CMGB 6301 Consumer Behavior Revlon for Men?

Question 1
Develop a marketing strategy for Revlon to enter the men’s cosmetics market with a
complete product line.

Revlon is a world leader in cosmetics, skin care, fragrance and personal care and is a
leading mass market cosmetics brand, alongside L’Oreal’s Maybelline and Procter & Gamble's
Cover Girl. Their vision is to provide glamour, excitement and innovation through quality
products at affordable prices. They have developed a long-standing reputation as a trendsetter
in the world of cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care.

Product Strategy
Consumers buy motive satisfaction or problem solutions NOT product. In the case of
men’s cosmetics, career enhancement, ego booster, sense of competitiveness and attention
and admiration from women are the motives behind the need for this type of cosmetics. The
words of Charles Revlon (Former Head)…“In the factory we make cosmetics, in the store we
sell hope”… show that Revlon is in the right track. Tying these existing needs for affiliation
(belongingness) and esteem to men’s cosmetics will create demand for the brand.
Subtleness and convenience are some of the product attributes that researchers found
to be important to male consumers in buying and experiment with cosmetics.
Complete Product Line include convenient combo of a natural smelling three-step skin care
(facial soap, cleanser & moisturizer); Shaving products, deodorants, skin clearing & treatment
products designed to hide dark circle, age spots, razor burn and reduce appearance of fine lines
and wrinkles (example: concealer, eye treatment formula, skin toner) .

Communication Strategy (Media, Advertisement and Packaging)

Cosmetics are high-involvement products. Revlon men’s cosmetics ads should be
placed in media outlets that are relevant to men. Specialized media such as Maxim, National
Geographic, and Men Health tend to be highly effective. Cooperating with one of the specialized
magazines to create a onetime mini-magazine is one other way to communicate with potential
consumers. By flipping through it, readers can find various brand mention and Revlon men’s
cosmetics.
Revlon has to change the cognitive component of general consumers’ attitude, which
basically entails changing the belief that cosmetic products are for feminine in nature. They
must educate consumers and this can be done by communicating their brand personality

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through mass media (print, television and web site). The basis of the campaign is that cosmetics
are for those who dare to challenge the norm, the free-spirited; “men who chafe against the
restrictions" of traditional male roles and who do not care whether some people might consider
their actions unmanly. This can be done through matching celebrity endorsers with the desired
brand personality. Current Revlon ads featured a number of different well-known actresses
including Halle Berry, Eva Mendes and Jessica Alba. In the case of Revlon for Men, David
Beckham, Brad Pitt and Gerard Butler are some viable candidates.
Revlon Web site must also be effective, reliable, consistent and interesting in promoting its
products to men. Packaging design must clearly convey a look and feel unique to men’s
products. The packaging components that are purely masculine include large tubes and metal
canisters without frills with darker masculine colours.

Distribution Strategy
Currently, Revlon serves mass volume retailers; chain drug and food stores; department
stores; other specialty stores. These readily available distribution channels are proven effective
to reach target customers. Strategic shelf position and highly visible point-of purchase displays
can help customers in allocating your brand among those available in the market. Cross-
promotions in promoting complementary products available in the Complete Men Product Line
can be adopted throughout their distribution channels. Availability of the promoted products in
all distribution channels is also imperative.
Studies show that men do not feel at ease in the cosmetic section of a department store. In the
hopes to make men feel more comfortable, Revlon ought to customize the area with dark
hardwood flooring and employ sales people specifically trained in men's skin care. Online
cosmetic retailers such as MenEssentials.com and 4VOO.com are also popular channels
because they offer an ideal way for customers to learn more information about products in a
personalized and discreet way.

Price Strategy
Revlon’s vision “to provide glamour, excitement and innovation through quality products
at affordable prices” means that they have to price their product "at the level that customers
expect to pay for the quality delivered". Too high a price results in inability to compete in the
market while consumers tend to perceive lower price to inferior quality. Therefore, "research
into customers' attitudes towards not just the product, but also how they will value it." Value is "a

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combination of price and perceived quality.

Question 2
If Revlon were to enter the men’s cosmetics market, what branding strategy should it
use?

