Marketing Strategy Competition

Mary Kay Beauty Products: How to Target Millennials

This year's case was focused on Mary Kay Beauty Products and how to target millennial consumers. Erin and I had 20 minutes to create notes from the case, and come up with a strategy for how to reach this generation. We were able to come up with the 5 P's: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, and People, and a strategy that Mary Kay could use to attract new consumers.

Product: Wide variety of high-end beauty products. (Makeup, Skincare, etc.)

Price:  Standard sets that include 5 Mary Kay products for both women and men range between $75 and $90. Individual prices were not listed in the case.

Place: Strong online presence with online assistants to help consumers that have questions about products. They also carry products in many high-end makeup stores.

Promotion: They are known for their Mary Kay parties, which are more common for middle-aged women. At these events, people invite their friends and it offers a fun environment for people to try new products. Our recommendation here was that millennials are less interested in attending parties such as these, and that they need to promote more online/social media to reach this generation.

People: The case mentioned the success of both women's and men's products, so we emphasized targeting men more for Mary Kay products. We showed the comparative advantage of CoverGirl, who had released one magazine cover featuring a CoverBoy, and how Mary Kay doesn't need to do that exact same advertising but seeing some male models for their products might attract more millennial consumers. 

One of our strategies was to offer sample sizes to millennials to get them exposed to Mary Kay products. At the conference, Mary Kay passed out two free samples to every college student, and that was a perfect example. If people like the sample, they'll go out and purchase more and recommend it to friends/family, creating that network that Mary Kay needs among the millennial generation.

Another strategy was shipping boxes of beauty product sets to consumers for a small price, similar to BirchBox or Dollar Shave Club. Offering a small set for $25 that can be shipped 3-4 times a year will draw in younger consumers due to it being convenient and inexpensive. 

Our final strategy was maintaining their online presence and keeping the online assistants to help make the online shopping experience easier. More consumers are leaning towards online shopping and deals/coupons, so if Mary Kay can continue to excel in their online market they will draw in consumers that way as well.

***For future competitors, try to make as many notes so the presentation runs the full time-limit (5 minute pres. and 2 minute Q and A). Our presentation was a bit short of the time limit. Also, review the practice case examples they send to you prior to the conference!