Avons Marketing Strategy Essay -- essays research papers

Avon’s mission statement is to be the company that best understands and satisfies the product service and self-fulfillment needs of women globally. They state on their web site that their dedication to supporting women touches not only beauty-but health, fitness, self-empowerment and financial independence. This is a good mission statement for a company selling beauty products to women all over the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Avon started selling beauty products door to door in 1886. For generations women have been purchasing Avon products from small catalogues through a representative calling on consumers in their homes. During the days when most women were at home rather than building their own careers this method of direct selling was appropriate. In 1979 Avon purchased Tiffany & Co Jewelers as well as a chemical maker and health-product company. By the year 1988 Avon was removing themselves from the health care industry. Their debt had reached $1.2 billion and stock prices had bottomed out. During 1989 Avon was the target of two take over attempts. The company was successful in warding off both bids. Avon launched their new web site in 1997. This was a turning point for the company as they were offering products directly to the customers thus cutting out the need for the representatives that they had spent decades relying on. Avon estimated that they had 500,000 sales representativ es in the United States alone. The sales results from this Internet site have not produced the gain the company had hoped for. In 1998 Avon set up mall kiosks around the United States. This was their first attempt at operating retail stores. This was a major departure in the way the company has done business in the past. The intention of the kiosks was to aim sales at younger consumers not already aware of the Avon brand. To help the relationships between Avon and its sales representatives these kiosks are now franchised to the representatives. Andrea Jung was named CEO of Avon in 1999. During the year 2000 Avon relaunched its web site emphasizing the availability of Avon representatives on line to help potential customers with their needs. At the same time Avon created a new product line to be carried by major retailers and sold only in stores.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Avon’s sales have increased but at a rate of only 5% per year during the past ten years ... ... telephone number that commission is earned and this is not a way to gather information for other purposes. Avon will want to make customers aware that they now have the opportunity to shop in the convenience of their own home, and one of the most inexpensive forms of advertising will surely be word-of-mouth. This will certainly be used if sales reps are confident that they will receive the amount of commissions they deserve. As a result, Avon will also want to implement a â€Å"first time user profile† that will allow customer’s who are registering for online purchases to indicate who has referred them to their sites, and provide an incentive such as commission if this person is a sales representative.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Avon will be able to measure its success by monitoring its sales and profit growth. The company will also want to evaluate the market share it owns in the online business in comparison to competitors. Should this online business fail to be profitable in the long run, the company may want to reevaluate its current target market and determine if the most users of their products do have access to computers and feel comfortable using this new method of shopping