History and Advertising of Mary Kay Cosmetics
Introduction
While most companies depend upon imposing advertising schemes, Mary Kay has found success in word of mouth alone. Why is Mary Kay’s Advertisement so different then everyone else’s, but so effective? Their customers have stayed loyal to them because of their hands-off advertising techniques. Mary Kay consultants are trained to approach the customers with a positive attitude and encouraging spirit. Because of the way they present themselves and their product, Mary Kay has achieved international success without pushy advertising.
Founded
Without the strength and confidence of Mary Kay Ash, this business may never have achieved such success as one of the largest privately held firms in the cosmetic industry. She inspired her consultants with words of wisdom:
Do you know that within your power lies every step you ever dreamed of stepping and within your power lies every joy you ever dreamed of seeing? Within yourself lies everything you ever dreamed of being. Become everything that God wants you to be. It is within your reach. Dare to grow into your dreams and claim this as your motto: Let it be me. (Mary Kay 5, 2007)
She used her past experiences to inspire all of her consultants, she wanted to know that they carer a lot about the business as she did. Mary Kay Ash had worked two jobs that required door to door sales, which also included her meeting her goals every day, but Mary Kay wanted more of a challenge. She retired at the age of 25 in 1963, but only for a month. After her retirement, she wrote a book named How to, a career book that gave business tips to woman. After she wrote this book, it encouraged her to start her dream company, which led her on her way to Mary Kay Cosmetics. The way she started her company was by buying the formula to a skin care cream she had been using. She then enlisted her husband to handle operations and began recruiting friends and family to be independent beauty consultants for the business enterprise called “Beauty by Mary Kay”. Unfortunately, tragic hit one month before the scheduled opening for her premier of her product, Mary Kay’s husband passed away from cancer. It was a disastrous time in the Ash family but she knew if she did not bring her product out soon after this tragedy, she would never get around to it. So, on Friday, September 13, 1963, Mary Kay premiered her new company and her exciting new products. Everyone loved the new merchandise; the first year it was out it landed a profit of $198,000. The true aim for Mary Kay Inc. then became to enrich woman’s lives in four fields:
· Recognition- the identification of something as having been previously seen, heard, and known.
· Motivation- the act or an instance of motivating.
· Support- to bear or hold up (a load, mass, structure, part, etc.); serve as a foundation.
· Earning Opportunities- Prizes and awards for best sellers.
Today, consultants still focus on these four principles and base their sales on them. (MaryKayInc.com, April, 2007)
Sale Representatives
Mary Kay’s independent sales power exceeds 1.7 million independent beauty consultants in more than thirty markets worldwide. There are two different employee branches while selling Mary Kay cosmetics. These two branches are independent beauty consultants and independent sales directors. Independent beauty consultants focus on the ground rules of establishing customer relationships, booking appointments, sharing the Mary Kay business opportunity and operating a commercial business. After reaching all of the goals of a beauty consultant, employees can get promoted to an independent sales director which holds a lot of responsibility as well. The independent sales director provides their sales division with continuing direction and assistance. While being a Mary Kay representative consultants have flexible hours, they are their own boss and they set their own schedule. The beauty consultant decides on how much they want to make and the opportunity is unlimited. The more hours a beauty consultant puts out selling the product, the more profit they will be able to make. While I was interviewing a former sales consultant of Mary Kay Inc, she said that it was worth every second to sell Mary Kay products, although it took a great deal of time and she had put loads of effort in to selling a large number of the products, in the end it came out profitable. “It is great the image that Mary Kay holds, when you are talking to people and explaining Mary Kay they have a lot of good things to say about the product and company which is always nice to hear,” said Ronning. “You have to have a strong passion towards the company and a good attitude towards your customers in order to make the profit you want.” (Ronning, Brittney, interview) To keep their sales representatives and consumers at Mary Kay, they came up with a mission statement. In this proclamation, it states that they are offering quality products to their consumers and fulfilling careers to their employees. They also want to reach out to women; they keep to this statement by caring and setting positive values. (Mary Kay Inc. Magazine)
Sales Product
Because the product is made to sell without advertisement, it is necessary that it be of the utmost quality. There are many beauty products that come out of Mary Kay Inc: Skin care, Makeup, Fragrances, and Spa and Body:
- Skin Care: Anti- aging, cleanser, moisturizer, classic basic skin care, basic needs and lip and eye care.
- Make up: Eyes, lips, cheeks, foundation, concealers, powders,
- Fragrances: woman’s and men’s
- Spa and Body: private spa collection, body care, Mary Kay sun care collection.
