Mary Kay Myth: The Company Always Has Your Best Interest At Heart.
Written by SuzyQ
And that’s why they change all of the cosmetics on a routine basis? Okay, if we believe that Mary Kay is trying to be cutting edge and on trend and that colors and things related to make-up are trendy and must change to reflect the seasonal changes, maybe. But a total change?
Many of you may not have been around to remember this, but several years ago Mary Kay made the decision to wipe out the entire platinum cosmetic line and replace it with black packaging. That was a huge change that hurt many. And since then, MK has been making routine changes to all its products and/or packaging that forces consultants to buy more.
The black compacts weren’t even that great. After a bit of use, they quickly look worn. This on-trend Black compact matches Chanel and Avon. There goes the product identification… confusion reigns. I challenge you to ask a consumer of make-up to NOT be able to identify Clinque’s signature color, or the colors used in the tube of Maybelline Great Lash mascara. ( P.S. My new Rimmel mascara is in a black tube.)
Talc. The mineral line contains too much talc. It flies all over the place. The foundation reminds many of the old loose powder, only smaller. You do get props for not having the foundation be so yellow. Come to think of it, some of the loose powder shades weren’t so yellow, either.
Colors. Teeny, tiny, not as hyper-pigmented as you would have us believe. Smeary. Many consumers do not appreciate the colors contaminating each other, even when we are very very careful with the new compact. And did you notice? In the olden days, if eye color dust appeared under the eye during application, it was simply brushed off. Now it smears, and requires a whole ‘nother set of skills. The colors look pretty until they are applied…
And there’s the allergy/reaction thing. Note to Mary Kay: Glitter is not the same as shimmer. And shimmer needs some matte as a contrast. Simply put: shimmer=good, glitter= bad.
Help consultants sell this stuff! There are many customers who purchased the platinum compacts and cannot get refills any more. They are not happy. (Except of course on when ex-consultants who couldn’t sell the thousands of dollars of inventory they were loaded with turn to eBay. Then the people with platinum compacts are happy.) They feel betrayed, and tend to become a little snippy with their consultants. And bless their hearts, the consultants are trying to put the best spin they can on this massive change, and then you go and change the mascara tube to black? How is this helpful?
I digress. I complained about the new line. There was nothing wrong with the old line. We may have been bored with it (just a little) but our customers weren’t. Same play, different audience. What would have been wrong with introducing the mineral line as a Limited Edition? Or another separate line? (Please don’t tell us the story about burdening consultants with a whole new line IN ADDITION to the regular line thing. Remember the TimeWise debacle? Ewwww. ) Maybe give people a chance? A choice? See how it went? Check to see if it would help or hurt consultants? It was nice of you to let people know ahead of time, even though that was out of your control because Pink Truth leaked it many months prior to the “Announcement.” (What ever became of that whole “don’t believe unreliable third parties” thing? Seemed awfully reliable to me, even back then…)
How do you expect your directors to spin all of the constant issues with product changes? This may come as a shock to you, but your sales force is not stupid. They are smart and savvy and scared. They see the bribes for ordering, they know sales are not tracked, they suspect that there is a bit of exporting being done, they are learning that MK is MLM, and all they wanted was a piece of the American dream. You promised that.
Oh, heck, I know the NSDs are the standard bearers, and you and I both know that what they promise isn’t exactly true for 99.99% of the sales force, and you have no control over what they say, Independent Contractors and all, but just between you and me, I don’t think you have the best interest of the sales force in mind when you make decisions, I’m just sayin’.
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Tags: mary kay myths, product changes
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Comments (10)
gotheart
| #
Myth for sure.
They have no heart.
Great article SuzyQ.
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DW
| #
Great article. And directors constantly spout the “the company has our best interest in mind” crap. “This change may seem frustrating, but they really do have our best interests at heart. They spend so much time and money researching before they roll stuff out to us, they really do know what is going to sell and what people will love…blah blah blah”. BS
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Jen G.
| #
Would be nice if they didn’t plaster their name in huge letters on everything.
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DivaDove
| #
Ah, yes…the Big Switch to the black compacts.
I was so pissed off that I refused to purchase them or anything that was designed to fit into them (except for lipsticks & glosses) Then I tried to sell what little I could of my suddenly-outdated inventory at deeep discounts. Most of it wound up getting donated. (It didn’t occur to me to try selling it on eBay.)
Needless to say, I took somewhat of a financial hit, and I was angry for quite a while over the fact that the MK higher-ups kept the news of the product change a secret from us lowly IBCs. The experience left me feeling like a total chump.
Mary Kay truly sucks.
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gotheart
| #
DivaDove this is exactly how I was feeling toward my last years of mk, pissed off.
This is what I call herding.
The mkc herds their customers in the direction they want them to move for the benefit of the company.
Otherwise you take a financial hit as you mentioned.
But ya know what? Everyone takes a financial hit.
if ya purchase the new compacts/products or if ya don’t.
It is a lose lose for the customer, meaning the ibc, and a win win for mkc.
They have no heart.
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Embracethis
| #
The switch to the black compacts/mineral line is what put me over the edge. I had already endured the pink square compacts and the pink oval compacts as well as multiple lipstick formula changes and had TONS of old eyeshadows, blushes and lipsticks. All those stupid limited edition pre-packs! I was able to sell my old product to a liquidator (can’t remember the name) for 50% wholesale and got back almost $800. It is a shame that MK put them out of business.
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PinkfanbutnoMKfan
| #
I got lucky in that I left in right before that switch in 2007… I couldn’t afford even a $200 wholesale order! If I was in still at that point I would have probably walked out
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Lilbunny
| #
Those black compacts are terrible! Mine broke after a couple of weeks! Maybe the changes in packaging are an attempt at brand mimicry. Like how ELF packaging is pretty much a ripoff of Nars and Stila. I think the article mentions how similar it is to the Chanel compacts (I’m too poor to have Chanel stuff so I’ll take your word for it
.
Anywho, it still sucks that MK would put their IBCs in such a pickle for the sake of profits. It seems like this is a very shortsighted approach.
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Christine
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If Corps had the IBC’s back like they claim wounldn’t it have been easier to make the inserts compatible. That way new customers get black and old can still use their silver, pink whatever compact they have. MK isn’t that cheap who really wants to buy a whole new compact any way.
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Not Rah Rah
| #
I was still ordering pink compacts and colors when the change
went to platinum. All my favorite frangrances are also gone.
Now the classic skin care is extinct and I have no idea how
many customers will leave on that change. It’s neverending
on the MK hampster wheel
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