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Does a brand's "image" mean anything to you?
Does a brand’s “image” mean anything to you?How does it influence you?
It influences me very slightly — if a brand seems to think too highly of themselves, acts arrogant, or simply gives a very holier than thou attitude, then it puts me off. This can sometimes happen with brands attempt to run counter-culture or position themselves as anti-mass/popular.
Thanks to Alexandra for today’s question! Have a question idea? Submit yours here.
Yes, I happen to prefer brands that are most fashion/trend-forward like Urban Decay and MAC because they are fun, creative, and fast-paced.
Perhaps due to my age (23), I overlook certain brands that focus more on mature skin/cosmetics i.e. creme de la mer, la prairie as well but maybe I’ll change my mind some day.
In addition, when a brand has a very negative image based on bad business practices like Lime Crime or are not cruelty-free, I try to avoid them as much as possible.
I have never even thought of it this way. How can a brand have a holier-than-thou image? Isn’t the purpose of a business to sell their product? If you can, which brands present themselves as counter-culture etc.? I’m just really curious now, it never occurred to me to anthropomorphize brands.
I like brands that are cruelty free. Maybe it’s not necessarily their “image” but it shows what they stand for. I also agree with you Christine.
I just hate when brands act like they are the business and that everyone should bow down. HECKS NO. I don’t like arrogant people or shady people. Stay classy, folks! Haha. It just totally puts me off when brands act that way, or just in general don’t treat their customers/employees/others with respect.
Aside from that, I don’t really care what they are trying to portray. I don’t care if a brand is drugstore, high-end, designer, not designer, or whatever…if I like a product and think it’s worth it then I’ll buy it. The only time I don’t want to buy from a brand is when it comes to the stuff mentioned before: arrogance and sheisty ish. I understand businesses are in it to profit, but I just don’t do the whole disrespectful, totally unethical, shady game.
Sometimes.
If I know a company lies about their products being all natural, animal friendly or vegan, then it makes me wonder what else are they lying about? I also find it distasteful for companies(mostly smaller indie ones) to get caught up in so much drama. I feel that if a person is trying to make a go at a company, but acts like a middle school girl, then why should I support them?
Ulta is such a love and hate relationship for me. I hate it because here, they hire young, mouthy and full of attitude girls. One would think if you are trying to uphold a positive place to shop and get services, you would train people better. I hear that from many people … Their image has been diminished a bit but not enough for me to give up on them.
Not so much. I only care if they are cruelty free, nothing else (well, other than quality) really matters to me.
I love Urban Decay, but I generally don’t like how they name their products – the names are odd, and sometimes, embarrassing (also NARS does this)
I agree about Urban Decay’s names–too many pot references! I always thought I was just being uptight. It feels good to know that someone else dislikes the names!
I hate it when things are trying to be too hip, or sexy, or out there – its embarrassing! I don’t want to pull out my palette if it has something embarrassing written on it, ugh!
Its kind of funny that people complain about the racy names used by brands such as Urban Decay and Nars. I always love this practice by these companies. I think this truly makes them trendy as well as hip. SEX SELLS and people need to realize that.
Hi Christine,
No, I am a beauty addict, ( and perfumista too )I potentially love every brand on earth. I just love some brands more than others ( Chanel Nars, M.A.C, …… ) and I would like US brands to export ( Nvey Eco, Chantecaille, Zoya ) for they’re either Vegan or environment friendly.
Although, I hate to admit it… I think that a brand’s image has a HUGE influence on me. :/ I LOVE beautifully packaged products and intriguing advertisements. I know that saying this makes me shallow, but I can’t help it~!! >.<
No it makes you a person! We all like aesthetically pleasing things, don’t beat yourself up about it :).
I’m with you, Christine. I find that excessive attitude usually equals “meh” product.
I dont know about image per se, but I did follow the Guerlain twitter for one of your contests for a couple weeks till I absolutely could not take it any more. The PR person behind that twitter acct was horribly snobby. I had to follow her ASAP.
I like Bobbi Brown’s brand image the most – high end, good quality, but totally approachable and unpretentious.
