Ch. 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

A market segment is a subgroup of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product needs. MAC Cosmetics have a potential market for the customers, offering affordable prices for all ages, sexes, genders, and socio-economic groups. Their target marketing is the market segment where their product is globally marketed to. The company targets its market, which is their strategic approach to creating a marketing mix for a specific targeted market segment and set of buyers. This leads to the success of the company. The beauty of MAC's target marketing is that it make stheir promotion, pricing, and distribution of their products and services easier and more cost-effective. target marketing provides a focus to all of MAC's marketing activities. MAC Cosmetics knows their target market on the basis of demographic information because it is widely available and it is often related to consumers buying and consumer behavior based on age, gender, income, and ethnic background.

Ch. 11 - Developing and Managing Products

Every season MAC Cosmetics introduces a new collection of products. These ideas come form many sources which include, customer, employees, distributors, competitors, vendors, research and development, and consultants. This coming February, 2013, hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj will be going solo as MAC's Viva Glam girl. She's got a new signature color to add to her repertoire in addition to the MAC AIDS fund she contributed to at the beginning of 2012 with Ricky Martin. Nicki is trading in that pink signature color for a shade of purple that's been popping up on runways this season. New products are important to sustain growth, increase revenues and profits, and replace obsolete items. This new product will sustain growth, increase revenues and profits, and replace obsolete items because Nicki Minaj is a well-known celebrity and an idol to many. Because of this fact, this new lipstick's sales will become equal to her last lipstick's sales. This is because most of her fans bought her last lipstick with MAC and will most likely buy this new one just because it has her name on it. During the developing process, MAC takes everything that includes sale outcomes into consideration.

Ch. 16 - Integrated Marketing Communications

MAC Cosmetics promotes their products in a very unique way and has always been on the cutting edge with their way of promoting their brand image. They use all three types of promotion; they inform, they persuade, and they remind potential buyers through their word-of-mouth strategy. MAC is very aware of their target audience which allows them to know how to focus their promotions. MAC's target market recognizes them as significant and superior, and they have a total competitive advantage in the cosmetics market. However, outside of the United States, there is no media advertisement, so people in other countries often do not know about MAC's products and their advantages. Since this is an existing lack of promotional campaigns, MAC relies on their existing customers to spread the information about their products. They use celebrities and models as representatives of their makeup products. The company is very clever when it comes to knowing how to keep a positive image in public relations. MAC Cosmetics is known for their MAC AIDS fund campaign and their Back to MAC program, where they stand out for being a socially responsible company. They also have fashion parties and launches where they bring the ordinary world and the celebrity world together. This allows the company to benefit great deals for their publicity. The greatest highlight of MAC is their sales promotion which stimulates their immediate increases in demand. The employees at MAC are all well trained. Their sales representatives offer the best personalized customer service. Between MAC and its customers, personal selling is a well paid-for communication where the customer is ultimately satisfied with the product and its reasonable and affordable price. MAC Cosmetics believes in and uses interpersonal communication with their customers, which is direct and a face-to-face communication. The sales representatives in every MAC store are very attentive and direct, which is an advantage and a positive effective way of product selling.

Ch. 10 - Product Concepts

     MAC Cosmetics is a specialty product and the company's consumers are extremely satisfied with it because it fulfills their extensive search. MAC uses the word-of-mouth streategy and are status-conscious to maintain their product's exclusive image. Different cultures favor brand name for their quality product and research has shown that consumers do not mind paying a higher price to purchase MAC Cosmetics which being a product of Estee Lauder, is priced higher than the average drugstore cosmetics, but consumers are aware of the higher quality they are paying for.
     MAC's product line ranges from eyes, face, lips, skincare, fragrances, brushes, nails, kit essentials, and accessories. Over the last 15 years, 200 shades of lipsticks were created in seven different finishes,  180 eye shadows, 100 blushes, and haircare have all been created for the public. MAC is a global brand product that is well-recognized outside of its homebase of customers. Repeat sales take place in MAC stores because a customer knows what he/she wants and if their favorite product is in MAC, they will continue to purchase it whenever they run low on the product.

Ch. 18 - Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

In addition to using advertising, public relations, and personal selling, marketing managers can use sales promotion to increase the effectiveness of their promotional efforts. Sales promotion is marketing communication activities, in which a short-term incentive motivates consumers or members of the distribution channel to purchase a good or service immediately, either by lowering the price or by adding value. For sales promotion, MAC does short-term use of incentives such as discounts, displays, exchange offers, exhibitions, fashion shows, movies, and television. The company does this to attract the potential customers and to achieve more sales value. MAC also promotes recycling. They do this through their "Back to MAC" program, where if you return six MAC primary packaging containers to either online or at a MAC counter, you get a free MAC lipstick of your choice. This is the company's way of thanking consumers for keeping our planet green.

Personal selling is a purchase situation involving a personal, paid-for communication between two people in an attempt to influence each other. The most important advantage is that personal selling is considerably more effective than other forms of promotion in obtaining a sale and gaining a satisfied customer. MAC performs the task of selling through individual or representative by face to face, and oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention of making a sale. MAC focuses initially on developing a relationship with the potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to "close a sale".

Ch. 17 - Advertising and Public Relations

When we talk about advertising, we talk about the promotion of a product and a consumer's relations with that company. As stated in the book, advertising is impersonal, one-way mass communication about a product or organization that is paid for by a marketer. Institutional advertising and product advertising are two major types of advertising.

MAC Cosmetics would be considered to be more of product advertisers. than of institutional advertisers. Product advertising promotes the benefits of a specific good or service. MAC heavily promotes their new products online and in emails. Every other day I get an email from MAC, introducing me to a new product they're selling. They also include free shipping every week. In the email they provide a code and an expiration date, so you can purchase anything online before that date and with that code, get free shipping. I think this an excellent way to advertise and promote their products. It's also very convenient because for example, seeing a new product in a magazine would probably catch your eye but you probably wouldn't buy it because the process would take too long. Having an email right at your hands aside with an offer code for free shipping will encourage you to buy that product or maybe even another product just because the shipping is free. As of right now, there is free shipping until December 21st, no offer code necessary.

Ch. 15 - Retailing

According to the chapter, retailing is all the activities directly related to the sale of goods and services to the ultimate consumer for personal, non business use. The millions of goods and services provided by retailers mirror the needs and styles of U.S. society.

Yesterday, i walked into a MAC store. There are greeting customers ready to help any customer that enters the store. I am very satisfied with their personalized customer service. Customer service is a very important factor in MAC. Employees make 100% that a customer has exactly what he or she needs and wants. Me personally, I went in there to look around. As I entered, one worker approached me and greeted me and asked me if I was looking for anything in particular. At first I wasn't but somehow she allowed me to change my mind and purchase something. I asked for a light pink lipstick and she pulled out a lipstick called Saint German. She asked me if I would like for her to try it on me first, no cost, to see how it looks on me before I purchase it, and I allowed her to. She asked me where am I wearing it to and she told me how much to use depending on location. When I'm going to school, use a one line and smear it onto both lips, when going to work do the same but just dab a little more this time, and when you're going out, use a lot, show the brightness! You can go in just to take a look, but because of this kind of customer-friendly service, I bet most people decide to purchase one or two of their products.

I would say that MAC uses direct marketing as well as online retailing. After you purchase a product they tell you to go onto their website and fill out a survey. We all know once you go to a website, your eyes wonder and you begin to search for more and more products that you probably didn't see in the store, or that you don't even need, you're just searching because you can. They also ask for your email address so they can save into their system but the reality is so your email will be filled with MAC cosmetics emails about new products you should get. I know from experience.