DEMSEY GETS MAC’S HELM
Byline: Alev Aktar
NEW YORK — Estee Lauder Cos. acquired the last 30 percent of MAC in February, and on Thursday the company appointed a managing director to run the company.
John Demsey has been named to the newly created position of managing director for MAC. He was senior vice president, sales and education, Estee Lauder USA & Canada and Donna Karan Cosmetics Co.
Demsey will oversee product development, marketing, sales and distribution of the MAC brand. According to a release, he will have direct responsibility for North American markets, and will work with the Estee Lauder International marketing and affiliate structures in non-North American markets.
He will be based in Toronto and will assume his new duties on July 1.
Reached in New York, Demsey said that he was excited about “helping to further the expansion of the MAC trademark worldwide” and also about working “with a creative force like Frank Toskan and getting closer to the product.”
Toskan, a makeup artist, started MAC in 1985 with the late Frank Angelo.
Together they developed the creative marketing strategies that made MAC arguably the most influential makeup artist brand in the early Nineties.
The Franks, as they were called within the company, pioneered the “all ages, all sexes, all races” credo and hired makeup artists to work as beauty advisers.
Other unorthodox moves included signing cross-dresser RuPaul and singer k.d. Lang to star in MAC’s print campaigns and founding the MAC AIDS Fund.
Toskan, in particular, was responsible for developing the huge variety of shades and products and the matte lipsticks that were so unusual at the time.
According to a spokeswoman for Lauder, Toskan will continue as founding chairman and creative director of MAC, in charge of product development, advertising, promotion and store design.
While Toskan no longer has the title of president, Demsey was quick to point out that he has the same role within the company. “He is the mind, body and soul of MAC.”
Similarly, Toskan’s brother-in-law, Vic Casale, who formerly had the title of managing director, has been named senior vice president of operations and product supply. His duties have not changed, said Demsey.
Demsey joined the Estee Lauder Companies in 1991.
Prior to joining Lauder, he was vice president of sales for the specialty stores division for Revlon, responsible for Princess Marcella Borghese, Alexandra de Markoff and Lancaster cosmetics.
Demsey has also held executive positions with Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue.
MAC’s sales last year reached an estimated $300 million at retail, according to industry sources. Since its initial purchase in 1994, Lauder has been in charge of developing MAC’s overseas business.
Also on Thursday, The Estee Lauder Cos. announced that Janet Cook will succeed Demsey as senior vice president, sales and education, Estee Lauder USA & Canada and Donna Karan Cosmetics Company. She was senior vice president and general manager for Clinique International.
In her new post, she will be responsible for the management of relationships with retail customers and sales promotion and education efforts for both brands, according to a release.
Cook will report to Robin Burns, president and chief executive officer of Estee Lauder Inc. USA and Canada and Donna Karan Cosmetics Company. The appointment will become effective July 1.
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