#1 - Avon

“Ding-dong, Avon calling.” That was the line that caught the attention of millions of
homemakers. The glamor of Avon parties, door-to-door cosmetics at reasonable prices made
them a household name. They were reigning supreme. They offered the high fashion style
with the convenience of skipping the mall.

Now that convenience has become a bit of a burden. Online shopping has replaced the
doorbell ringing woman with the case of goodies. 

AVON is a brand with history and tradition, and by and large, both of these
are still perceived as positive. To continue reaping the benefits of this, the
logo should probably remain untouched. Instead, they should focus on
refreshing their other design – building a more responsive and interesting
website, sprucing up social media and creating an overall fresher identity.

In part, the challenges, encountered by this company, can be explained by the

inappropriate approach to branding. For a very long time, Avon has styled
itself as “housewife’s favorite” (Haig, 272).

Yet, the role and position of women in society have dramatically changed over
the last decade, and they no longer want to associate themselves with
housewives. This image is no longer appealing to them. Rochelle Brunson
and Marlene Reed also point out the fact that this firm usually targets women,
(usually, housewives) living in suburban areas, rather than “urban
trendsetters”, who can significantly increase the market share of this
corporation (Brunson & Reed, as cited in Fred. 26).

In sharp contrast, Avon’s key competitors like L’oreal or Max Factor try to
target women who are willing to be strong and independent. More than that,
Avon has never positioned itself as a luxury brand that aims to raise client’s
self-esteem. This is why many potential customers tend to disregard their
goods. Overall, branding is one of the key problems, which needs to be
addressed by the management.
Their current social media presence is very safe, which is to say kind of dry
and boring. They should move away from cliché imagery and instead focus
on posts and design that reflect their values and uniqueness. They could
take inspiration from Louis Vuitton, for example, which just jumped squarely
into the 'hip' section of fashion by choosing (male) model Jaden Smith to
model their women's wear collection.

In terms of social media, the most successful companies are always those
who pay attention not only to copy but also to consistency of design.
Implementing a social media style guide which determines color palettes
and style specification would create a more cohesive and effective
presence for AVON, which would immediately translate into a more
successful engagement strategy.

Avon is arguably the most experienced company that uses direct marketing
approach. It strongly relies on the so-called word-of-mouth advertising, which
means that a potential customer learns news about the product from
someone, who is closely familiar to him/her (Harris. 47). The development of
informational technologies has provided modern businesses to advertise their
goods and services at various social networks and forums, visited by a large
number of people.

Very often the visitors of such websites discuss various, including cosmetics
and perfumery. More than that, on the basis of such discussions, people often
make their purchasing decisions.

The thing is that consumers usually put more trust in word-of-mouth

advertisements, than in TV or radio commercials. This is why Avon should
advertise their cosmetics and perfumery at such forums and networks. This
will allow them to attract new customer and more importantly, spread the news
about their products in the quickest possible way.

The companies, which rely on multi-level marketing, often cannot accurately

estimate the demand for their products. Avon manufacturers a great variety of
cosmetics and perfume, but the management of this company does not know
which products will enjoy popularity among the customers in the near future.
One should bear in mind that this enterprise has a very short selling cycle; in
fact they start a new marketing campaign every three weeks. As a result, their
factories often have to break their manufacturing schedules in order to switch
from one product to another (Cohen & Rossel, 92).

The problem is that such interruptions often lead to great expenses and
delays. This inability to predict the sales volumes increases the amount of
unsold merchandise (Cohen & Rossel, 92). This underdeveloped supply chain
immensely hinders operational and financial performance of Avon Products,
Inc.

We need to take into account that the companies, which operate at

international level, must develop methods of reducing shipment expenditures,

This is one of the key obstacles, which need to be overcome.