and how it can be better. They also maintain their product promotion by sending free products to bloggers and makeup artist.

     

    Monday, September 9, 2013

    Chapter.1 An Overview of Marketing


    M.A.C. is a very well known cosmetic line that was launched march 1984. Frank Toskan, makeup artist and photographer and Frank Angelo, Beauty salon owner, had an amazing marketing concept. In which many outstanding products came about. Products that were suitable to the needs they felt in their own careers and as consumers of products they were not pleased with. Seeing that they are professionals, they felt a need for more exotic and dramatic makeup. They manufacture this new line exclusively for professional users. Product became such a success that consequently, they launch they own line. They began a new revolution in makeup. A revolution that in my opinion has not been topped. The pigments of M.A.C. colors, from their eye shadows to their lipstick are very radiant and vibrant. This company has shown to be greatly sales oriented. Not only has this company invested in great quality makeup but in training their employees. This is a key marketing technique for M.A.C, it gives the consumer a more convincing feel of different products and ease to find what fits their skin best.

     -Cosmetics to enhance the natural beauty and meet all consumers needs.