Assignment 3: Individual Formal Business Report -

An Organization I Would Like to Work At:

M.A.C COSMETICS
MARCH 2021

HO PHUONG THAO, STUDENT

HUMBER COLLEGE

Letter of Transmittal
Date: March 20, 2021
To: Prof. Sheldon Leiba, Humber College’s Professor
From: Phuong Thao, Ho
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Subject: Formal Business Report 2021 on M.A.C Cosmetics that I would like to work for
This report presents an overview of the business that I am keen on employment upon my
graduation.
It provides an adequate breakdown of M.A.C ’s history, mission, culture and market
leadership that attract me to apply to them:
1.0 MAC background
1.1 Mission & Vision of M.A.C
1.2 M.A.C key values
2.0 Brand Analysis
2.1 SWOT Analysis
2.2 Marketing Mix
Because I am still undergraduate, I am not able to fully analyze all aspects of the company in
terms of financial status and other factors not included in my course.
Thank you for the review of my M.A.C formal business report so that I can have a better
understanding about the organization.
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Exclusive Summary

This report outlines how M.A.C is a great organization for me to work for and how its
philosophy collides with mine.

This report seeks to clarify how M.A.C operates and develops throughout the years. First, the
report will briefly introduce M.A.C history in terms of how it was founded and has been
dominating the market. Following that, M.A.C codes of ethics and business philosophy that
help it become a beloved brand will be further introduced. Subsequently, M.A.C strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and challenges will be analyzed.

The report will end with my personal thoughts on the company and how it is a wonderful fit
for me to devote my talent and labor after graduation.
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CONTENTS

Letter of transmittal
Exclusive summar

Analysis 5

1. M.A.C background 5

1.1 Mission & Vision of M.A.C 5

1.2 M.A.C key values 6

2. Brand analysis 7

2.1 SWOT 7
2.2 Marketing mix 8

Conclusion 9

References 10
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Analysis
1. M.A.C background
Makeup Art Cosmetics (M. A. C) was inn 1984 established in Toronto (Canada) by Frank
Tosken , a makeup artist and photographer and Frank Angelo who owned a beauty salon.
They found that the beauty products now had too few colors to choose from, so it could not
show off its effectiveness when exposed to intense studio lights, or humid environments can
interfere with the production of quality images. Therefore, the M.A.C founder's goal was to
develop a line of specialized makeup products for the studio to fulfill their professional work
needs. In 1995, Estée Lauder purchased shares at M.A.C and helped this brand become
popular all over the world. Currently, M.A.C Cosmetics has more than 1000 stores around the
world, while continuing to launch new product categories on a regular basis to meet the needs
of customers. It can be found in more than 105 countries worldwide until now. M.A.C
Cosmetics is the leading prestigious beauty brand on some markets in this area. (Our, 2016).

1.1 Mission & Vision of M.A.C

“All Races, All Sexes, All

Ages” seems to have It can be said that M.A.C not only
become the compass for all produces high quality products but
promotional activities of also capable of building a strong
M.A.C Cosmetics that brand image through investment in a
always honors the diversity way of developing an extremely
and distinctive personality. interesting and trendy website.
It's no exaggeration to say Along with the strong
that, M.A.C has a gravity communication channels, customers
that increase to consumers seem to prioritize quality images,
in general, and especially because it significantly affects their
those in the fashion purchase decisions. Right from the
industry in particular. This beginning, the company has decided
is considered a solid and not to use advertising, or fancy
stable foundation forming packaging, and continue packing its
consumer trust and loyalty. products simply.
(Silva, B., 2011)
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1.2 M.A.C key values

Vision: 
The founders and directors of the company truly believes that this is the age of creativity and
beauty ruling for all ages, all ethnics, all genders. The company sets to create confidence and
highlight individuality of consumers through the MAC products. On top of that, it is strongly
socially aware when it takes parts in many charitable campaigns such as the "Kid's helping
Kids" and macaidsfund.org website to support AIDS patients. “Not only did the fundraising
experience raise self-esteem and give a positive feeling about their actions, it also left them
with a sense that they could and wanted to do more for others, thus the root of philanthropy
was generated.” (about us, 2016)

Culture:
The company believes that makeup products should be eye-catching, chic, and trendy. That
is why they are released seasonally. This has helped M.A.C makeup lineup to become the
favorite of make up studios and celebrities. Inside, the work culture focuses on equality
among employees, especially gender equality and diversity. It is ranked 4.1/5 stars by
employees (Comparably.com, 2021). They are overall satisfied with the salary and
compensation. 69% of them work less than 8 hours although the workflow is fast-paced and
joyful. This is why I want to work for them. In terms of partnership, they focus on the
diversity of celebrities who promote their products by paying special attention to key opinion
leaders of all races, as same as make-up artists. Staff must give expert advice to customers in
a professional and friendly manner.

Objectives: 
In the long term, their objective is to deliver more diverse products with more creativity
while in the short run, all that they want is to be the trendsetter of fashion makeup market.

