Researching and designing a new cosmetics range for Maybelline.

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Contents:

Introduction                                         page 3

Market research                                 page 4

Webpages                                         page 5

Timeline                                         page 6

Magazine pomortion

Interview                                         page 7

Example of questionnaire                         page 8

Analysis of questionnaire                         page 9

Where people from the questionnaire live         page 10

Maybelline information                         page 11

Employment opportunities                         page 12

Valitity of market research                         page 13

SWOT analysis                                 page 14,15

PEST anaylisis                                 page 15,16, 17

Banned adverts                                 page 18

Boston Box analysis                                 page 19

Ansoff matrix anlysis                         page 19,20

Marketing mix                                 page 20 21, 22, 23, 24

Principles of marketing                         page 25,26

Evaluation                                         page 28

Presentation        and notes                        page 29,30,31,32,33

Bibliography                                         page 34

appendix


Introduction:

Over the next few weeks I will be researching and designing a new cosmetics range for Maybelline. The line I have chosen to create is nail varnish. However, it will not be ordinary, this new varnish will be ultra high shine glitter polish which changes colour depending on the individual’s mood at the time.

The company Maybelline has been in business since 1913, as you can see from the timeline I have produced in my secondary research section.

From doing my market research I will aim to find out in which market to circulate my product in. For example, it would be less beneficial to advertise nail varnish in Gardeners World, than in Heat or New Woman. This is because teenagers are likely to read magazines like Heat and New Woman more frequently than Gardeners’ World, or Horse and Hound!!The market research I will be carrying out will take the form of questionnaires, interviews, a focus group and observations. Furthermore, I will carry out secondary research into the competitors, market, product and company through finding information in text books, magazines and through reputable valid websites on the internet.


Market Research:

Based on the analysis of the socio-economic and lifestyle data for teenagers it would appear that there are five million girl teenagers that fall into the category of either receiving £30+ per month pocket money or, having middle class parents or earning their own money. The maximum possible market would be two bottles per year per person, judging from shelf life and that each consumer only had one colour preference. If there are five million potential customers and market research shows that they can buy two bottles per year the potential market would therefore be ten million bottles per year. However, primary research shows that only one in five girls would use a nail varnish that changes colour, thus reducing the potential market to just one million bottles per year.

When examining the competitors I found that Revlon seems to be Maybelline’s main opponent, mainly because they have a reputation for introducing similar products very quickly after Maybelline launches theirs. Revlon cater to the more affluent sector of the market and therefore Maybelline maintains its potential market of middle class teenage girls.

Focus group:

In the focus group I held, I asked questions about colour preference, views on the product, which price they thought most suitable, whether they would just have it for personal use or if there were other reasons for buying it. The focus group consisted of only five people which was an advantage because it meant it was small and personal so answers were likely to be more honest. A smaller group is more flexible so that a discussion could take place, moving away from a direct answer to the question. This gives me more comprehensive answers.

The focus group consisted of 5 people they were:

Mrs Katie Hollister: I think that Maybelline is a well known brand with affordable prices; the price I would be willing to spend would be between £5 and £10, but no more because fashions are constantly changing. I think that Mood Varnish would be great as a stocking filler or as a small present for a friend when it comes to birthdays. I preferred Maybelline’s homepage to Revlon’s because it looked more glamorous.

Miss Linda Featherstone: the colours I would prefer would be light blue for good mood and dark blue for bad mood, this is because then it wouldn’t clash with your outfit if your mood was to change. I think that Mood Varnish should cost £6.99 because I can’t afford to go much higher and it’s likely that my friends wouldn’t be able to either. I liked both homepages the same.

Mr Stuart Sim: nail varnish isn’t really my cup of tea but I think that for my wife as a gift it would be a wonderful present for her and for me because it would warn me when she is approachable or not! I would not be willing to pay more than £15 for a gift such as nail varnish. The models on Maybelline’s homepage were prettier and so I would probably go for their products too.

Miss Kirsty Turnbull: I think that the idea of having a nail varnish that changes colour would be really cool because nobody would have it yet. The colours I would like would probably be pink changing to red and blue changing to green, because as Linda says it would mean not having to change your outfit with your mood. I liked both homepages but I think Maybelline’s had a slight edge over Revlon’s because of the use of colour.

Miss Kristen Fairchild: I would enjoy having a nail varnish that changes colour with my mood because it would be constantly changing! I would be willing to spend about £6.50 on it as long as I can test it first in order to make sure it isn’t a waste of money. I liked Revlon’s homepage better than Maybelline’s because the models are famous actresses and it shows how they can look their best with Revlon products, but this could just be down to good make up artistry.

As you can see from the above information the average price consumers would be willing to pay would be around £7, so in order to boost sales in the first year or so, I would price Mood Varnish at £5.99. This would ensure definite sales, and people would be happy to try it because even if they didn’t like it, it would not be a complete waste of too much of their money.

The colour I would use would be the red to pink, pink being good mood and red being bad. This is because pink is a ‘girlie’ colour and so would work well with the market within which I am trying to circulate the product in.