Product safety is Mary Kay Inc.’s highest priority. In one year alone, Mary Kay Inc. spends millions of dollars conducting over three hundred thousand tests to promise that all of their products meet the highest standards of safety, quality and performance. Scientific experts review every individual ingredient and every finished product. All the skin care and cosmetic products are regulated by governmental health and safety authorities. This means that before the product goes out to the market, it must pass tough safety requirements. Mary Kay is the world’s largest direct sale provider of skin care and color cosmetics. Besides all the tests that Mary Kay puts their products through, they also worry about their competitors. One of Mary Kay’s largest competitors is Avon;
Advertising
When Mary Kay started the business, she made it clear that she did not like pushy sales people. Mary Kay wanted her consultants to go out with a positive attitude, because she knew that they could sell a lot using their own good judgment, along with a loving and caring spirit. Many of Mary Kay’s consultants have good personal selling skills, selling door to door or over the phone. They also like to have parties and give makeovers. Mary Kay Inc. is known just by its name alone. Mary Kay is such a big company that they do not need their name in lights to dominate over their competitors. However Mary Kay has put a few ads in magazines before; for example, when MK Signature was voted “Glamour’s Gold Style” in the May 2004 issue of Glamour. When the Mary Kay signature gold was voted hot color for fall-winter of 2004, Mary Kay Inc. was offered to put an ad in Glamour for their achievement. By doing this advertisement, they sold out of their entire gold glimmer stock by December, which then became a new goal for Mary Kay’s products. (MaryKay Financial.com) Mary Kay does not use billboards, television advertisements, or newspapers for advertising; their biggest goal is to get their sales consultants out there talking about it. In this case, a great deal of advertisement for Mary Kay Inc. is word of mouth. Mary Kay emphasizes consulting door to door so that the sales representatives can make a connection with the consumer. This gives them a lot of potential for selling more of the product or add-on items that may help the sale representative’s goal. In 1970, a Mary Kay consultant brought the company to advertise on 60 minutes when she was discovered for being the first representative to reach the million dollar mark in commissions. This also brought loads of attention to Mary Kay, not only for sales, but for new employment. Mary Kay herself also got a lot of attention from public relations. When she won Lifetime’s outstanding woman of the year award in 2000, she was recognized for a while on the Lifetime channel. As you can see, Mary Kay does not need to do a whole lot to advertise because the product being sold advertises itself. (Mary Kay Inc. Magazine)
International
Mary Kay’s headquarter/corporate office started in a 500 square foot building in
Achievements
By focusing on offering women unique opportunities, Mary Kay Inc. has achieved great success. Starting by making the dream company, Mary Kay gave women something to work for and goals that they could set for themselves; for example, by getting enough sales one could receive a pink Cadillac. To symbolize a woman’s ability to reach beyond her possible top routine in the independent sales force, they would receive an impressive diamond bumblebee pin. When consumers see the consultants are treated well, they are more willing to purchase the product. From 1981-1984, Mary Kay came out with two bestselling books. The first book was an autobiography, written about her life and her goals with over two million copies sold. The second book was called Peoples Management; this book explained business advice and tips. The books served as a form of subtle advertisement, which encouraged the consumer instead of pushing them. (Taking Care of Business, March, 2007) One of Mary Kay’s largest achievements was when their company took a leadership position in the cosmetics industry by ceasing animal testing. This was a big jump for Mary Kay Inc. because a lot of people were against animal unkindness. Another outstanding achievement took place in 2000, when Interactive Week Magazine named Mary Kay Inc. one of the largest companies in the world for online sales, which at the time were 90 percent of the company’s revenues. By rewarding the consultants, publishing encouraging books, and providing convenient online sales options, Mary Kay reached out to its clients in a way that billboard advertisements could never do. (Mary Kay On People Management)
Charitable
Mary Kay Inc. receives a lot of advertisement and recognition from the charitable events it sponsors. Mary Kay focused on the foundations that were closest to her and had the most impact on her life. In 1980, when Mel Ash, Mary Kay Ash’s husband, died of lung cancer, Mary Kay decided to start a foundation to raise money to cure cancer. In 1996, Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation was recognized to honor the raising and distributing of research funds for cancer affecting women. This is a nonprofit foundation, which receives donations from members of the general public, Mary Kay independent sales force, and employees. This is not the only charitable program that Mary Kay has set up, though; she also started a group called “Breaking the Silence against Violence” for women who are victims of violence: domestic violence, rape, stalking, and even murder threats. In 2000, Mary Kay Ash Charity foundation awarded millions of dollars to women’s shelters across the country. In 2001, “Breaking the Silence Journey of Hope,” a document written on domestic violence victims, aired nationally on the public television station and was sponsored by Mary Kay Inc. Foundation. This gave Mary Kay advertisement, as viewers saw that her company was sponsoring such an eye-opening documentary. The public respected her activism towards such a touchy issue. In 2005, the foundation distributed $20,000 in grants to 150 shelters across the
Conclusion
Without ostentatious advertising, Mary Kay Corporation has been able to start a whole new vision for women around the world. Because of the quality of their product and the sales consultants, Mary Kay Inc. has not needed to spend millions of dollars on advertisement. Instead, they focus more on word of mouth and charitable events. They trust that the product will “do the talking” and that the client will recognize the quality of their makeup. The clients are able to trust the product, because they see that the makers themselves believe in the product enough that they do not feel the need for pushy advertisement.