I’m never compelled to shop a brand based on marketing, but I have been put off by brands that put out too many limited edition items too close together, or worse, at the same time (ie, MAC), sacrificing quality. Also, I never gave Urban Decay a chance until a few years ago because the packaging looked to juvenile leading me to believe the quality was as well.
As far as brands that make a statement, I actually support Illamasqua, though I don’t have anything yet from them, because alot of the things I really want are not availabe in the US. For example, they have put out a line to support the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. On the other hand, I find it so frustrating that MAC makes it inconvenient to recycle empty containers for items I actually use; I personally don’t really wear lip products, so I have to go out of my way to a free-standing store to pick up eyeshadow. If a company is going to give an incentive to recycle, the policy should be thae same at all outlets. Yes, I realize it is a bonus, I don’t have to do it, etc, but my point is that there should be a universal policy.
Where do you live? In Canada you can recycle the same things at every MAC location. I believe the reason that not all their products are accepted for the recycling program is because they are not recyclable (ie pro eyeshadow pans)
Heather, I believe Amy is referring to the fact that you can only Back-to-MAC for a lipstick at the counters; whereas, if you go to a MAC Pro store, you can get an eyeshadow pan (I’ve also heard of people getting lip glosses and other items).
I do wish that the counters were more flexible, but I’ve always assumed it was because counters don’t carry pro pans (or maybe they started recently? I vaguely recall them launching a fill-your-own-palette campaign..?). My main problem with B2M at the counters is that the experience is so variable; some counters are more flexible than others. I’ve been lucky the few times I’ve done it at my local counter; the staff were super easy going about accepting e/s pots without pans. And they were “old-timers” like me, so we had a good laugh and walk down memory lane looking at some of the vintage MAC I was bringing back. But I’ve heard of less positive experiences on the boards at MakeupAlley.
Overall, I think B2M is really awesome, so I’m hesitant to criticize. I can sympathize with Amy though; I probably still have dozens of empty MAC containers from over the years that I’ve never bothered to bring back because I have no pro store in my city, and more lipstick than I’ll ever use in my lifetime.
Hi, Heather! I believe Amy is talking about how at freestanding and PRO MAC stores people are able to return empties for other products than just a lipstick, like receiving a lip glass or eye shadow instead. At counters, you are only able to pick from lipsticks when you participate in B2M.
Yeah I like brands with really fun ads and stuff… The logo must be fun too
I find some brands kind of boring just because of their image sometimes.
Oh and also if they are cruelty-free since I work with animals that’s a must for me.
I am drawn to stuff that looks more edgy/artistic. However, the image the brand is trying to push doesn’t matter to me if the image that ends up coming through in their customer service and PR is totally crappy (ie, a certain indie cosmetic brand that shall remain nameless).
I prettymuch agree with Christine. I also like to buy cruelty free products (the lack of cruelty free drugstore skincare is annoying me at the moment). I also have a quirky personality, so I like the more cute and fun brands like Urban Decay and Too Faced. Though I do see myself getting into the more sophisticated brands, like Estee Lauder and Smashbox, in the future.
I’m the exact opposite! I can’t stand fun or cutesy makeup – I like my packaging sleek, elegant, functional. I find fun/cute brands tacky.
A quality product will override this, but I’ll still find the packaging tacky!
As far as “image” goes I never buy products from companies that test on animals, or use ingredients that have been tested on animals. I cannot condone the suffering of other living things, especially for something as trivial as make up.
I am put off brands that make out-landish claims though, like “makes you look like a baby!”. I also hate it when companies attempt to base these claims on faulty science. Often when you look at the research reports the sample pool used is quite small, and the results are biased or had minor improvements.
Tarte puts me off, because they act like they have always been a “natural” brand when that is only a recent developement. A few years ago they were just a niche brand who no one knew about. Tarte didn’t start marketing their products that way until recently.
