Mary Kay Invades India — Part 2

As I was looking at Mary Kay’s India site, something hit me.

The models on the site.

When you market products, don’t you want your potential customers to see themselves using your brand? And shouldn’t your marketing materials reflect that?

Then tell me why the models on the Mary Kay India site are blondes and fair-skinned brunettes (with an occasional black woman thrown in) ?

Are there no beautiful Indian models they could put on the site? (Of course there are.)

But check out the picture of the models on the main page at the bottom:

http://www.marykay.co.in/home

And on the main makeup page:    http://www.marykay.co.in/Makeup

And the model on the fragrance page:  http://www.marykay.co.in/Fragrances

And the model on the skin care page: http://www.marykay.co.in/SkinCare

The message I would take away, if I were an Indian woman, is that Mary Kay is a company that sells products for light skinned women but they probably don’t have products for me.

Is it just me?

Mary Kay Invades India — Part 1

Mary Kay recently announced that they are opening a “beauty center” in Mumbai, India.  This new store is just the latest in Mary Kay Inc.’s continuing invasion of India.

Mary Kay Inc. expects to invest about $20 million in the Indian expansion in the next five years.

India’s per capita income, according to the latest figures released by the World Bank, is 40,000 Rupees.

That’s equivalent to $950 U.S.

So I was curious…

In a nation whose per capita income is lower than 159 other nations, how much would it cost the average Indian woman to use Mary Kay makeup?

I took a conservative approach, picking only the basic color cosmetics I thought most Indian women might use regularly.

Here’s what I chose for the average Indian woman’s cosmetic bag:

Mary Kay Product	Price in Rupees (Rs)
Lipstick	530 Rs
Foundation	620 Rs
Mascara	450 Rs
Eyeliner	440 Rs
Eye Color	620 Rs
	Total: 2660 Rs

India’s average monthly income is 3,333 Rupees (40,000 / 12).

That means that for just the basic items listed above, the average Indian woman would be spending 80% of her monthly income.

80%

Forget about that sleek black Mary Kay compact. That would set her back another 750 Rupees.

And she can’t even consider purchasing any Mary Kay skin care.

Am I missing something? Just who is supposed to be buying Mary Kay in India?