EXCLUSIVE: Max Factor Taps Priyanka Chopra Jonas for Ambassador Role
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Cover Girl and Rimmel London one week, Max Factor the next: Coty Inc. is hitting the refresh button on another beauty brand.
The cosmetics brand has tapped actor and producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas for the role of global ambassador and creative collaborator.
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“From makeup artists to people all over the globe, I know I’m in good company in sharing my excitement for Max Factor’s new product launches and I’m proud to be part of the brand’s next chapter,” Chopra Jonas said in an email to WWD.
The brand’s agreement with Jonas comes amid a whirlwind of celebrity deals: last week, Adwoa Aboah became Rimmel London’s brand activist, while Niki Taylor regained her “cover girl” status with the eponymous makeup brand last month.
Putting talent in front of brands is a key piece to modernizing the company’s consumer cosmetics portfolio, said Stefano Curti, chief brand officer of Coty. “Our intent is to inject the relevancy and modernity into the brand while retaining some of key success factors, like being the makeup of makeup artists,” he said.
“Priyanka [Chopra Jonas] is able to increase the general relevancy of the brand, which means increased penetration,” Curti continued. “She’s a global phenomenon with very big platforms.”
While Chopra Jonas will front campaigns, the brand is also evaluating other areas of the business she can bring her expertise to.
“She is getting involved at the language level, telling me what I should write down to the advertising,” Curti said. “Her passion is to make sure we get the language, the insight, and the connection right with women. It’s the first time we’re using the title ‘global ambassador’ alongside ‘creative collaborator.'”
Max Factor, which ceased distribution in the U.S. in 2009, was a part of Procter & Gamble’s burdened beauty portfolio, which was acquired by Coty — along with 40 other brands — in 2016. The pandemic has only stunted growth further. “Coronavirus is no help to anyone, and the brand has been challenged, but we want to take the brands out of the coronavirus situation, relaunch them and add modernity,” Curti said.
Curti’s plans for the brand don’t end with its new megawatt ambassadorship. “We’re looking at extensions of the brand in new territories,” he said. “You will see renewed displays and renewed e-commerce, which is the business that is growing the fastest,” he said.
The brand’s identity — professional-caliber products at accessible prices — resonates internationally, and Curti only hopes to foster enthusiasm in key markets. “Max Factor is distributed in over 60 countries, so it’s a very global brand, and is strongest in countries like the U.K., Europe, Latin America and even in India,” Curti said. “This is a legacy brand with very high awareness.”
For more from WWD.com, see:
Coty’s Jean-Denis Mariani Discusses Digital Transformation
Coty’s Andrew Stanleick on the Future of Cover Girl
Sue Nabi Wants to Make Coty the Place Everyone Wants to Work
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