A TITANIC COLOR TIE-IN FOR MAX FACTOR
Byline: Teena Hammond
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Procter & Gamble is trying to inject a little Hollywood glamour back into Max Factor via a partnership with Paramount Home Video.
The partnership ties into the Sept. 1 release of “Titanic” on home video, with Max Factor on that day launching six new lipstick shades and three new nail polish colors inspired by “Titanic.” The colors were developed by Tina Earnshaw, who received an Oscar nomination for her makeup work on the “Titanic” cast.
“We’re returning to our heritage; this is a brand about Hollywood,” said Marc Pritchard, vice president and general manager of P&G Cosmetics.
By investing in the partnership, Max Factor is going back to its roots, Pritchard said, since Max Factor, the grandfather of makeup artists, invented ‘flexible greasepaint’ in 1914, the first makeup ever designed for movies. “Max Factor actually invented the word ‘makeup,”‘ Pritchard said.
“This is the highest support we’ve ever put behind a Max Factor promotion,” Pritchard said, declining to release figures. However, he did admit “this is three times the size of any color promotion we’ve ever done for Max Factor.”
The “Titanic” tie-in will be advertised in consumer magazines, trade publications and ON TV as well as via direct-to-consumer sampling. Nine million brochures will be distributed door-to-door to 50 percent of Max Factor’s target audience of movie enthusiasts.
The brochure will feature the collection, the “Titanic” home video offer and a sample of Max Factor Lasting Performance Foundation. Consumers who purchase $10 worth of Max Factor cosmetics between September and December 1998 and a copy of “Titanic” on home video can then order by mail a free copy of James Cameron’s “Titanic,” a softcover book that retails in bookstores for $20, Pritchard said.
The new colors will retail for $6.70 for the Lasting Color Lipstick and $4.10 for the Diamond Hard Nail Enamel, the same as other colors in the full line. The colors for nails and three of the lipsticks are named Rebellious, Independent, Exhilarated and the three remaining lipsticks are named Passionate, Heartbroken and Liberated.
The products with the new palette will be sold at 24,000 mass market retail outlets in the U.S. and at 1,600 mass market retail outlets in Canada.
In addition, there will be 60,000 in-store displays — there are four different cardboard displays available — to showcase the lipstick and nail polish as well as existing coordinating colors of eye shadow, eye pencil and foundation. There will also be brochures with makeup tips attached to the displays. A new toll-free number, 1-800-MAX-FACTOR, will go on line Sept. 1 so that customers can call to get information on the “Titanic” promotion.
James Cameron, director of “Titanic,” was also on hand at the press conference. He said the video is expected to be one of the highest-grossing home videos of all time, with “Titanic” to date already grossing more than $581 million at the domestic box office.
Max Factor and Sprint, which also has a promotional tie-in to “Titanic,” will be able to take advantage of that emotional connection with their partnership with Paramount Home Video once the video is released, Cameron said.
