Essay On Sephora Direct - Discussion

1. As per Exhibit 5, Sephora’s current media spending provision allocates the highest spending for retail followed by online sales and the Beauty Insider Program. Given consumer response to Sephora’s campaigns on Facebook, Twitter and other social media, as well as the video on Youtube, Bornstein has two options – cut back allocation from the retail sales and add that allocation to the online campaign or cut back allocations to a small extent from both retail sales as well as the Beauty Insider Program and add that to the online campaign sales. The reason for this is the superior response to the social media campaigns that show great potential. 2. If she does get the budget increase that she is applying for, Bornstein should allocate a higher portion to online social media and related sales campaigns followed by the Beauty Insider Program and the last allocation should go to the retail aspect.
3. After the launch of its website in 1999, Sephora has had a very active internet presence. The company also took advantage of the rise of social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook and by 2008-2009 had a large number of interested customers communicating through this channel. The main reason for creating Beauty Talk was for certain customers to engage in beauty related conversation without giving away their identity. This was the reason that Bornstein and her team created this forum separate from the social media pages. Although, the page was created with a good intention, the page did not receive expected response and the company found it unwise to merge the page with Facebook. In hindsight, the choice to keep Beauty Talk separate may not have been the best approach since it cut into budgetary allocations of the online sales.
4. In order to stay ahead in a competitive market, Sephora must ensure that it uses its increased budgetary allocations to fund aggressive social media campaigns and combines the same with conventional marketing. The company must also focus aggressively on mobile phone sales through the development of apps since future sales in this space would also happen through mobile phones. In doing this, Sephora would enhance its competitiveness in all the marketing channels.
5. Both Bornstein and Suliteanu agree that conventional measurement methods would not be a good measurement tool. Instead, through its various campaigns, Sephora could gauge consumer perception about the company through short online surveys. These surveys would help the company to remain level-headed and sensitive to consumer needs, in short to strike the perfect balance between sales and the brand image. These surveys would give the company the necessary tools to measure the success of their campaigns, while also making new consumers aware of their brand. Additionally, the company could also consider upgrading their loyalty program to incorporate the views of regular users in shaping product type as well as the brand.
6. Sephora should focus on some of the following key goals: i) Building a strong brand image through all channels, namely conventional and online, ii) Connecting with customers in order to balance the image and sales so that the company should not resemble other sales oriented establishments, iii) Focus on acquiring newer clientele from different walks of life and regions, and iv) Increase the share of online marketing as compared to retail marketing.
7. The last two points in the goals tie in with the CEO’s desire to win in the online space. An increased mobile phone and online presence would help the company tap new clients in new areas or certain regions where the company has had no retail presence. Further, the overheads involved with running an online campaign are less than that of running a traditional store or a print campaign.