In order to leverage their strong existing brand name, Revlon should use the brand
extension strategy. Revlon are considered as a brand that delivers superior performance, has
impeccable social values with good reputation in cosmetics (Revlon sponsors and supports
many events that raise awareness and money for women's health issues). Thus it is safe to
assume that favorable aspects of the image associated with existing women’s cosmetics will
apply to the men’s cosmetics.
The connection between men’s and women’s cosmetics is obvious. The men’s
cosmetics fit the original product on the transfer and image dimensions. Men in differentiating
different brands available in the market will assume that the same exceptional manufacturing
skills of the original Revlon’s cosmetics will be transferred to the new products and the men’s
cosmetics share the key image component (glamour, excitement and innovation through quality
products at affordable prices) with the existing Revlon products. However, cosmetics are
generally perceived as unmanly in nature. The consensus is that men’s cosmetics must not
smell too strong or draw too much attention. Thus, it is imperative that Revlon clearly
differentiate the image of its men’s products in terms of subtleness, simplicity, convenience and
packaging that specifically tailored to the assumption of masculinity.
Based on the principal of stimulus generalization, Revlon can use the rub-off effect to
differentiate their men’s cosmetics with their competitors’ and subsequently capture market
share and enhance marketing efficiency.
Clinique is the company that has already extended their brand to men’s cosmetics with the
introduction of their Clinique three-step skin care process.

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Question 3
How, if at all, could Revlon use the following as the basis for its appeal for a men's
cosmetic line?

a. Personality
Consumers either choose products that fit their personality or they use products to
alleviate an area of their personality. Thus, Revlon can help consumers, in this case male
consumers to express their personality.
Revlon for men, as a brand can acquire an image in terms of brand personality. Brand
personalities can influence purchases and are often the basis in forging a long-term relationship
with the brand. One of its dimensions that is suitable for this men’s cosmetic line is excitement
which comprise of human characteristics such as daring, care-free, spirited, imaginative and up-
to-date. As mentioned above, there is an inherent perception that cosmetics are feminine in
nature. However, free-spirited and daring brand personalities work for Revlon for men due to the
emergence of “metrosexuality” or one of its variant “ubersexual” waves. One research exploring
the changing face of American males found "an emerging wave of men who chafe against the
restrictions" of traditional male roles and who "do what they want, buy what they want, enjoy
what they want; regardless of whether some people might consider these things unmanly."
In order to communicate brand personality, Revlon can use the celebrity endorsers as
their advertising tactic. Prime exemplar of metrosexual icon is David Beckham. However, the
footballer is currently the endorser for other men’s grooming products such as dvb fragrance
and Gillette. To avoid confusion and to better foster a distinctive brand personality, emerging
icons such as Gerard Butler is more effective.

b. Emotion
Emotions are linked to needs, motivation and personality. Unfulfilled needs for ego
boosting and sense of competitiveness or unachieved motivation for career enhancement and
admiration from women will yield negative emotions such as shame, sadness or powerless.
However it is imperative to note that generally men are lower in affect intensity. In other words
men are less influenced by emotional appeals or traumas.
Revlon for men can appeal as the brand that reduces the arousal of all the above unpleasant
emotions. This cosmetic line must also emphasize anxiety reduction as a major benefit.

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c. Self-concept
Self-concept can be the basis for its appeal for men’s cosmetic line when that appeal
matches the dominant type of self-concept held by the target market. In other words, consumers
prefer brands that are similar to their self-concepts. In the case of men’s cosmetic line,
independent self- concept that emphasizes personal goals, achievements (career
enhancement) and desires (securing the attention and admiration from women) works best.
Again the emergence of “metrosexuality” waves shows a significant overlap across age groups.
Teenagers as young 15 year-old who are attempting to obtain their ideal self-concept and 40
year-old successful professionals trying to maintain their actual self-concept.
In terms of marketing ethics, Revlon can be criticized for focusing too much on beauty
while other concepts in life such as family and relationships are being ignored. The narrow
range of what is being considered as beautiful (slim and young) tends to pose ethic issues.

Question 4
Design an ad for a line of men's skin care products by Revlon. Explain how it will work at
each stage of the perception process.

