Swot Analysis Of Mac Cosmetics

MAC Cosmetics was started by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo in Toronto, Canada in 1984. The company is headquartered in New York City and became part of Estee Lauder Companies in 1988. MAC’s mission statement is “All Races, All Sexes, All Ages” as they seek to celebrate creativity and individuality. MAC stands for Make-up Artist Cosmetics.

MAC’s strengths are that it possesses unique products and services. It provides a personal experience for consumers with trained make up professionals. It also holds many fashion forward products that help set makeup trends in the market. Many cosmetic sellers can help set a makeup trend by providing good products, however MAC takes it one step further as it has a massive celebrity following. These celebrities

There has been an overall trend that consumers have become more conscious about a company’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and their public stance on controversial topics. MAC already majorly funds ‘MAC Aids’ which supports community organisations that provide direct services to men, women, and children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS. It has raised over $295,000,000 since creation in 1994. MAC can advertise this to consumers to make them aware of their contributions and not only help set a social conscious image but also help persuade consumers to increase their purchases for a cause. Another potential opportunity for MAC would be global expansion in countries such as India. Euro-monitor’s 2010 data stated that MAC was the most prestigious makeup brand in India with 54% market share. MAC could take this as a sign and invest in customizing products (such as foundation shades) to make them more relevant to Indian consumer preferences. This would be a profitable move as India is an emerging economy and with Indian’s having relatively higher incomes, it would help increase MAC’s sales and increase their influence over the globe. This expansion would also help reinforce their mission statement of embracing “All Races, All Sexes, All Ages” by expanding their products to incorporate darker and lighter skin

As mentioned before, Sephora holds many makeup brands while MAC slowly sells its own product line. This would mean that Sephora has a larger scope to make a higher level profits, while MAC would lose out and make relatively lower profit. Another potential threat is the prices of competitors as they charge much lower than MAC’s products. Other makeup companies that target lower income consumers, such as Rimmel and Maybelline, while MAC Cosmetics targets higher income groups and their targeted group may be smaller than Rimmel’s. However, due their loyal consumer following and relatively high prices, they are able to make significant level of profit to survive and thrive in the cosmetic industry