Big Mac arrives centrestage

Canada's luxury cosmetics brand sets up shop in Mumbai

Canadian born Mac cosmetics is a unique company; it has got away with something that most brands wouldn't dare do. It does not advertise.

Mac's reputation instead, as a hip professional cosmetics brand, is cultivated by Chinese whispers, word-of-mouth endorsement initiated by models, actors, photographers and make-up artists, people who use make-up in the business of entertainment.

And the strategy, or lack of it, seems to have worked. The money saved on advertising is then put into creating an extensive product range: 250 shades of lipsticks, 150 shades of eye shadows and much else.

On June 29, Mac Cosmetics (now part of Estee Lauder Inc.) made its foray into the Rs 3,000 crore Indian beauty market by opening it's Mumbai store at the Dynamix Mall in suburban Juhu.

But the brand is already popular among local make-up artists and performers who were buying Mac products in the grey market.

At Rs 870 for a stick of lip gloss and Rs 750 for a pot of eyeshadow, the luxury of Mac's extensive range doesn't come cheap.

The price positions the brand between a super luxury brand like Chanel and a mid-range brand like L'Oreal. Mac's growth plans for the Indian market, six stores in three years across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, are far from aggressive, but according to Alexis Szabo, regional director for the Middle East, Africa and India regions, "it is just a matter of waiting for demand to create supply".

The plan, for now, is to have stand alone retail outlets, until "a multi-brand store like a Selfridges or Bloomingdales with an image congruent with that of Mac is found".

Mac is a backstage brand. It's standards are set by the work of a community of artists, in response to the changing needs of performing arts industries the world over. Products are developed and tested by artists on the field before they reach the end consumer.

The pro-active alliance with the industry is reflected in Mac's choice of Mickey Contractor, veteran Bollywood make-up artist and "face-maker", as its spokesperson and director (special projects) in India.

Notes Szabo, "Mac has knowledge of make-up artistry from all over the world which we share with our customers. We see it as the growth of a community".