Brand Essence:
Over the years, the product lines of the company have expanded so much but the brand
essence that customers feel has not changed much compared to the original values set by the
founders: products are vivid, appealing, and suitable for every skin tone while sale personnel
provide professional care to customers.
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2. Brand analysis
The Estée Lauder annual report by Estee Lauder states that if a global connection to the
Internet increases e-commerce company and e-commerce, and a retailer's e-commerce
platform has helped to generate over $1 billion of online sales, the increase in unchanged
funds can be converted below 27%. From fiscal 2012 to fiscal 2016 the record of worldwide
online sales showed that this is the first time in the company's history that it has achieved
online sales of over $1 billion. Today, online and mobile distribution channels have grown to
27 percent in Estée Lauder's companies and have also reported that more than 35 percent of
mobile adverts (Sierra Stridiron, 2016)
Mac is a high-end makeup brand owned by Estée Lauder that is favored by both professionals
and regular people. Customers, both young and old, are loyal to the brand. They are most
common among women between the ages of 18 and 30. Despite the fact that brands strive to
provide products for people of all ages, the elderly are less loyal to the Mac brand. Mac offers
a high-quality product at a reasonable price. From makeup brushes to lipstick, they have 5
categories. Makeup artists, models, photographers, and journalists who promote Mac images
are professionals in the field of beauty.

2.1 SWOT

Strengths:
The unique and famous brand image of the company has been associated with a strong
celebrity edorsement such as Lady Gaga, Black Pink or Nicki Minaj. In addition, the brand
receives a large amount of word-of-mouth from professional makeup artists. Its products are
high quality lineups that are not made from animals or tested on animals, upholding the brand
image. The customers also can take part in loyalty programs to meet their idols or get a free
product of their preference once they save enough points from purchasing. This is a great way
to create a loyal fan base and keep returning customers.

Weakness:
The cosmetics market is a kind of imperfect competition where different companies copy
each other’s products then add some minor modifications such as packaging. Therefore, the
products cannot standout from the competitors. The next weakness is the price of M.A.C is
too high for asian countries and teenagers. Their PRO line is only known and accessed by
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makeup artists, so ordinary customers who want to upgrade their makeup cannot. Besides,
their products are more stuitable for the skin tone of caucasians than darker complexities.
Opportuninties:
By opening small popup stores in malls, they can expand faster than other brands who invest
in big stores. If I can interview with them, I would ask them to promote the health benefit
aspects to consumers who care about the quality of the cosmetics’s ingredients. Finally, they
can expand their target to younger audiences who are fans of asian artists by releasing skin
care products with colorful packaging with the idols image printed on.

Threats:
The main competitors of M.A.C come from higher end brands such as Dior, Hermes or other
luxury fashion brands because their price is not much higher than M.A.C. The second one is
lower end brands such as L’Oreal, Clininque or Revlon who also open stores in malls and
drugstores. Those have lesser quality but much lower prices, making them more affordable to
a wider customer target. So, I think when I can work for them, I will expand the price range
and add more sub categories of products, focusing on lower end and luxury target audience.

2.2 Marketing mix

The title "Leader in the field of makeup cosmetics” of M.A.C, comes from investment and
development for power marketing duo - Social channel and brand website.
By posting eye-catching high-resolution photos of their products across the social network,
M.A.C has been significantly successful when using Social Media to implement
communication and branding goals, namely the following goals:
1. High traffic to the website
2. High customer conversion rate
3. Brand recognition level
Their website can create a unique identity for the brand, and receive positive comments on
products from consumers. They communicate and interact effectively with the target
audience by social marketing campaigns including activities related to sharing messages,
images and videos to serve the above purposes. However, even though each channel has
different approaches and operations, all are consistent with the core identity in the company's
business criteria. (stickyeyes, 2014)
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The efficiency of their marketing strategies makes them one of the top tiers in the industry.
However, their sales generated from online channel are still low, with only 4%. (Julia Wray,
2020)

Conclusion
Throughout the years, word-of-mouth is the main channel of communication of M.A.C and
the company strongly focuses on improving the quality and variety of their products rather
than advertising. However, that is not enough in today’s competitive market. The company
can put more efforts in improving their packages to attract more consumers. I believe when I
can join the company, I will run a permanent campaign in revolutionizing the packaging
design of the whole product lines to make them stand out from other competitors. Unlike
quality which is hard to promote, the images and color printed outside are easier to detect and
appeal to the target audience.
I would like to ask them why they still refuse to make use of different marketing mix and
why they only stay in their comfort zone. Only by mixing different marketing methods, can
the company expand and gain more awareness from consumers about their quality. Although
M.A.C has been the top player in the beauty industry, I think I can push the boundaries
further.
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References
Sierra Stridiron, 2016, MAC MAKEUP, https://prezi.com/xkhjii650tu8/mac-makeup/
About us, 2016, http://www.kidshelpingkidsfoundation.ca/our-mission/
Our History. (n.d.), 2016, http://www.maccosmetics.jobs/mac/our-history.html
Michael Hewitt, 2014, http://www.stickyeyes.com/2014/04/23/mac-cosmetics-runaway-
leader-in-cosmetics-social-engagement-report/
Comparably, 2021, https://www.comparably.com/companies/mac-cosmetics/
Julia Wray, 2020, The top 50 beauty brands in the world 2020,
https://www.cosmeticsbusiness.com/news/article_page/CBtop50_The_top_50_beauty_brands
_in_the_world_2020/164641