Number One Again
- September 13th, 2007
- View Comments (16)
My purpose for posting this is to demonstrate the proper verbiage expected of us to use when addressing this issue with our customers. Note, the specifics that surround the arrival of this title.
Mary Kay Earns Best-Selling Brand Title
for 2006
Congratulations once again! Data from independent industry research has again placed Mary Kay as the best-selling brand in the combined categories of facial skin care and color cosmetics in the U.S. for 2006*. We know that you and your sister Independent Beauty Consultants and Independent Sales Directors have worked hard to make this possible!
This claim is based on 2006 industry data according to a syndicated study done by Kline & Company, Inc., an independent market research firm that compiles and reports sales estimates for our industry. This research report is widely used and highly respected throughout the industry and includes all our major competitors such as Estee Lauder, Olay, Clinique and Avon.
Mary Kay Inc. is extremely proud of its leadership position in a highly competitive marketplace. We know that this accomplishment reflects your ability to cultivate long-term relationships with customers by sharing Mary Kay’s wonderful skin care and color products along with Mary Kay’s philosophy and heritage. These results are truly a testament to Mary Kay’s product excellence, as well as the efforts of the independent sales force.
You might want to consider sharing this great news with customers. If so, it’s important to be sure you use it the right way. The correct statement when sharing the 2006 best-selling brand claim with customers is: Mary Kay was once again the best-selling brand in the combined categories of facial skincare and color cosmetics in the U.S. in 2006.*
Again, congratulations and thank you for making us number one!
*Based on the most recent industry sales data according to Kline & Company, Inc.’s “Cosmetics & Toiletries USA 2006” study.
Tags: Best Selling Brand, Cosmetics, Customer Service, InTouch
Shades of Pink
Pink Biz
warzmondu
Vanessa
Stumble It!
yes, you’re number 1!
Don’t forget to mention that that number 1 standing has NOTHING to do with selling product to consumers. That’s now much money your CONSULTANTS are purchasing, hoping they can sell it.
I understand that some actually do sell the produc, but do you think we’re stupid? That number comes from FRONTLOADING your consultants. NOT from sales to the Consumer.
Hi Donna, thanks for visiting and your opinion. Some of us feel differently than you however. Any Company is going to count what they sell from the distribution center, not from the individual retailers. Common Sense says if you buy something, you will sell it before you buy more. So… we are still comparing apples to apples….
Do you really think Clinque makes every store that carries Clinque report in what products they sold, no, sorry, and they are also not going to ask the stores when they place an order if they have sold everything they have purchased, they will ship the order assuming that the store must need the product if they are ordering it. Clinque sales will be based on what they sold to Macy’s, Bonton, etc…. they will not back out the amount of product that the store has in inventory or hasn’t yet sold. This is the same way MK works except instead of the retailers being store names, we, the consultants, are the stores, and we are suppse to be selling the product to clients, not buying prizes.
So according to the sources from those that did the report,
Mary Kay is the best-selling brand in the combined categories of facial skin care and color cosmetics in the U.S. for 2006*.
*This claim is based on 2006 industry data according to a syndicated study done by Kline & Company, Inc., an independent market research firm that compiles and reports sales estimates for our industry.
Donna,
Here is the deal, just like MK4Me said stores don’t report to the comestic company what they sale. I don’t understand why people just can’t accept it. It is done by an outside firm.
Not all people recruiters, directors frontload or have their consultants frontload and if they do then they have disillusioned those and those are the ladies that get mad and rant and rave about not being able to sell. You know when someone tells you to order you have a choice do I need this or not. One does not have to order if they don’t not want too.
Have a GREAT DAY
Donna,
I won’t delete your post, but perhaps before you decide to insult me and my readers again, you would kindly read my Mission Statement.
I realize, Mary Kay bases its sales numbers on sales to its distributors and so do other businesswomen. That is how retail works. MK4ME sums it up nicely and Pink Bren makes some excellent points, too.
If you would like to debate the validity of this statement from Mary Kay, Inc.; perhaps you would be better suited to visit this site:
http://balancedmarykay.blogspot.com
You will find more information about how companies determine their sales numbers.
Thank you for visiting.
I will add, that if you opened a franchise to a clothing store, you would be required to order a full inventory from the parent company hoping you can sell it with no guarantee that you will. Keep in mind that consultants in MK are not required to order any inventory to start.
