RUNNING HEAD: Sephora Public Relations Campaign
Kirsten Capuano
Dustin York
Sephora Public Relations Campaign
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RUNNING HEAD: Sephora Public Relations Campaign
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Table of Contents
3-6
I.
Situation Analysis
6
II.
Campaign Objective
III.
Strategies and Tactics
6-14
6-9
a. Summer Quick Beauty Tips event
10-13
b. Exclusive Sephora Makeover
14-15
c. True Beauty All Ages campaign
16
IV.
Calendar/Timetable
17
V.
Budget
18-19
VI.
Evaluation
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Product Situation:
Sephora is a nationwide beauty brand that provides a variety of emerging products
to its customers. Sephora sells everything from skincare, color, fragrance, body, hair care,
and their own private Sephora label. Dominique Mandonnaud founded Sephora in France
in 1970. Sephora is a nationwide brand that operates 1,300 stores in 27 different countries
worldwide. Sephora has about six locations surrounding the St. Louis area. Sephora
created the “Science of Sephora” to ensure that their employees are the most professional
and knowledgeable product consultants in the industry. This program was designed to
ensure the team at Sephora has a variety of skills that include: knowledge of skin
physiology, the history of make up, application techniques, the science of creating
fragrances, and the ability for employees to work with Sephora’s various customers. In
addition to Sephora stores, customers can also shop Sephora online. The site is the
biggest North American store in regards to sales and selection of products. Sephora has
recently expanded its stores inside of JC Penney. The first launch was in October 2006,
and was a complete success. These stores are smaller than the main Sephora stores, but
still carry a variety of products.
Sephora’s mission statement is as stated, “To become a world leader in perfume
and cosmetics. Today, Sephora is not only the leading chain of perfume and cosmetics
stores in France, it's also a powerful beauty presence in 24 other countries. In the United
States and Canada, there are over 280 Sephora stores and over 270 Sephora stores inside
JC Penney. Sephora continues to grow and strives to increase awareness and receive
more traffic in their stores.
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Competitive Situation:
Sephora’s biggest competitor is ULTA. ULTA is another beauty brand that offers
a variety of products including makeup, nails, skin, fragrance, men’s products, and even
offers a salon inside each store. ULTA has about six locations in the surrounding St.
Louis area and is a building located in shopping strips verses Sephora, which is always
located in a mall. ULTA has less expensive products available to its customers and is
more convenient for customers to shop at. Sephora sells pricey products and also has to
compete with all the individual brands sold in department stores which include: Clinique,
Lancôme, Origins, Estee Lauder, Chanel, and M.A.C. These are expensive brands as well
that carry quality products and are more conveniently located for customers. A passing
customer can easily walk by one of these brands on their way to the inside mall and see a
product of interest. Sephora offers an open-sell approach, which encourages customers to
sample all their products.
Environmental Factors:
One external factor affecting Sephora’s business is that all the stores are located
inside of a mall. All malls are located off a major highway; as a result Sephora is located
in congested areas that many people may not want to travel to. Sephora sells all of its
products online, which is convenient for customers, but not everyone is willing to pay
shipping and handling. Customers also like the open-sell approach where they are able to
sample a product and receive advice from a professional consultant if needed.
One internal factor is the price of the products. Customers may be reluctant to buy
more expensive products, even though they are higher quality. Quality over price must be
the mentality of the shopper at Sephora. Another internal factor may be the intimidation
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of Sephora’s massive product selection. Sephora seems like a classy store that you need
to know everything about before you walk into it. What customers need to understand is
the beauty consultants are there to help customers make selections and meet each
individual’s unique needs.
Target Audience:
Sephora’s main target market is women. It is hard to distinguish a particular age
group because of Sephora’s wide range of products. Sephora offers brands such as Too
Faced and Urban Decay that provide a variety of funky colors, glittery eye shadows and
fun sayings targeted toward women in their twenties. On the other hand Sephora offers
more mature brands such as Smashbox and Dior. These brands carry more neutral based
colors that appeal to older women. Sephora also sells multiple anti-aging products for
women that are older and have certain skin needs. Opinion leaders include famous people
that shop at Sephora. Katherine Heigl was seen leaving the store and was photographed
with a Sephora bag. When people see someone famous shopping at an affordable store it
make them want to shop there too.
If a particular age range must be distinguished for Sephora, it would be a woman
between the ages of 25 and 45. This woman is pretty well established in her life. She is a
woman that cares about the way she looks and has disposable income to spend on beauty
products. This woman shops for make up every two to three months when her current
amenities are running low. She spends about 50 dollars every trip to Sephora. She is
always looking for the latest styles and is a trendsetter. She may not always be a make up
expert and is not afraid to ask for help when she comes into the store. A woman that
inherits these qualities makes up Sephora’s main customer base.
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RUNNING HEAD: Sephora Public Relations Campaign
Strengths






Weaknesses
Well known beauty
brand
Offers a variety of
products
Provides an open-sell
environment
High quality products
Beauty consultants
readily available
Ability for customers
to get all products
online





