Marketing Strategies and Marketing Mix of MAC Cosmetics

The company's products were intended for makeup professionals, but are sold directly to consumers worldwide. Frank Toskan stated that he "first manufactured makeup for models, but then the models wanted this makeup for their sisters, friends, and so on... ".^[3]

In the 1990s, the brand had more than one hundred stores worldwide, earning 200 million francs.^[3] The development of the brand internationally, the opening of new points of sale, and the adaptation of product lines tailored to each continent, left little time for the founders to create new products. In 1994, the Estée Lauder Companies took control of 51% of shares of MAC Cosmetics and began managing the business end^[4] while the two founders retained creative control. In 1997, co-founder Frank Angelo died of cardiac arrest during surgery at the age of 49.^[4] Estée Lauder Inc. completed the acquisition in 1998,^[5] and Frank Toskan sold his remaining shares shortly thereafter before leaving the company at the end of the same year.

The MAC AIDS Fund was established in 1994 to support men, women, and children affected by HIV/AIDS globally by addressing the link between poverty and HIV/AIDS. According to MAC Cosmetics, the fund has raised over $400 million through the sale of MAC's Viva Glam Lipsticks and Lip glosses, donating 100% of the sale price to fight HIV/AIDS.^[6] The Viva Glam product line has been a best-seller for the MAC Cosmetics brand.^[7] MAC has collaborated with many celebrities for its Viva Glam line, on limited edition lip glosses and lipsticks to support the Mac AIDS Fund. Every year MAC selects a new spokesperson for Viva Glam. The first was drag queen RuPaul in 1994.^[8] RuPaul’s Viva Glam lipstick was the first product MAC Cosmetics advertised.^[9]

Controversy arose in September 2010, over the anticipated release of the MAC Rodarte collection, a collaborative effort with the fashion label Zara Rodarte, based on the border town of Ciudad Juárez. The city had been plagued by violence against women including hundreds of female homicides. MAC first changed the names of Juarez-related products and eventually pulled the line before distribution,^[10] and instead set up a charity which raised over $3 million in two years.^[11][12]