On the following page are Revlon’s and Maybelline’s homepages. From the focus group I found that they thought Revlon’s was less enticing and glamorous than Maybelline’s.



Analysis of Questionnaire:

While carrying out my market research on the ranges of colours used my Maybelline, I found that a large variety of common colours such as pinks; reds, blues and greens are used showing that these are popular colours with customers. As further evidence I researched into the types of colours used by other cosmetics brands and found that the colours resembled those used by Maybelline. As a result of my findings I would use similar colours for my product, as it is obvious that these are in highest demand. The overall colour I will use however will be red and pink.

Other brands which I researched include: Bourjois, Rimmel, Revlon, Miss Sporty and Guerlain.

I found that the majority of people preferred glittery nail varnish to plain. However, whilst researching the different types of nail varnish available I found there to be more plain nail varnish in the market place and furthermore the reliability of my product would be more apparent if the product was one colour as opposed to glittery. Consequently I may need to carry out further primary market research to ensure that my findings are correct. I will do this by purchasing one glittery and one plain varnish and getting volunteers to try them both on and decide which they prefer. This would make my results more reliable as it will give me both the customers’ opinions and scientific evidence in order to prove which type of varnish would be best.

From the results of my questionnaire it is clear that the most popular magazines are Heat, OK! and More. These magazines are aimed largely at a teenage audience; additionally the types of programmes watched by potential customers are also viewed mostly by teenagers, and include Friends, The O.C and Eastenders. Therefore this gives strong evidence that we should I am our product at teenagers, who appear to be the most likely consumers of the new product. These results also show that we should advertise on popular teenage channels such as E4 and BBC1, during prime time when the popular programmes are on. Furthermore we should continue using above the line promotion such as magazines, which will promote the new product to a large audience especially if we advertise in magazines that, from the results of my questionnaire, seem to be popular with our target audience.

The majority of results from the questionnaire show that customers would be willing to pay between £6- £10 for nail varnish. From looking at my previous market research it shows that the prices of previous Maybelline products range from £3.99 - £11.97. These prices are mainly within the wishes of consumers therefore this shows that I could price my product in this price range and still be in accordance with Maybelline and at the same time pleasing my customers and persuading them to buy the product. From talking to some of the people that filled out the questionnaire I think that we should make it cheaper initially to increase our market penetration quickly.. I will therefore price my product at £5.99 to draw in as much custom as possible.

Having a guarantee on a product such as nail varnish is not very useful as the product is not very expensive. However, from looking at the data on the questionnaires it is clear that most customers would be happier if the product did have a guarantee, thus allowing them to return the product to the outlet it was purchased from and either swap it or be reimbursed. I think this would improve sales as there would be no cause for returns if the product was faulty but if, as the case may be, it was faulty then Maybelline can rectify the problem so that customers remain happy.  Additionally, the customer would be persuaded to fill out a questionnaire on the product stating what they did and didn’t like about the product. This will again improve quality and make customers satisfied.

From the answers to the questionnaire I can see that customers would prefer to go into shops and buy the products rather than purchasing from catalogues, cosmetics counters, make up stands and sales reps. In talking to people as they were filling out the questionnaire I found that this is because they prefer to choose by themselves and not have anyone persuading them to buy products which are expensive and not needed. In addition to this I found that the least number of people chose to buy products from the internet, this may be because they are not clear about what they will receive, where buying it in a shop you can see for yourself if the product is what you would expect.  

Lastly, the packaging preferred by most individuals seemed to be bright and shiny, as it would catch your eye and in purple or pink designs. From talking to those who filled out the questionnaire they explained how it would be very different if the packaging reflected the colour of the product inside. I think this an innovative idea and therefore will consider using it in my design.

Where people from the questionnaire live:

I have produced the map below and indicated on it the whereabouts of the people in the questionnaire and where they are likely to shop according to their answers.

Where they live, (amount of people affects size of dot)

Where they are likely to shop.

From this data I can see that there is a general pattern consisting of people from the Ascot/Sunningdale area will generally shop in Slough, Bracknell and Reading.

Other places people live are Bracknell/ Martins Heron area; they will generally shop in Bracknell.

This survey was not as accurate as it could have been as the samples were taken from people going to college at Charters, this means they generally all live in the same place. To make it more accurate I will ask people living in another area, for example Hampshire. The results for this second survey are shown on the map by yellow dots (size of dot depending on amount of people) and black arrows.


MAYBELLINE has branches in:

  • North America

United States, Mexico

  • Europe

France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom

  • Asia

China, Japan, Korea, Singapore

  • Oceania

New Zealand

UNITED KINGDOM:

Product ranges,

Nails, Face, Eyes, Lips.

Nails:

COLOURS MAYBELLINE PRODUCE:


EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES.

Join now!

As you can see from this information Maybelline are constantly looking for new staff to help create innovative new products.


Validity of Market Research:

I can confirm that my questionnaire is valid; ways I did this was to ensure all the participants sat in isolation to ensure they were not influenced by anyone. This means that the questionnaires should theoretically be true. Another way I checked their validity was to return about a week, later and ask random questions from the questionnaire to participants to check their response remained the same and was correct. Furthermore ...

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