Max Factor… the choice for the marketing professional

Tags: marketing, small business

Now, I’m not particularly big makeup fan. In fact, I wasn’t even watching the show that the advert appeared during. However, the latest P+G television advertising campaign “Makeover Break” (although beware, the link wasn’t working as I wrote this) is pretty innovative. In fact, I’d argue it’s shockingly innovative.

Why shocking though?

Well, the advert is following the infomercial idea where they are educating on how to apply makeup and foundations and things. Now, not being an expert the finer details of the advertising campaign itself are wasted on me - is that really how you apply foundation? However what got me was the approach. But it’s pretty shocking that it’s taken so long to go this way in an advert.

When quizzing my girlfriend about whether she would buy Max Factor off the back of it, her reply was a definite “yes”. Why?

Because they were helping to educate and not trying to bombard her with subtle messaging (although arguably they were – but there weren’t any “here comes the science” message). She was however confused at the array of brands – not associating that they were owned by the same company. However, this is another touch of genius as it looks like they are using an array of products and therefore is more educational.

It’s a bit of a shame that it falls short of incorporating mobile technology into the television campaign, however it has grasped aspects social networks (for example YouTube and Facebook) and the online pie. It also taps into the emotional appeal of the audience as the ‘stars’ are women selected from competitions.

It also ticks the relevancy box as it appears slap in the middle of a programme clearly focussed on woman, who will also be thinking about their appearance.

So what can small businesses take from this?

Undoubtedly, P+G spent a few marketing dollars on this. However, the concept is a simple one to grasp: if you offer expertise, people will warm to your brand. And you don’t have to be big, bolshy, rich and famous to offer expertise. In fact, by being niche and specialist you can offer potentially more expertise than the big boys who people tend to be sceptical of – or petrified by the potential cost.

I can’t wait to see if the campaign is successful, I just wished they’d taken more effort in incorporating more marketing channels available and set a really big example.