When we set up BBB we stocked the shelves full, then we sold it, then Dana bought more. Our sales were based on what we put on our shelves. We can’t put things on the shelves if we didn’t sell it. That isn’t called fronloading. That’s called having business sense. If you own a business you are a salesperson! Period. If it is a nursing home or a clothing store. You are selling a product or service. You have to state the features and benefits. And that’s what MK does.
Thanks, Jennifer!
There is one thing that must be considered tho. Many women come in to MK and order 1 - 5K, and then don’t do much with it, for various reasons. I do agree there is probably a lot of stuff sitting on shelves thruout the us, and that selling to consultants isn’t an accurate picture of real sales.
However, no one can disagree that MK is a top selling brand in the US, probably in the top ten.
BTW it’s my understanding that MK itself pays for this consultanting firm’s services, so it’s not like it’s some kind of ds industry statistics.
JanMarieNSD, You make a valid point. MK probably does fund the consulting company that ran the study; much like Cingular paid the independent company that found they had the “least dropped calls.” I would have to believe that any time an independent party conducts a research study on a particular company, said company is involved in some way with the funding. I don’t know, however, if this has any bearing on the outcome of the study.
Also, I am sure there are consultants who ordered scads of product and never sold it. I do have things on my shelf that I still have not sold, however, in selling other items and reordering those, it no longer matters that those items didn’t sell yet. My point is that if a consultant was new and ordered too many eye shadows or lipsticks and those aren’t selling, but she is working and selling the skin care regularly, it evens out. If I follow a disciplined payment plan (assuming I put the initial order on a credit card), then I have money to order what I’m selling out of. The company assumes we all work this way. However, of course everyone does not. I just wanted to illustrate the utopian way of selling and reordering and have leftover products. I will be posting about ordering tips when I have more time to do so.
JanMarieNSD says:
Many women come in to MK and order 1 - 5K, and then don’t do much with it, for various reasons.
I have many, actually, almost everyone in my unit- that start with $0 - $600, because I would rather see them start and build, then start big and get scared to a “perfect stop”. All consultants have the right to use the 90% buyback, any Company that has a return policy, even if you look at a Schedule C from the IRS, there is a line that has Sales and then a line below it that is subtracted for returns and allowances. It is the net difference that is counted for any purposes of actual sales.
So once again, it is just my opinion, that in the end, it is still comparing apples to apples.
And I highly doubt that an “independent company” that did studies would come back with “fake” information because, I don’t believe they would stay in business very wrong because of the lawsuits that would come from other companies, disputing their claims. But once again (jmho).
The reason Mary Kay Cosmetics is Stronger and Better than ever
by Yvette Franco – VP of Marketing and Product Development
Mary Kay is a Prestige Brand in the Market place; which means we compete with Department Store brands like Clinique, Estee Lauder, Lancome and Mac. Brands sold in Drug Stores and WalMart such as Maybelline and Cover Girl and even Avon, are considered mass brands and are not whose market share we are competing for.
In Comparison to other Prestige Brands, here is how we fared in unit sales this past year in the market place:
Our Time Wise Firming Eye Cream outsold Clinique’s Repair Eye Cream 4 to 1. (it was considered the no. 1 best selling brand)
In prestige facial exfoliators, Microdermabrasion outsold Clinique‘s Day Rinse off Scrub 4 to 1.
Our Oil Free Eye Make Up Remover sold more units than the top 10 leading prestige brands combined, which makes us the no. 1 selling brand of Eye Make up remover in the country!
Our Ultimate Mascara outsold the top 3 prestige brands combined in unit sales. Ultimate Mascara outsold Lancome’s #1 best selling mascara 3-1.
Our eye shadow unit sales beat the #1 best selling eye shadow brand MAC 25 to 1!!!!
Our Cream Lipstick sales outsold the top 3 prestige brands combined 3 to 1.
Our Lip Gloss Sales outsold the top 9 prestige brand sales combined 3 to 1.
So it is NOT the best selling brand in the US, only the best selling brand of those brands they choose to include in their numbers. They don’t include the brands that the MAJORITY of the population uses. Now I get how they can get away with saying that.
Disillusioned,
This is a new change in the cosmetic race that MK is in. In the past I do recall Cover Girl and Maybelline being included in the numbers.
I honestly don’t know which brands the “MAJORITY” of American women wear. It is just as sweeping to say that the “MAJORITY” uses the mall brands as it is to assume it is the drug store brands.
