Does Revlon Have Its Head in the Sand?

The biggest surprise for me since starting this blog nearly 3 1/2 years ago has been discovering who the people are that not only take the time to read it, but respond to posts about their industry or company. 

I’ve heard from (and been sometimes challenged by) executives at Timberland, Best Buy, Ford, General Motors, American Airlines, Purina, Campbell Soup, and many others.  Within 24 hours of a recent post on Dell’s customer service debacle, I heard from no less than four customer reps at Dell, wanting to resolve the situation with my sister.  It got so ridiculous that my sister begged them all to stop and leave her alone, since she had resolved the highly frustrating situation on her own.

At least these companies are on the ball, checking on what’s being written out there about their products and services.  I’ve always tried to acknowledge their side of the story, even if I didn’t agree. 

So what’s the matter with Revlon? 

A few months ago, I wrote a series of posts on Revlon’s Vital Radiance line of makeup, created for the “boomer woman” demographic.  I rightly predicted that their distribution method and anemic marketing would mark the death knell of the high quality line. 

Since then, I’ve had a steady stream of comments from women across the U.S., increasingly desperate to find any remnants of the makeup they can find.  As of this writing, there are 93 comments on R.I.P. Vital Radiance, with one or two more added each day.  Let’s say they represent one-tenth of one percent of the audience that liked Vital Radiance enough to seek it out on the internet AND comment on this blog - that’s 90,000 women.  Multiply that by the number of women who are potential purchasers and non-commenters, and we’re probably talking about hundreds of thousands.

Where are you, Revlon?  Aren’t you savvy enough to have someone employed to monitor blogs and websites about your products?  If you read some of the comments on Vital Radiance, you’d see you have the making of a customer evangelist situation.  And by sticking your head in the sand, you’re losing customers big time - women who swear never to use another Revlon product.

Hellllloooooooooooo... anyone out there?

Comments

[Patrick Sullivan Jr.]

Judging by the amount of comments after 9 days, I'd guess the answer is no.

[Jeff]

hello

I am a South African entrepeneur in the pre-launch phase of a new business. Like everywhere else in the world we have a lot of successful women. In fact with te legislation in SA that favours the appointment of women to executive positions and in the tendering processes we are likely to become equal a hell of a lot quicker than anywhere else in the world.

I wolud like to sell to these women. I would like them to become customers, evangelists and pioneers in my business. I wolud appreciate any advise you can offer in this regard.

[Peggy]

I'm only 40, but I have to say that I don't particularly care for advertising that solely targets my age. Women in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond are not a monolithic group. Sometimes I want high quality sophisticated cosmetics that are appropriate in the corporate world. Sometimes I want "fun" cosmetics for a night on the town with a bit of sparkle. Sometimes the most important aspect is waterproofness and sun protection. And sometimes I want something that minimizes crow's feet. The thing is, simply targeting "50+" doesn't tell you why I should buy the product. What are the benefits to me? I also want to feel young - suggesting that I buy the stuff for "older gals" isn't going to do the trick.

As I've gotten older, I have more discretionary income to pick and choose my make up. I prefer to buy by quality, which isn't necessarily equivalent to "fancy brand name." I also have been buying more L'Oreal, because they actively support women around the world, such as the UNESCO-L'Oreal science fellowships for women. I like to think my dollars go to companies that are making the world a better place.

[BJB]

Revlon also missed the boat in that these products were fabulous for those of us with Eczema and the severe dry skin that goes along with it. I am not in the age category that they were targeting, but I loved this foundation...and that's the first time I have felt that way about a product. I too wrote and told them I will not buy Revlon again

[Cookie123]

Sadly, E-Bay is the best respresentation of a missed opportunity by Revlon. There are tons of these selling for more than the drugstores sold it for. I am still going crazy that the nixed the Vital Radiance too. I loved their Vitan Radiance Primer. No one made a true primer like this. They make some awful lotion stuff, but nothing with a little bit of warm tint to it to warm up the foundation. It worked, and I mean, really worked.