Perception constitutes three of the four major steps in the information-processing model;
exposure, attention and interpretation. While both exposure and attention are highly selective in
nature, interpretation can be a highly subjective process. In ensuring maximum exposure,
Revlon men’s skin care products ads must be placed within the men’s relevant environment.
Again the issue here is the selective nature of consumer behavior. This brings us back to
placing ads in various media especially specialized media such as Maxim, National Geographic,
and Men Health, existing Revlon Web site as well as the cosmetic section of a department
store. Online cosmetic retailers such as MenEssentials.com and 4VOO.com and television slot
during news or sports program are other media outlets to be considered. Consumers will seek
information when they think certain products can help them achieve their goals (voluntary
exposure). Revlon must break the taboo and double their efforts to educate the consumers in
viewing cosmetics as suitable and necessary to both women and men.
In order to catch the attention of male consumers, the stimulus, individual and situation
factors of the ads have to be catered to suit their requirements. As for the stimulus factors,
attractive visuals, colors and movement in the ads must be of masculine in nature. Bright colors
with “unmanly” visuals can deter the attention of men. Even though the waves of “metrosexual”

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have continuously emerged, the concepts that attract men remain the same.
Position and isolation factors or stimulus have already been discussed earlier. Strategic
shelf position, highly visible point-of purchase displays, cross-promotions and availability will all
increase the chance of attracting male consumers. However, as to cater to situation al factors of
attention, cluttering the environment with too many point-of-purchases is not the answer.
Meanwhile a straightforward presentation of the ads is more suitable for Revlon for men. As
being suggested by the adaptation level theory, the stimulus characteristics such as color, size
and endorser have to be changed overtime and be made interesting to avoid repetitiveness and
the decline of attention grabbing effectiveness. The right amount of information can guarantee
the quality generated by the male consumers from the ads. It’s quality, not quantity that ensures
the success of grabbing consumers’ attention.
Consumer motivation and ability are the main individual factors that affect attention. For
a line of men’s skin care products by Revlon, the motivations (career enhancement, ego
booster, sense of competitiveness and attention and admiration from women) have already
been discussed earlier. When consumers are familiar with Revlon as the brand to go to for
men’s skin care products, their ability to process any information will be much easier. In order to
achieve this, Revlon has to communicate brand image through well known celebrity endorsers
and increase wide media coverage. Revlon can also use briefly presented visual stimuli or
hidden sexual imagery or words in print ads to attract attention.
Stimulations in Revlon ads must convey the existing meaning of Revlon as world
renowned cosmetics brand. Other than cognitive interpretation, using emotional or feeling such
as “proud to be a metrosexual guy” or “I am brave enough to break free” in Revlon ads can be
very effective. However as previously mentioned, men tend to have lower level of affect
intensity. Revlon has to always uphold it quality promise because once expectations have been
established it is hard to change. Consistency is the key.

Question 5
Evaluate Clinique’s men’s product line and branding strategy. Suggest changes where
appropriate.
Clinique is known for its world’s first hypoallergenic, dermatologist-driven line for skin-
care routine and it offers products to both women and men. Currently, Clinique is offering almost
similar men’s product lines with its close competitors, L’Oreal Paris. Its men’s product lines
consist of skin care, shaving, grooming and fragrance products.
For its men’s product branding strategies, Clinique clearly defines look and feel on its men’s

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products packaging that are unique to men’s products. As men would not want their beauty
products to appear feminine in nature, Clinique’s has packaged its men’s products in black
packaging, where the black color is usually associated with power, elegance, mystery and sexy.
To enhance its brand equity in men’s beauty product line, we suggest Clinique to
venture into specific sun-care product line for men to entice new niche target market with highly
active outdoor lifestyle. As one of the renowned skin care specialists, Clinique could use its
expertise and available resources to produce quality sun-care products that could match
Coppertone’s or Nivea’s sun-care products.
Also, Clinique could obtain celebrity endorsement for its men’s beauty products.
Approval of a brand by celebrities fosters a sense of trust for that brand among the target
audience. Celebrities also ensure attention of the target group by breaking the clutter of
advertisements and making the ad and the brand more noticeable. For example, L’Oreal
Malaysia currently uses famous local actor, Aaron Aziz, as a spokesperson for L'Oreal Paris'
Men Expert, the brand’s beauty range catered for men.

Question 6
What motives should Clinique appeal to in promoting its men’s line?

