A few weeks ago I wenr into Morleys to purchase some products drom MAC. The brand recently opened a concession in Brixton's department store. Buoyed by the fact that there was no queue at the counter I went rushing in. I was stopped by an elegant lady in black who asked if I was here to look at some Fashion Fair products. I muttered "erm no sorry I am here for MAC," and hastily rushed past but not before noticing the look of disappointment and resignment on her face. While I was being served at the MAC counter more people arrived and waited patiently to be served whlile the Fashion Fair counter remained empty and I began to feel a bit sorry for Fashion Fair. They have been struggling for years even at Morleys where a huge majority of customers are Black and the introduction of MAC must have blown them out of the water. This got me thinking about the posioning of Fashion Fair on the market place. A lot of people rate them and they do produce amazing colours for Black skins but ask a large number of black women which make up brand they would prefer and I bet they would say MAC. It seems to me that Fashion Fair have got their branding all wrong; the packing seems rather dated and stale and with a bland website Fashion Fair is very uninspiring. When I think of the funky ezines that Mac send out I really feel that Fashion Fair are missing a trick. People express themselves with the clothes they wear and the same really does apply to make up.
Even Sleek have woken up to this and totally reinvented themselves as a hip and modern brand that any fashion forward lady would be proud to be seen in. Their website is vibrant and their packaging is very - well sleek. Sleek's revamp reminds me very much of the one that Rimmel (check out a previous post that I wrote about Rimmel London) undertook a few years ago when they positioned themselves from a dreary cheap make up brand that chavs bought to one that draws on the characteristics of London which is stylish, edgy and trendy. Well with models, Kate Moss, Lily Cole and pop star, Sophie Ellis-Bexter onboard they could hardly be anything else. The strategy of Rimmel London is the same as many successful make up brands - about promoting an image to their consumers. Take Flirt Cosmetics which was featured in cult reality show, The Fashionista Diaries, they describe themselves to be edgy, trendy and driven by pop culture. So it looks like Fashion Fair has a lot to learn in order to gain more customers. Still at least Fashion Fair have moved away from the terrifying ladies in the bright pink jackets.
There was a time when you wouldn't be caught dead wearing Rimmel make up but my how things have changed. Thanks to some major rebranding and a great marketing campaign, Rimmel is now mentioned in the same breath as Maybelline, MAC, L'Oreal and Revlon. It all started back in 2001 when the company approached Kate Moss to spearhead their new directional campaign, Rimmel London. The concept was to celebrate the heritage of London and transform Rimmel from a naff brand into one that was cool, edgy and street wise. A TV and print campaign was created which focused on Moss being the quintessential London girl. Moss herself admitted that she had been a Rimmel girl when she was teenager and soon a beautiful partnership was born and one that would stay firm during Moss's drug scandal a few years later. Since then Rimmel London have gone strength to strength and last year they introduced model, Lily Cole and pop star, Sophie Ellis-Bexter to the stable.
Rimmel London's roots go back as far as 1820 and was family run until 1996 when it was acquired by Coty Inc, owners of numerous perfume and make up brands. Today Rimmel London is all about fashion and experimentation and about creating trends as opposed to following them. Aligning themselves with glamorous events such as London Fashion Week and Clothes Show London shows how far they have come. With a mixture of old and new Rimmel London produces a wide range of shades in eye shadows, nail polishes, lipsticks and foundations. These colours are constantly updated to make sure that they are on trend.
I have always liked the TV adverts which I found to be quirky and kind of hippy chic and I really admired Rimmel London for standing by Kate Moss during her troubled period even though everyone else dropped her like a hot potato. However, to be honest I never really took notice of the Rimmel London products till a work colleague and I popped into Superdrug and stopped by the stand. To say I was impressed would be putting it lightly, the range on the stand was fresh, hip and almost retro. I fell in love their nail varnishes especially the New I Heart Lasting Finish range which comes in a wide range of mouth watering colours. If you are in a hurry then there is the new 60 Second polish and if you want easy application then check out the Lycra Pro range.
Check out the Rimmel London website and have a peep at Sophie's little black book, read all about Lilly's beauty regime and admire all the images of Kate while she has been a Rimmel London lady.
I have also included below the Rimmel London advert of Sophie Ellis-Bexter displaying the traits of the quintessential London girl.
The Musings of Ondo Lady is a slice of pop culture in the form of films, magazines, books, TV, fashion and music.
My name is Ronke Adeyemi and I am a creative with a background in journalism, marketing and PR. I have a passion for fashion, travel, magazines, books and property. What's the deal with Ondo Lady? Well Ondo is a town in Nigeria where my parents are from. It is located in the south west of Nigeria and holds just over 4 million people and is nicknamed the Sunshine State.
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