A brand with strong market presence and high brand recognition is not something that marketers would consider a delimma if they were handed the account. But Mary Kay’s CMO Rhonda Shasteen has rightfully asked the question, “for how long?”
Rebranding a mature brand
In an article published by DIRECT magazine, Shasteen stated, “Most women have an awareness of Mary Kay, but often their picture is one from the past,” she says. “In the last three years my work has been focused on showing them we’re very relevant.”
Mary Kay has recently expanded their product offering to appeal to younger women and it has been paying off. The products have been a “tremendous tool to help recraft our brand,” she notes. “I think the role of product often is undervalued when it comes to reshaping a brand’s image.”
In addition, the company has begun television advertising for the first time since 1982 and have added significant interactivity to their website, offering a virtual makeover function.
According to the article, Mary Kay is conducting an extensive research project called “What Women Want,” which explores women’s desires and attitudes in key areas of their lives. “That’ll set our strategic platform in terms of how we interact with women over the next three to five years,” Shasteen says.
Is there a chance the brand will alienate its longtime customer base as it freshens its image?
“The good news was that we found we didn’t need to change the fundamentals of the brand — it rang true in the hearts and minds of women. We just needed to change the messaging. We’d never really focused on the brand before and thought whatever perception the consumers carried in their minds was OK. But with a mature market in a mature industry, you can’t do that, especially today.”
Though the old big pink Cadillacs are still the first thing I think of when I hear Mary Kay, I applaud Ms. Shasteen’s proactive goals for positioning the company in a way to keep up with the times! What do you think?
Josiahs Livingston is the founder of 