Located in
congested
areas
Higher
priced
cosmetics
Store may
be
overwhelmi
ngly large to
customers
Too many
products to
choose from
Have men’s
products but
do not
advertise
them
Opportunities






Can expand to
more malls
Build a free
standing building
Offer a line of less
expensive products
Advertisements for
men’s products
Send out free
samples to get
people hooked on
better quality
products
Improving rewards
for beauty insider
members
Threats




Makeup brands in
department stores
ULTA-the main
competitor
Cheaper, readily
available products at
drug stores and
grocery stores
Inconveniently
located
Objective:
To reach out to the women in the St. Louis area in order to increase sales at Sephora
located at West County mall by 10 percent by August 1, 2014.
Strategy One:
Summer is two months away and it is Sephora’s goal to get women looking
fabulous even when the heat wave strikes. A large number of women do not feel
comfortable with the way they look and would like to improve their appearance. Make up
is one of the major changeable factors in the way women look. Sephora wants to allow
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women to bring out their inner beauty by feeling confident with their outer beauty.
Summer is the perfect time to make a change.
Sephora realizes that not every woman may feel confident with her make up skills
and wants to help change that. Sephora’s goal is to get women make up ready for their
dream vacation or that guy they have always wanted to talk to, but have lacked the
confidence to. In order to make a difference in women’s lives Sephora will be hosting a
Summer Beauty Quick Tips event. This event will be held at Sephora in West County
mall on April 24, 2014 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event will be huge. Sephora is
inviting all women to come join the fun and learn about current trending make up for the
summer. Each customer will receive a 15-minute one on one consultation with a
professional beauty consultant to ensure everyone who attends will leave feeling more
fabulous than when they first walked in. There will be a line of new summer products to
sample as well. Light refreshments and drinks will be served. Donations will be taken at
the door for Barnes Jewish Hospital to buy wigs for cancer patients. Sephora wants to
make as many women feel as beautiful as possible and is empowered to help young girls
who cannot make it to the store.
Tactic:
In order to get the word out for this event various advertising will be set into
place. Sephora will be sending out a newsletter two weeks before the event to all the
beauty insider cardholders. Sephora will place stuffers in customer’s shopping bags to
also promote the event. Sephora is looking to reach out to new customers as well.
Various social media posts will be sent out on Facebook and Twitter. Sephora will also
be advertising the event outside the store and around the mall. This will enable customers
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who normally do not shop at Sephora to get the opportunity to see advertisements for the
event. Sephora encourages women who attend the event to bring a friend who is currently
not a beauty insider cardholder. Both women will receive 40% off their entire in store
purchase during the event. This will aid in bringing in new customers to Sephora as well.
Mail Chimp newsletter: Following page
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Strategy Two:
Sephora wants to give three lucky women in the St. Louis area the opportunity to
start over. As women get older, they get busy with careers and children. Suddenly
clothes, make up, and the latest trends take a back seat. The top priorities in a woman’s
life become her children, husband and job. Instead of splurging on a new make up pallet,
women must buy items for the kids or groceries. Cardinal Nation is huge in St. Louis and
women of all ages attend the baseball games. Sephora wants to give three women a
complete hair and make up do over. At three upcoming Cardinal home games in May,
there will be a woman selected to win the Sephora makeover. Sephora will also be giving
each of these women a $500 gift card to spend at any Sephora store. This also allows
Sephora the chance to reach out to more women in the St. Louis area. This opportunity
will give these women a chance to re-invent themselves. Sephora strives to give back to
the community and help improve the lives of women in the efforts of this project and in
support of the home team.
Tactic:
Sephora plans to send out various social media posts on Facebook, Twitter and
Pinterest to ensure that baseball goers will find out about their chance to win this
exclusive Sephora makeover. Sephora has paired with the Cardinals and asked them to
shout out Tweets to promote this opportunity as well. Sephora hopes to help improve the
Cardinals tickets sales for the upcoming games in May. Sephora will also be placing a
stuffer in the St. Louis Business Journal one week before the event. One winner will be
chosen from the audience at each of three upcoming games. A Sephora employee will
chose a winner by seat number and announce them to the crowd. The winner will get to
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be on the big screen and claim the prize after the game. The winners will also be featured
on the website in a before and after photo shoot. Sephora hopes after this experience
these women will continue to use Sephora products and share their story with their
friends and family.
Pinterest Post:
Come to a Cardinals home game in
May and get the chance to win a
free Sephora makeover and a $500
Sephora gift card.
Sephora
Facebook Post:
RUNNING HEAD: Sephora Public Relations Campaign
Want the chance to re-invent yourself? Attend a Cardinals
home game in May and get the chance to win a free
exclusive Sephora makeover and a $500 Sephora gift card.
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RUNNING HEAD: Sephora Public Relations Campaign
Twitter Post:
All you ladies…Come to a home game in May and get the
chance to win a free Sephora makeover! Go to @Sephora
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Strategy Three:
Families are very important to everyone. They encourage and empower us, but
most of all they make up a support system that we bond with for life. Some families are
closer than others and members bond together in different ways. Family members do not
always agree on the same subjects. A mother and daughter can find it hard to bond and
relate to something that both of them love and can enjoy together.
A family of four women consists of four completely different personalities and
interests, in addition to many conflicting ideals. These four women range from age 23 to
63. They all love each other but find it hard to bond because of their diverse personalities.
There is one brand that unites this family, a brand that they all love, and that they all use
daily. That brand is Sephora. These four women live and breathe Sephora. They give
each other presents and gift cards from the store every Christmas and share the latest
products. A single brand can unite a family and bring them closer together.
Tactic:
Sephora plans to create a true beauty campaign to promote the company as
suitable for all ages and also free of Photoshop. Sephora will take a step in a new
direction, which is raw, true beauty. The advertisement will be hung outside of the store
and on the homepage of the website. The advertisement will include the family of four
women who volunteered for the true beauty campaign. The advertisement will embody
the power and diversity of Sephora’s products for women of all ages. The campaign will
read: True Beauty for All Ages. Sephora is taking the step to use real women because
they are more relatable to customers.
RUNNING HEAD: Sephora Public Relations Campaign
True Beauty Campaign:
Debra
Age 62
Janine
Age 36
True Beauty All Ages
Corinne
Age 26
Kirsten
Age 23
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Time Table of Events:
Quick Beauty Tips Event
 April 11th-Mail Chimp newsletters are sent out to Beauty Insider cardholders.