Personally, I’d prefer to sell a “prestige” brand. Drug store brands always broke me out. Clinique, a prestige brand, scarred my face. Mary Kay made the scarring less visible and made my face feel like a face again. I don’t care if Mary Kay is #1 or #101. It’s the best thing I’ve put on my face and I want to share it with others.
In any case, the point of posting this was not to boast the #1 Sales claim, but to emphasize the words to use when repeating it to customers (if you so choose). As well as to show the sources Mary Kay, Inc. is referring to for those numbers.
Disillusioned - my aplogies to you shades for being blunt.
First -to my knowledge the stats for the Best Selling Brand are not out yet for 2007, we were The best selling rand of skin care and color in the US based on prestige brands. (You can do the research the studies are documented - I just don’t have time to deal with it right now even though - I would love to . (in 2006)
Yvette, just shared statistics that have been reported.
Secondly, when you compare, comparisons should be made on an apples to apples or oranges to organges scenarios, no conslusive results can be derived from comparing apples to oranges.
So yes, I would expect MK to be compared to “designer” department store brands.
Even before MK, I would not have been caught dead using Maybelline, Cover Girl, Avon, etc…
oh, let’s not forget Wet ‘n Wild.
I have one face and it needs to last me my entire life. I want to use good products on it.
Now, if you were a food critic, you could review beef products. Most of us would think of New York Strip, Black Diamond, Porter House, Sirloin……
would you suggest they use beef franks, hamburger meat, etc.. in the comparison??
Sometime I think people should really think twice before they are so fast to point out what they think is a “sneaky” move.
Marketing is marketing, Companies sell their strong points not their weak ones.
When you go to an interview and your future employer ask you how would you sell yourself?
I strongly suspect that you are going to say things such as, I am good with people, I learn quickly, I have experience in this field, I am dependable, or things along these lines.
I doubt you would say, I can be very opinoinated, and rude if someone pisses me off, I want to blame others if I make poor decisions because I am so smart, I wouldn’t have made that decision without being brainwashed. I pick my nose, and snore and don’t like to exercise. But aside from that I think I would be a great fit for your company.
Get my drift?
Don’t get your pink panties in a bunch. I simply wanted to get the point across that when the “We are the #1 best selling brand” pitch comes up people know what exactly they are comparing themselves to.
I don’t think it would be a weak point to mention that MK is comparing itself to only the prestige brands. But to just make a blanket statement like that is misleading. And this company has to defend itself enough already without giving more ammo to the anti mkers.
I just think that if a company says they are the best at something and uses that as a sales tactic then they should clarify what exactly they mean. MK is the best selling brand among a few brands, not all of them.
My MIL has used only soap and water her entire life and has better skin than someone half her age, smoother, softer, etc. It’s genetic, not cosmetic. You may need help with your skin, but not everyone does.
OK, that last comment was snarky, but I couldn’t help myself. I think you said I snored and picked my nose. Since I am so very rude I couldn’t let that comment go with no response.
Thanks, Shades, for allowing such a lively discussion.
{{Shades of Pink // March 25, 2008 at 10:09 am
Disillusioned,
This is a new change in the cosmetic race that MK is in. In the past I do recall Cover Girl and Maybelline being included in the numbers.}}
**Shades pointed that fact this is different than statements made in the past. I am sure I could find more but I happed to have this at hand so..
The Statement:
In the US in 2005, MK was the Best-Selling Brand in the combined catergories of facial skin care & color cosmetics.*
*Based on the memost recent industry sales data according to Kline & Company, Inc’s
“Cosmetics & Toiletries USA 2005″ study.
It doesn’t say what it includes or doesn’t include, someone with spare time may want to research the study.
And, no Anon, I wasn’t being literal (as in you pick your nose & I really don’t want to know) I was trying to point out when selling NOONE points out their faults, and tried to add some humor to the post. hehehhee..
Never was I implying that these were your non -selling features, it was figurative, nor did I call you rude. It was an example, sorry if I hit too close to home and you took offense to it)
As for my skin, yes, it does need some help because I use to love getting a great tan, but fortunately, becase of taking care of it since, it ain’t half bad. (At least not for an old bag)
Thank Goodness for Mary Kay!
Oh Shades, I am sorry, now because we typed “”nose picking” so many times, if someone googles it, your site may pop up! ; - }
I’m going to venture to say that the info I got about Cover Girl was in 2004 or 2005 in an email from my director. I’m not even sure I still have the email. It was the year that MK was also #1 with lipsticks or lip glosses and had beaten Cover Girl–the previous leader. Does that sound familiar? It’s a hazy memory.