An obstacle in the past has been the perception that cosmetics and toiletries products
are too feminine.
To address this, Clinique should appeal to the ego-defense motive - the need to defend
men’s identity or ego, i.e. masculinity, rugged and so forth. With its black packaging, which
signals power, elegance and so forth, Clinique’s men’s products are advertised to provide ego-
defense that can help ease men’s fears about buying these products. The advertising also has
to display male characters that are confident about using something ’feminine’ and can assure
men that it won’t take anything away from their masculinity.
Clinique also can appeal to the need for reinforcement motive - the need for men to use
men’s beauty product because the rewards they would receive. For example, Clinique could
design ad advertisement that shows a man using Clinique’s men’s beauty products would gain
immediate attention, admiration and appreciation from women, due to his cleaner and healthier
appearance.
If simplicity and humor can make men feel more comfortable with grooming, surely there
are other ways packaging design can help ease men’s fears about buying these products and at

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the same time, help a brand stand apart on increasingly crowded shelves.

Question 7
Persuading many men to use skin care products will require a significant attitude
change. Which attitude change techniques would be most appropriate?

Beauty companies can employ several attitude change techniques in order to persuade
men to use skin care products.
Change the Cognitive Component - to change the belief that beauty product is only
within the women’s market realm. With the help of mass media, beauty companies can educate
people and ultimately position men using beauty products and services as healthy, modern and
trendy.
Change the Affective Component - by creating advertisements that elicit positive
response. If men like the advertisement, this generally increases the tendency to like and accept
the new trend of men using beauty products as well as the brand.
Change the Behavioral Component - by offering free samples to induce more product
trials and offering coupons or price reductions for loyal customers to encourage repeated
usages.

Questions 8
What learning theories would you use to teach your target market to take proper care of
their skin?

In order to teach men to take proper care of their skin, we would suggest beauty
companies to use vicarious learning or modeling theory, where behaviors are learned by
watching the outcomes of others’ behaviors or by imagining the outcome of a potential behavior.
For this learning theory, celebrity endorsers can be employed, where they become the
spokesperson for the product. Target markets can see the outcome of using the skin care
product by observing the endorser’s physical feature; in this case, the celebrity’s cleaner and
smoother skin.
Another suggestion is that beauty companies could use operant conditioning in order to
teach target market (men) to take proper care of their skin. Operant conditioning involves
rewarding the purchases made by customers with positive outcomes that serve to reinforce the

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behavior (purchases). Beauty companies could send out direct mail or stimulate personal
contact after a sale to congratulate men for making wise purchases. Also, they can offer extra
reinforcement for purchasing the male beauty products, such as rebates, discount coupons and
so forth.

Question 9
Visit one of the Web sites listed below (Clinique). Is it effective at promoting its products
to men? What behavior principles and assumptions does it rely on?

The Clinique Web site is primarily focused on selling products to women. The home
page features pictures of women and writing in pink. All with a feminine feel and expression.
Nearly all of the tabs and links are for women’s products. Everything from “Expert Tips and
Trends” to “Offers” feature products and advice for and about women. Only one tab labeled
“Men’s” features men’s products. This tab is broken down into three areas; skin care, fragrance
and gifts. Each sub tab has limited offerings although the look and feel of the pages under the
men’s tab do change somewhat from the home page. The men’s tab is more masculine in color
and design and features distinctly male products like shaving cream. The focus of the men’s site
is on anti-aging, which is something both men and women share a desire to use.
The products listed under the men’s tab also differ from the female version in terms of
quantity and specialization. The women’s section has a complete line of products from makeup
products, anti aging, basic skincare, lip care etc. The men’s line is very basic with few products.
This is likely done for two reasons. First, the market for men’s products is much smaller so they
would logically not have as large a product offering. But secondly, it may be kept simple with
few products because although men might be interested in skin care, they may not be interested
in the specialization that women do. Men likely want one or only a few products that accomplish
what they need. Women are more likely to enjoy the shopping experience and therefore likely to
by more products than they may actually want or need.
The web page attacks men’s need to feel and look younger, this is the key behavior
principle that Clinique tries to appeal to. Clinique appeals to a man’s need to stay looking
younger through simple straightforward products. The products displayed also assume that men
have some basic knowledge about skin care products by using terms like exfoliate. This
approach means they are going after the Ubersexual group that discusses these types of
products with friends, both male and female.

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Question 10
Using the demographic and psychographic information provided in the case, describe
the traits that would make the most desirable target market for a line of cosmetics by Revlon.
Explain.

