Traditional Media Vs. Social Media

Since then, Mary Kay has become a billion dollar corporation. The company had over come its decline in sales by revamping their marketing and public relations strategies.

My response to Camerius's case study and Lutrell's book Social Media is that the self-promoting and self-selling business of Mary Kay has went through the transition of using traditional media to using social media. Consultants are no longer relying on traditional media to promote Mary Kay. Instead they are relying on using social media.

Last year, my sister Megan joined the make-up business Mary Kay.

Throughout the last few months, she has insisted that I join her team and start selling Mary Kay. I have yet to cave in and join her team. Rather than selling the make-up, I have been tracking how she and other beauty consultants promote their Mary Kay products and themselves.

Mary Kay still sends out magazines to the consultants and to the customers that feature new and popular products.They also send out thank-you cards and other types of cards to the consultants and users.

Compared to decades ago, the use of traditional media is dying out. Social media is the primary use for the company. Megan heavily uses social media to promote Mary Kay. Megan uses Facebook as her primary website to promote Mary Kay. She stays in contact with the other consultants through a Facebook page. Everyday she posts to her Facebook about her Mary Kay website. She shares her passion for the company, new deals that she is offering, and information on new products. She sets up events and consultations with customers through Facebook. She also uses the Mary Kay website and her phone to contact customers and other consultants. She seems to  be doing quite well as she has been an avid consultant for two years now.

Due to the advancement of technology, there has been a strong shift in using traditional media to using social media. Consultants rely on the social media to further expand their business and to create new relationships with customers.

As technology changes, I am curious to see how Megan will promote Mary Kay in the future and what other case studies will be done on the company.

The Mary Kay Transformation

Mary Kay had to do something to turn their business around or else it would continue to plummet. 

During the time of all of the new laws set in place, there was a development in technology which allowed for a greater understanding of skin physiology. 

The consumers of Mary Kay products were relatively "white collar" and professionals with moderate to high incomes. Many were college educated. The people on the lower end of the market were being neglected. Consultants were up-scaled and needed to sell down to lower levels. Senior Vice Present of Mary Kay Barbara Beasley created a triad of new ideas: makeup for blacks, Hispanics, and mature woman. By changing their products and their intended audience, they revamped their corporation (Camerius 7). 

Their marketing strategies also changed as a result to the change of makeup. The initial change was the product line. There were new products being created. The company repackaged the entire product line (Camerius 9). 

When the company started growing again at a very fast rate, they began experimenting with consumer advertising. They started creating magazines and television advertisements. The reaction from the sales turned out to be very positive. They overall created a very positive, important message that the consumers were receiving (Camerius 10). 

After management had started using advertisements, they had incorporated a a new public relations and publicity program. They PR was publicizing the events and the products and giving press releases. Due to the PR program, the company was releasing new products in fashion magazines. 

Consultants began sending out brochures and direct mailing their costumers providing information on new products and upcoming sales. The consultants would then follow up with the customer through a direct telephone call (Camerius 11). 

Outside Factors

By the 1980's, Mary Kay had reached it's peak. Despite the strong attempts of the Mary Kay marketing plan, the environment was not solely needing Mary Kay. There were many other companies that were managing similar and had products that competed with Mary Kay (Camerius 5).

Some of the dominating companies were Avon, Revlon Inc., and Cover Girl. These retail companies were larger than Mary Kay and had more resources than Mary Kay did. By the 1980's the company was having a hard time reeling in more customers and consultants. The majority of the users were constant. The industry was suffering.

During this decade, there were laws put into place that affected the cosmetic industry. The FDA started monitoring what was put into the makeup and how it was distributed.The laws in the Federal Trade Commission were also changing (Camerius 7).

Despite these outside factors influencing the success of the company, the Mary Kay corporation did not give up.

The Corporate Concept

The strategy of the company was based on the "Mary Kay Marketing Plan." This plan was put into place and forced the beauty consultants to sell skin care products out of their home. They were supervised and looked over by a sales director. This design was help avoid any mistakes the consultants would make. Consultants were encourages to recruit consultants under them. Consultants were self-employed as they had to sell the products to the consumers. Overall, this marketing plan was to support and the independent sales contractor. When a consultant excelled in sales, recruiting, or leadership, they would be rewarded with awards and prizes. This marketing plan also included seminars and training for the consultants.  (Camerius 4).

Consultants were supposed to emphasize and create personal relationships with the customers.

Despite the efforts that the corporation used to build and create for their corporation, they still had larger issues with the company.

Mary Kay Philosophy

Mary Kay has a specific corporation philosophy. The strategy is "Do unto others as you would have them undo to you." This philosophy creates an atmosphere of teamwork, respect for others and creating relationships based upon trust, honesty, and caring (Mary Kay). Mary Kay has a set of specific values. Their optimal goal is to create a reality where both the consultant and the customer feel important and recognized. The company has a foundation of values and principles that depend on a team of consultants and customers. No single person can operate the company alone. 

The company of Mary Kay was founded on September 13th, 1963 in Dallas, Texas by Mary Kay Ash. The company started off with $5,000 and transformed over fifty years into a billion dollar company. The first headquarters was a five-hundred-square-foot store in Exchange Park, a large bank and a complex of office-buildings in Dallas (Camerius 1). 

Mary Kay was not always doing well for a company. Camerius analyzes in his case study the issues Mary Kay's Marketing Plan had. 

The case study is broken down into several parts: what Mary Kay is, the history of Mary Kay, the company issues Mary Kay had during the 1980's and the techniques they have used to combat against the decline in sales.

Mary Kay Case Study

Mary Kay "is an international manufacturer and distributor of skin care products, makeup items, toiletry items, accessories and hair care products" (Camerius 1). Mary Kay is a privately owned company that sells cosmetic products. Mary Kay uses a dual-marketing model. This meaning, those who work for Mary Kay are Beauty Consultants. Beauty Consultants work under someone and can recruit other consultants to work under them.

James W. Camerius, Professor of Marketing at Northern Michigan University presented a case study on Mary Kay Cosmetics and the marketing tools used to create the company to to the Midwest Society for Case Research.

In his case study, he evaluated the management and the corporate strategies which had been developed by the founder Mary Kay Ash. Within this study, he analyzed how the company overcame it stalemate position and grew into the multi-million corporation it is today.

Camerius conducted this case study to be used for a class discussion rather than to illustrate and analyze if the company is an effective or ineffective company.

Work Cited

Camerius, James W. "Mary Kay Cosmetics, INC: Corporate Planning In An Era Of Uncertainty." 1989. Print.