Analysis Of MAC Or Make-Up Art Cosmetics

MAC or Make-up Art Cosmetics is a professional makeup brand that prides itself on its diverse market. It was officially launched in Toronto, Canada in March 1984 by creators Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. Since its acquisition by the Estée Lauder Companies in 1998, it is now sold in over 105 countries including the United Arab Emirates. Being part of the “innovative, and fast paced” cosmetic industry (Kumar et al, 2006) makes MAC’s prospective growth in the UAE challenging. Furthermore, the increasingly competitive nature of the beauty sector in the region heightens the significance of how a company’s marketing strategy adapts to or even shapes certain external forces. This essay explores where MAC lies in the context of the macro-environmental

More specifically, Westerners who are the minority in the UAE have much higher salaries than about 50 percent of the population which is comprised of Asians – South Asians having the dominant amount of inhabitants (CIA, 2016; Gulf Business, 2016). For a brand that is well-known for catering to darker-skinned women, this is relevant to MAC’s marketers, especially in the wake of rising awareness on issues such as colorism as evidenced by the popular, South Asian-led social campaign “Unfair and Lovely” which celebrates dark skin, and an increasing demand for darker make-up in the UAE (Ismail, 2013; Pandey, 2016). In addition, halal-certified cosmetics are slowly gaining popularity (Szalai, 2015). Thus, UAE’s status as a Muslim country is another social element to consider and will be further discussed with regards to its legal

Needless to say, the utilization of innovations such as social media affects how consumers view certain brands. For instance, MAC can establish a more interactive online presence in the UAE through the creation of social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat etc. separate from that of their US-based ones and that targets the region specifically. The same can be said about online shopping as extending shipping to the region is likely to generate more profit as internet retailing in the UAE continues to grow (Euromonitor, 2016). Besides these, the accelerating pace of change and innovation opportunities are significant to coming up with cosmetic products “designed to tackle specific problems or offer clearly defined benefits” which consumers are increasingly looking for (Kotler and Keller, 2012; Szalai,