Rafkin and his team worked with MAC Cosmetics over a four year period, conducting a wide range of brand insight, strategy, customer journey, merchandising, innovation, and licensing projects in the US, Canada, Russia, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and the UK.
Rafkin was instrumental in developing MAC’s global brand strategy and evangelizing its inclusive vision of “all ages, all races, all genders.”
His work for Estée Lauder’s #1 brand has included ‘glocalization’ of marketing and messaging in Russia and Canada, determining MAC brand ‘stretch’ for international licensing opportunities, targeting strategies for ethnic minorities, assessment of potential company acquisitions, and optimization of the in-store customer experience.
Rafkin has interviewed Russian “Beauty Junkies” in their Moscow apartments, shopped with “Cosmetic Novices” in London and Toronto, and moderated roundtable sessions with makeup artists and department store salespeople in Miami and New York City. His projects for MAC and other Estée Lauder brands like Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Smashbox, and Tom Ford have helped Rafkin become recognized as a beauty industry branding expert.