The demographics are noticeably split with hair care products, facial cleansers and
moisturizers/creams/lotions on one end of the spectrum and suncare products on the other end.
Concerning the first three categories listed, the age demographic that would be the most
desirable is the 18-34 age group. This age group has the largest interest in these products with
the only slight exception among hair care products. The largest demographic is in the 18-24
year olds so they are a good market, however, the older age groups are also strongly interested
in this product. This is expected and possibly should indicate a need to differentiate the
marketing strategy within the hair care products area. The ethnic group area shows the
strongest interest among Black, Asian and Hispanic, or to be summarized, the non-white ethnic
group. Whites generally have a lower interest in these products. Last is income, among this
group the lower incomes generally had more interest. With those earning $10,000 to $39,000
the largest groups.
Among the suncare products the groups that would be most interested were nearly the
exact opposite of those mentioned above for the other product lines. Those interested in
suncare products tend to be middle aged, white and with higher income. This shows a great
need for different marketing plans for this product separate from the others. The customer base
is so different that it would be difficult to effectively market the suncare with the others.
In terms of Psychographics, the Ubersexuals would be the most desirable market base.
They have a strong income base to purchase the products and would be most willing to do so.
They are confident in being a man and take pride in their appearance. Ubersexuals have no
issues with women and aren’t concerned about using products that are associated with women.
Their general age of 38 is also good because they are entering the age where anti aging and
hair color products will be needed.

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Question 11
Evaluate each of the following as a potential market for men’s grooming product.

Ubersexuals provide a good potential for men’s grooming products. They have a strong
income and would be the most willing to purchase them. There are few barriers in their
concerns about purchasing products that are too feminine and have a strong interest in their
appearance. There average age, 38, also means that their age group will but them in need of
many of the grooming products that are offered. This group would be most likely to purchase
skin care, fragrances and anti-aging. These products offer solutions to the current aging
concerns they may be experiences while the use of fragrances would fit into their psychographic
make-up of being comfortable being a man.
Regular Joe's provide solid potential for men’s grooming products. They are not
necessarily against using products associated with women, as they are generally comfortable
with being a man. However, they may not embrace the products as well as the Ubersexuals.
The Regular Joes would likely not be as concerned about their looks and might not be willing to
spend additional income on grooming products outside of the basics although their income is
strong. Products that would be best suited for this market segment would be shaving products,
basic skin care and masculine fragrances.
Marked Grouchos offer the lowest potential of the three groups. They have lower income
than the other three at $55,000 compared to $61,900 for Regular Joes and $60,600 for
Ubersexuals. Also their attitude towards women is the most negative of the group and therefore
they would likely not be receptive to products generally associated with women. If you were to
market to this group it would have to be products specifically attributed to masculinity like
shaving products. Other products that they feel are generally associated with women would be
difficult to sell to the Marked Grouchos.

Question 12
How might the emergence of the Ubersexual influence how men’s grooming care
products are marketed?

An emergence of the Ubersexual influence would likely have a positive impact on

grooming care products and lead to an expansion of the market. Therefore the marketing would
also need to adjust to the emergence of the Ubersexual influence. The marketing campaign

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could take on traits similar to that marketed towards women. Instead of trying to assure men
that purchasing grooming products is still masculine, the marketing strategies could begin to
focus on the product attributes and various offerings. The Ubersexual emergence would mean
that men are no longer threatened by products that were previously thought to be only for
women and do away with the feminine stigma associated with grooming products. Ubersexual
men are comfortable buying grooming products and therefore marketers would not have to be
concerned about convincing them that the products are still “manly” and instead they can focus
the marketing campaigns on what benefits the products offer. Overall, the Ubersexual
emergence would increase the market for grooming products and change how the products can
be presented to men.

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References

2009. Color Meaning. Color Wheel Pro - See Color Theory in Action, viewed on October 2,
2009, available at http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

Euro RSCG Worldwide, New York City; The Future of Men: USA

Chris Daniels. Fear Factor Marketing. Toronto: Feb 7, 2005. Vol. 110, Iss. 5; pg. 13, 1 pgs

May 2008. What Men Want. Beauty Packaging, viewed on October 3, available at
http://www.beautypackaging.com/articles/2008/05/what-men-want

November 2008. Men: Beauty or brawn, or both? Synovate: Change Agent, viewed on October
3, available at
http://www.synovate.com/changeagent/index.php/site/full_story/men_beauty_or_brawn_or_both
/

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