Further Brand Research: MAC

I have chosen to research the brand MAC Cosmetics as they are a personal favourite of mine and I wanted to find out more about them as a brand and their products. 

MAC was founded in 1984 in Toronto, Canada by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. Its parent brand is Estee Lauder and the products were initially designed for professional make-up artists. The first MAC store opened in 1991 in New York to make the make-up available to the general public. 

MAC sell a variety of make-up and skin care products and brushes. Examples include foundations, concealers, powders, lipsticks and glosses, nail polish, eyeshadows and liners, false lashes, make-up brushes, skincare products and perfumes. MAC is also famous for its collaborations with singers, actresses and models, such as Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and Brooke Shields, and also its collaborations with films, franchises and TV shows such as Wonder Woman, Disney Villains, Maleficent, The Simpsons, Kinky Boots, Nasty Gal and others to make collections. 

MAC have a variety of artists in many parts of the world such as Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, India and North and South America. These people are the MAC artists backstage, on set and behind the scenes. All the artists have small individual profiles on the MAC website.  

I really like the MAC advertisements for their different collections, as they can range from very edgy, to editorial, to commercial, depending on the product and the target audience. The first advertisement I chose to look at was the Miley Cyrus Viva Glam for MAC advertisement campaign. I really like this campaign, as firstly I am a huge fan of Miley Cyrus, which instantly caught my attention! They have a used a colour scheme of bright pink and some black, which is fitting as the collection consists of a hot pink lipstick and a hot pink sparkly lipgloss, with all proceeds going to help fights HIV and Aids. The image is very eye-catching with the bright colour scheme, and Miley is holding a striking and strong pose which also draws you in. 

(http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/whats_new/14239/New-Collections/Viva-Glam-Miley-Cyrus/index.tmpl -Viewed 20th January 2015)

The next collection I looked at is the 'Lightness of Being' collection, which is all about being 'free spirited' and contains a lot of pastels, with frosted colours and shimmers as well. The collection is delicate, feminine and light. The collection includes a selection of eyeshadows, eye pencils, lipstick, lipgloss, skin finish powder, nail polish, and three brushes. The advertisement campaign has a very light and airy feel to it with pastel colours used, and lots of flowing fabric to create a soft and dreamy look. I think the advertisement image suits the collection very well, as it is all about soft colours with a light feel to them, but I don't find it very eye catching and don't particularly like the colour scheme of the peaches and blues in it.

(http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/whats_new/13732/New-Collections/Lightness-of-Being/index.tmpl -Viewed 20th January 2015)

The third collection I looked at was Parabal Gurung for MAC. The collection embodies 'modern glamour', with smokey and guilder hues in luxury packaging. The collection includes eyeshadow palettes, eye pencils, lipsticks and lip glosses, bronzer, and a creme colour base. The packaging from the collection is very different to MAC's usual black packaging, and instead it is all vibrant mirrored gold giving a more luxe feel to the collection. The advertisement campaign for the collection is quite simple, but very striking and embodies the collection well, as the girl looks fierce, sexy and glamourous without being too over the top and wearing too much make-up.  

(http://www.temptalia.com/mac-x-prabal-gurung-collection-holiday-2014 -Viewed 20th January 2015)