Even as the Indian market has witnessed the rise of several direct-to-consumer brands in the space of cosmetics, MAC Cosmetics claims to have steadily created its own set of followers. The brand claims that creating store experiences with make-up artists has paid off in its favour, in addition to launching India-specific products. In a conversation with BrandWagon Online, Karen Thompson, Brand Manager, MAC Cosmetics India, talks about why India is an important market for the brand. (Edited Excerpts)
How important is India as a market for an international premium cosmetic brand such as MAC?
India is a very significant market for the global brand. It’s one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. Not to mention, consumers have become aspirational, and are looking to purchase premium products like MAC which is backed by international brand value. Besides, the Indian customer has really evolved in terms of their disposable income, lifestyle, among others.
Given that in the last few years, India has also witnessed the rise of many direct-to-consumer (D2C) cosmetic brands, how do you think MAC is positioned in the market?
It’s a very diverse market. We’ve put a lot of focus here. We’ve been in India for a significant amount of time, and we really look closely at what consumers are looking for besides what the Indian consumers need – right from products to campaigns. As a result, we have created products specifically for India. For example, Meher, one of our best-selling lipsticks, was specifically created for Indian women. We have also developed specific foundation shades to meet the demand for all of the shades that Indian women need. Also, the fact that we have got a brand ambassador for the first time for The Viva Glam campaign, in India, proves our commitment, as we have this arrangement in select markets only.
What about your plans to ramp up offline distribution?
Every day, we are opening more stores and so far we have over 180 stores. As part of our expansion strategy, we are building up our presence in cities where we are already present, besides expanding into tier 2 and 3 cities. So, we’ll be expanding this year in Mumbai and Delhi. We’ve recently opened stores in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Indore, and Prayagraj (Allahabad). Also, we have different types of stores. While we have some of our own stores, we also run stores in partnership with retailers.
What percentage of sales do retail stores account for when compared with e-tail?
Even as the sales number changes every month, approximately offline accounts for 60% of sales, while online 40%. This has obviously changed a little bit post-Covid-19 as during the pandemic, online accounted for the majority of sales. But it’s great to see that offline is picking up as customers want to be in stores. They want to learn about new products besides engaging with the brand.
What is the idea behind the new campaign?
On the 29th year of VIVA GLAM charitable initiative, which supports healthy futures and equal rights for all, we roped in actor Bhumi Pednekar to join the ranks of past VIVA GLAM ambassadors, including Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Mary J. Blige, Rosalia and Ricky Martin to promote the limited-edition lipstick. This new range of lipstick will be priced at Rs 2,200, and 100% of the selling price will be donated. The money is going straight to organisations which support women and girls, LGBTQIA+, besides those who are affected with HIV- AIDS.
How has MAC Cosmetics built the experience for consumers over the years?
We invest very heavily in training and education. Ever since we started, we have always made sure that we have make-up artists at the counter. So, we typically hire people who are either trained make-up artists or have experience and if not, then we train them. Also, we invest heavily in education, so we constantly train our workforce using virtual and physical classrooms, boot camps, among others. We ensure that we deliver the best service through makeup artists and I think that’s why customers love to come back.
Lastly, what is the frequency of new launches and your plans?
We are very strong in product innovation and we’ve been launching great products, all over the year actually. For example, MAC Studio Fix Every Wear All Over Face Pen. We will also launch a new product in the lip balm lip gloss space, which’s called Squirt 3d plumping balm backed with Gen-Z packaging during the festive season. We also plan to launch some new products in the lip and face category.