Mary Kay: empowering network marketers key to growth

Can you make money out of cosmetics products without any offline retail stores or eCommerce stores?The answer is yes for KK Chua, president of Asia Pacific at Mary Kay, a cosmetics brand that only distributes its products through individual beauty consultants - a form of network marketing.The American brand first entered the region by breaking into the Australian market in 1971.  It entered Hong Kong in 1999 and now boasts almost 5,000 beauty consultants based locally.It is also now present in mainland China as well as Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and New Zealand, with over one million beauty consultants in the region.  Chua considers mainland China its biggest growth market for new beauty consultants and customers.Network marketing forms the crux of Mary Kay's business approachEmploying direct sellers helps drive sales because they offer a more personal service compared to traditional retail salespeople, argued Chua.  They are also more motivated."Our direct seller approach empowers consultants to build their own businesses," Chua said.The brand provides a framework of resources and expertise on a global scale, such as by providing training in knowledge about the brand's products, business ethics and inventory management skills.The consultants are also equipped with digital tools with which to market products to customers."We offer our consultants online virtual makeovers for consumers, e-catalogs, business management tools for mobile devices and social media messaging," Chua said."These digital tools help our consultants broaden their reach, strengthen their consumer network and increase their business awareness."As a method of distribution, direct selling empowers women beauty consultants living in remote regions and allows products to reach customers living far away from retail stores.Even the brand's eCommerce operations respect the principle of consultants selling directly to customers and do not seek to undercut this method of marketing and distribution.For example, the brand's eCommerce platform in the US allows customers to fill a virtual cart with products.  However, to close the purchase journey, customers is redirected to a directory of beauty consultant contacts within the country."Our best advertisers are our beauty consultants.  They are our brand ambassadors and 'mobile' advertisers," Chua said.Social media is the main digital channel for engaging beauty consultantsAs most customers perform online searches before making any purchase, digital marketing plays an important role in Mary Kay's marketing mix.For example, for a recent branded Dream Beautiful Finale fashion show and contest, Mary Kay set up a dedicated mini-site where contest participants could upload before and after photographs, where people could vote for their favourite consultants and models and share content.On an ongoing basis, the brand engages beauty consultants in Asia through Facebook.  For mainland Chinese consultants, WeChat is an important platform where the brand has over 328,800 WeChat subscribers and an average share rate of over 9,000 times per post.