• Direct, Thursday, January 15, 2009 11:01 AM

The Mary Kay cosmetics company tied with Maybelline for first place in the mass merchandiser/cosmetics category in Brand Keys' 2008 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index -- testimony to CMO Rhonda Shasteen's three years of work to "rebirth" the brand. Founder Mary Kay died in 2001.

The company has reached out the younger women, writes Beth Negus Viveiros, creating a robust online experience both for its customers and for its more than two million beauty consultants around the world, including 600,000 in the U.S. "I definitely have a dual sales platform," says Shasteen. All sales must go through the consultants; the company doesn't sell directly to end users.

Last fall, the company added a virtual makeover function to MaryKay.com "to give women a value-added experience," Shasteen says. Users who upload their photos for makeovers can send the before-and-after pictures to friends for advice. This year it is first building a social network for the sales force; then one for consumers. It has also run TV spots for the first time since 1982.

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