I think when I go to a counter, and talk to the SA and if they act like they have been brandwashed by their brand “philosophy” that puts me off. I love BB cosmetics, love the brand image that Bobbi herself projects in adversting and marketing. I don’t know if BB makes for a good department store counter brand. BB is a really special MUA. Her sales people just can’t replicate her ability to apply make and have it look so natural and clean. Plus the girls at my Macy’s BB counter are perfectly nice but a little too caught up in projecting the BB image and BB make up rules. Sort of in vein with this, I asked for foundation samples and they wouldn’t give me any. Since I had been to every counter in Macy’s and gotten samples from every other high end brand, that grated a little. However she did offer to put it on me and let me wear it to try it out. I am sure it is in their training not to give foundation samples if asked, but offer to put the product on the customer so they can get the customer in the chair to listen to them talk about their products in order to sell them. That’s very smart sales technique but not my cup of tea.
I wish Bobbi’s Brown prices were more affordable. Not necessarily drugstore prices, but even MAC and Benefit are more affordable than her products. I just think since she’s all about being natural and puts an effort to help young women see the potential of their natural beauty, she should make products that young women can afford to buy.
I know. I think she be more accessible if she would lower her prices. Or come out with a more affordable range of products. For someone who is about bringing beauty to every woman her prices on some of her stuff are outrageous and out of reach for most women. She just came out with a new brow powder kit. It’s $45! That is ridiculous. I doubt even Chanel would have the gall to charge that much for a basic brow powder set.
Sort of – I still buy brands with lots of spunk, like Urban Decay and TheBalm, but I tend to prefer ones that have a more professional look to them – Laura Mercier is a favorite. Probably because I’m a 40-year-old trapped in a 23-year-old body.
What’s more important to me, by far, is the image a brand’s representatives will perpetuate. I have gotten great service from many SAs, but I quite frequently that a MAC representative will be totally catty and unhelpful to me, which is why I’ve avoided shopping MAC unless it’s with a SA that I know is friendly. MAC is probably one of the worst violators, though I’ve also had less-frequent bad encounters with other brands.
I always go for “artsy” brands over the brands that talk about makeup that makes you “naturally” beautiful- as though you aren’t naturally beautiful by nature. I prefer MAC and Illamasqua over things like BareMinerals, because I prefer to look at inspiring promo pictures and think about makeup as a creative outlet, rather than “YOU MUST HAVE THIS STUFF TO LOOK PRETTY”.
I’ll be honest with you, when you hear MAC (that’s if you are familiar) you think WOW that’s an amazing brand that’s been around for such a long time. So even if MAC were to put out crappy makeup, it is almost guaranteed that at least 1 person will buy it just because…well it’s MAC!
However, there are some people, like moi, who look beyond the brand and look more on the brand’s quality. Surely if I shell out $30 (that doesn’t fall off the trees) then of course I expect top notch quality, because that’s how it should be! In the real world, this doesn’t always happen so you really have to wonder, which brand is right for me? in the end…I tend to gravitate towards what I like or what suits my needs better. So to answer this question, Yes the brand’s image does mean something to me, I’d be a hypocrite if I’d say no because that’s how they sell the product to people but also No, because in the end even with a beautiful, magnetic image a brand is still a brand…it all depends on how it works for me.
I LOVE and prefer brands that are truly innovative in their product development and really deliver what they promise. Their associations with customer satisfaction, sustainability and other characteristics like “cruelty free” or having products formulated without controversial ingredients definitely catch my attention and most likely, loyalty.
Not necessarily the image, more of the product/ customer relations experience I LOVED Chanel, and one bad experience with them completely turned me off to the whole brand.
The only thing that bugs me is when brands market themselves as having insane or bright or edgy colors, but the most unique thing they have is maybe a single purple lipstick. Yawn.
Yes yes and yes! Image and customer service has always been the key factor when it comes to where I spend my money. I like MAC for their diversity however their artist are the most snobby and entitled beings I’ve ever enountered. Especially at the Pro store…so I would go to the MAC in Nordies but even they are starting to be just as impersonal as the artist at the Pro store, so I will no longer purchase from that MAC/Nordies anymore either.
Sephora, I do not buy anything from Sephora anymore. They have really changed for the worse and I will no longer support their poor business practices.
I really never paid attention to Chanel because of their limited foundation shade selection. However after they released a foundation with more shades last yr, I’ve been sampling their products. I always got nothing but stellar service at their counter just asking for samples and they were happy to give them to me! Although I really don’t want to pay their prices, I do because they make me feel good about spending my money there and not treat me like they’re doing me a favor by taking my money.
