Revlon - more than a branding Oops

Revlon is going through some major changes. What's also interesting is that its product line Vital Radiance, aimed at the baby boomers, will be discontinued due to poor sales despite $17 million spending over the last 3 months. Revlon said this was due to (a) their failure to leverage the Revlon name (b) organizational changes.

So, where did Revlon go wrong in terms of marketing? Scanning through the site, it seems to have great ingredients. For an ONLINE shopper, this may be an ideal destination. Colour matching (based on what I am already using), community, spoke models, makeup tips, product details, and much much more.

Sadly, the experience is not replicated in store. Imagine CVS and its shelves and shelves of products (most claim to be anti-aging in some way nowadays!). None of the "greate ingredients" listed above could be replicated in real life.

Like cooking, good ingredients do not necessarily mean good results. To truly understand shoppers behaviours...field observation.

Ah, a mobile Salon shopping trip!

Work Life Balance, again

Work life balance for women/career moms - old news? Looks like this is just the beginning in the Game industry.

News from the other planet

Revlon is going through some major changes. What's also interesting is that its product line Vital Radiance, aimed at the baby boomers, will be discontinued due to poor sales despite $17 million spending over the last 3 months. Revlon said this was due to (a) their failure to leverage the Revlon name (b) organizational changes.

So, where did Revlon go wrong in terms of marketing? Scanning through the site, it seems to have great ingredients. For an ONLINE shopper, this may be an ideal destination. Colour matching (based on what I am already using), community, spoke models, makeup tips, product details, and much much more.


Sadly, the experience is not replicated in store. Imagine CVS and its shelves and shelves of products (most claim to be anti-aging in some way nowadays!). None of the "greate ingredients" listed above could be replicated in real life.

Like cooking, good ingredients do not necessarily mean good results. To truly understand shoppers behaviours...field observation.

Ah, a mobile Salon shopping trip!

Women Talk About Leadership

Newsweek runs a great piece on women and leadership. In the wake of the Patricia Dunn disaster (what on earth is happening at HP?!?! the once proud company fabled for its good corporate citizenship has fallen on dark times), we needed that. I love Queen Latifah.

Yes, You Can Measure Those Head-On Ads

Finally, someone explains how - and when - advertising works. Must-read for marketers.

Broadsheet, or, is feminism alive?

Few topics provoke more polarized opinions than the role of feminism in the lives of women in 2006. In this strange post-post feminist world of hypersexualized preteens and padded bras for six-year-olds, Broadsheet is pink-hued (both metaphorical and literal!) feminist analysis of what's happening in pop-culture, politics and everything in between. Compiled by Salon's female contributors and including the unparalleled prose and opinions of Lynn Harris, who in my opinion writes more eloquently on what it is to be alive and female in 2006 than almost anyone else, it's a refreshing look at just how close we are at times to having our most basic rights and freedoms repealed in a society where many of us take female equality for granted.


Love it? Hate it? Is feminism a dirty word? Tell!

Katie Launches!

Katie Couric has been lauded and castigated ... but there is agreement on one thing. There's never been a primetime launch quite like her. I'm not a fan of the new news format and I think it has been appropriately castigated as news lite, but it also caters to an audience that is primarily getting its news now via the internet and needs context and depth versus an outlining of the headlines.

I hate that so much of the coverage has focused on her wardrobe and photoshopping. We ask for substance and then critique her for style? The ratings are good though ... do you think the ratings blip will last? Will the news format last? Are we setting up another female first for failure?

Raison D'Etre

Hello world! Welcome to ongoing, intelligent discussion on how women can have more impact on the products and services that companies market to them: how they are developed, refined and marketed. SWING is dedicated to closing the distance between female consumers and employees and the organizations they interact with by engaging both sides in meaningful, impactful conversation. So whether it's better washrooms on trains or more usable gadgets or why on earth skinny jeans are back, you'll find it here!

And we're off.