Begin placing brochures for the event in customer’s bags.

Advertisements are set up around the mall.

Social media posts are sent out.
 April 14th-24th-Social media posts continue for the Summer Quick Beauty Tips
event.
 April 25th- Quick Beauty Tips event is held at Sephora from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Exclusive Sephora Makeover
 April 12-May 1st- Social media posts are sent out on Pinterest, Facebook, and
Twitter to promote the free Sephora makeover at the Cardinals games.
 April 21st- Stuffer is send out in the St. Louis Business Journal.
 Month of May- Three home games are chosen for the winners of the Sephora
makeover.
True Beauty Campaign
 June 2nd- Photo shoot with four volunteers for the True Beauty All Ages
advertisement.
 June 10th- True Beauty All Ages advertisement is set up in the front of Sephora
in West County mall and on the website homepage.
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Budget:
Quick Beauty Tips Event: The location and staff for the event will be free for Sephora.
It is being held during normal business hours and Sephora is calling all staff to help while
making their usual pay. Sephora must provide food and drink for the customers, which
has a 500 dollar budget. The newsletter being sent out is through Mail Chimp, which is
free. The social media posts are free advertising for the event as well. Printing for 3,000
shopping stuffers is approximately 50 dollars. Fifteen large advertisements around the
mall will be approximately 300 dollars.
True Beauty Advertisement: Sephora must pay a photographer to shoot the
advertisement. There will be a 300 dollar budget for the photographer to shoot for an
hour. The advertisement must then be blown up to hang in the store, which will be
approximately 200 dollars. A copy of the photo will be on the homepage of the Sephora
website. The women in the advertisement are volunteers that wanted to be a part of the
campaign; as a result no models must to be paid.
Sephora Makeover: The budget for the winners of the Sephora gift cards is 1500 dollars
for the three gift cards. There is a 500 dollar fee for the winners cut and color. A 300
dollar budget for the photographer shooting the before and after photos on the website.
A stuffer will be placed in the St. Louis Business Journal a week May 1st.. The budget for
the stuffers is 500 dollars. The social media posts are free advertising, and Sephora is
partnering with the Cardinals to put out their posts as well. There is a $50 budget for the
gift card of those who take the online survey for the Summer Quick Beauty Tips event.
The budget totals 4,100 dollars with a contingency for an additional 500 dollars for
unexpected costs.
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Evaluation:
Google Analytics will be used to track the activity of the Sephora website. After
each event has been completed, Google Analytics will be used to measure website traffic.
It will be used to evaluate Internet sales performance before and after the three events.
Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter will also be analyzed using Google Analytics to evaluate
an increase in different areas on these websites such as traffic, re-tweets, likes,
comments, and re-posts.
A survey will be given out at the end of the Summer Quick Beauty Tips event.
The survey will be online. As an incentive, customers who go online and take the survey
will be entered to win a 50 dollar Sephora gift card. This survey will analyze what
customers did and did not like about the event and if they would come to the next
Sephora event. The feedback will ensure customer satisfaction and an increase in
returning customers.
As an example for a needed adjustment, half way through the Summer Quick
Beauty Tips, key team members will briefly meet to evaluate the results of the morning
session. If objectives appear to be running subpar, a plan will be set into action to bring in
more customers. Extra brochures will be printed beforehand, and staff members will be
sent out to distribute them to customers around the mall.
Sales performance data will be used to evaluate in store sales performance during
the same period in 2013. Sales will also be tracked for this year before and after the
events for the months of May, June, and July. A spike in sales will assist in evaluating
other promotions or to repeat the same tactics. A decrease will call for a different type of
campaign or tactic to increase sales.
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