The image is important to me, since I really have a hard time supporting someone or something I think is morally or ethically wrong. I hardly, HARDLY shop at M.A.C. anymore and to this day I am still looking for replacements of the products of theirs I still use. I was horribly, horribly disappointed by how MAC collaborated with Rodarte a few years back. Yes they never released the line, but it doesn’t change that through all the planning, they still ok’d the line for launch and only revoked it due to public backlash. I cannot stand behind a company that I honestly feel capitalizes on the suffering of women and pokes at it.
I also have issues with companies that have a stuck up image, and their products don’t back it up. Sometimes Chanel can be snobby, but I’ve never used a Chanel product that didn’t deserve it. I’d pat myself on the back for a job well done. Their MUA’s have never been rude or pretentious but there is definitely an air of superiority from a Chanel counter and it’s all about “our products are worth the $ and they are better”. It’s one of the big things that turned me off to Lancome. The company comes across like they are some holy grail of makeup, and I’ve never had a good experience with their makeup.
MUA’s I don’t necessarily see as the “face” of a brand and more the “face” of the location. In this I’ve never visited a lot of counters across states. I have NO respect for the MUA’S here in Alaska. None of them care about their customers or actually helping them find products they want. They just push their sales and don’t take the time to really see what would work for their customers (I wear NC 15 in MAC and I had an MUA in Anchorage tell me I should be wearing Medium + in SkinFinish Natrual. She didn’t even swap a color on me, she just looked at me and said “you need this”.
On the other hand I have the utmost respect for the MUA’S in Seattle. I’ve resorted to calling THEM for advice because they will go out of their way to tell me what I should be focusing on color wise by comparing makeup to things I know I match in. I have actually made a point of calling down to the counters in Seattle and doing an order over the phone so I know that store is getting my $ because the MUA helping me deserved it.
I’m a big believer in voting with my $ and I will go out of my way to give my $ to a company or a store I feel deserves it.
ugh MAC MUAs by and large are really annoying. I’ve had a couple of amazing experiences, but most of the time I refuse to go there without being armed with exact knowledge of what products/shades I want to try.
I’m terrified of my MAC counter – the makeup artists all have heavy non-matching foundation, bright green and purple eyeshadow, and this really mean attitudes! I feel like I can’t approach them – I’ve been treated really rudely by them and don’t even want to be seen when I’m browsing what’s at the counter. I wonder why MAC attracts people like this?!
Not really! I’m certainly influenced by some things that might make up a brand’s image — packaging, animal testing policies, and so on — but I’m not swayed by the overall image. I can’t afford to be, since a lot of good drugstore brands aren’t exactly known for being hip or fancy.
I can’t agree with Christine more – arrogant anti-mass/popular brands are so offputting. I can’t believe how aggressive and typical some alternative places can be, for businesses that are (despite being in denial about it) attempting to be a success.
I prefer brands who are high-quality, and can convince me that they are high-quality. Having a great color selection and either a few products worth splurging on or a decent range of products for a fair price. I am also put off arrogant/holier than thou companies, and I like a variety otherwise. Shiseido, Illamasqua, Chanel, Cle de Peau, YSL, Shu Uemura and Lancome all attract me but I own very few among these names.
I buy mostly drug store makeup (Physician’s Formula, CoverGirl and Wet n Wild being a few favorites). I also buy natural brands like Korres, Dr. Hauschka, Honeybee Gardens… and I buy Bobbi Brown… I’m interested in MAC, Tarte, Urban Decay, MUFE, etc. but I am already hooked by Bobbi Brown and having many great working blushes, eyeshadows, mascaras, etc. from cheaper lines, and I don’t want to pick up and fall for a very limited edition product–hate that!
Yes. As a person who has worked in the field of Sales & Marketing, the image of a brand is very important to me. Issues such as diversity of the product lines and diversity in the marketing demographic influences greatly if I choose to buy a certain product or not. I am a huge fan of Mac Cosmetics because of its array and appeal to many races, etc..
I’ll only buy cruelty-free brands – does that count? I’m also drawn to more natural/organic lines that claim to use fewer chemicals – but I always check the labels to make sure they’re telling the truth.
I like Urban Decay’s edginess, too.