Ch. 1 - Overview of Marketing

Brief History

Make-Up Art Cosmetics, also known as MAC, was founded in 1984 in Toronto, Canada by Frank Toskan, a make-up artist, and Frank Angelo, a business partner. These two men founded MAC as a make-up for professionals. The first MAC retail location opened up in Toronto at Simpsons department store. In 1986, the Festival of Canadian Fashion was held and the company of MAC participated, wowing the crowd in result. Everyone was incredibly fascinated with it's far-out looks. In it's history, MAC had two spokesmodels: Ru Paul, and K.D. Ru Paul is a drag queen and a female impersonator, and K.D. Lang is a butch lesbian. MAC's style was always known for alternatively sexual identities. The brand does almost no advertising other than for it's Viva Glam lipstick. The sale of that collection goes to an AIDS foundation established by MAC in 1994. Part of the MAC mystique is that the line was originally formulated for fashion photoshoots. It caters to a wide range of skin tones and the language of how MAC deals with skin tones has become part of how people talk about make-up in general.

Mission Statement

"All Races, All Sexes, All Ages"

Conceived to embrace all consumers. MAC's mission is to be the world's leading makeup authority among both professional makeup artists and consumers. To meet customer's needs for superior quality services. To meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care with products that make people look good and feel good. As an organization, it commits itself to high standards and creative development that all pains have gains. As I mentioned earlier, the MAC AIDS fund was launched in 1994, supporting men, women, and children affected by HIV/AIDS globally. Every cent spent on products apart of this campaign goes to these people around the world affected by the disease.

What is Marketing?

Before taking the first class, my definition of marketing was advertisement. What products they put in store windows, what commercials they make for their companies, what ads they put on walls and buses, etc. After the first class, I've learned more about marketing. It is more than just advertisement. It is a set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers. Reading chapter one also expanded my knowledge about marketing. Marketing entails processes that focus on delivering value and benefits to customers, not just selling goods, services, and/or ideas. Meaning, the business has to convince it's customer to buy it's products by building a relationship. The more comfortable you are as a customer, the more comfortable you are in buying products from that business. Rather than the company just tell you prices and how good the product works, a relationship can be built in order for the customer to want to buy. Also, businesses know what people like. For example, the Apple store. The majority of my generation right now have apple products. To name an actual product, the iPhone. I have an iPhone. Every single one of my friends have an iPhone. When I'm on the bus or train I see nothing but iPhones. In school, the majority of the students have iPhones. Apple will continue to create more advanced iPhones because they know people will buy. Young people for the most part, because the majority of people with iPhones are young adults. When you walk into an Apple store, music is playing, the room is a comfortable enough temperature to sit in, the workers are super friendly and will educate you on any product you ask about. It's a comfortable place with products you love and people who make you feel comfortable in buying them. It's all about the relationship.