AVON Products Case Study
AVON PODUCT CASE STUDY
Avon Products Inc. is a global company specialize in the production of women consumer products. Founded by David H. McConnell 122-year ago, Avon Product started with the distribution of sample perfume, and based on the success David H. McConnell realized from the sales of perfume, David H. McConnell concentrated on the sales of diverse women consumer products. Presently, the company has grown to become a leader in direct selling of fragrances, cosmetics and skin care products. At the end of the fiscal year 2005, Avon Product total worth was more than $8 billions. Between 2000 and 2004, Avon Products recorded 10% cumulative annual growth rate (CAG) in operating profits and 25% cumulative growth rate in revenue. While Avon Product operates in the United States and in other several countries, 70% of the company revenues are earned outside the United States. Measuring Avon Product with…...
mlaReferences
Annual Report (2010). Empowering women for 125 Years. Avon Product Inc.USA.
Ballantyne, R. & Hughes, K. (2007).Using front-end and formative evaluation to design and test persuasive bird feeding warning signs. Tourism Management. 27(2):235-246.
Effron, M. (2009). Avon Products, Inc. John Wiley & Sons.UK.
Trochim, W. & Donnelly (2007). The Research Methods Knowledge Base, (3rd Edition). Atomic Dog Publishing.USA.
AVON Product Case Study Analysis
Avon Products Case Study Analysis
Avon Products was founded in 1886 by David H. McConnell, a door-to-door book salesman who had a knack for making perfume. As the company grew, it took on a regional approach to business and was one of the first pyramid-styled businesses, allowing agents the ability to maximize their success within the company. Up until 2005, the company was growing and very healthy. It was an $8 billion dollar public company and had been globally active for some time. In fact, 70% of the company's profits were obtained outside of the United States.
As with any fast-growing company, a problem emerged for the company, in 2006. This problem prompted the attention of the directors when the revenues of the company began flattening and operating profits started declining. These declines prompted an investigation into what could possibly be the causes, and the discoveries revealed some…...
mlaWorks Cited
Barker, Vincent & Duhaime, Irene (1998). Strategic Change in the Turnaround Process: Theory and Empirical Evidence. Strategic Management Journal, 18(1); 13-38.
Brown, Shona & Eisenhardt, Kathleen (1997). The Art of Continuous Change: Linking Complexity Theory and Time-paced Evolution in Relentlessly Shifting Organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(1); 1-34.
Donaldson, Gordon (1994). Corporate Restructuring: Managing the Change Process from Within, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Guha S, Grover V, Kettinger W, Teng J (1997). Business process change and organizational performance: exploring an antecedent model. Journal of Management Information Systems, 14(1); 119-154.
Andrea Jung's Makeover Of Avon Products
usiness CASE STUDY
ANDREA JUNG'S MAKEOVER OF AVON PRODUCTS, INC.
Avon is a well-known and well-established company that has struggled to maintain financial health over the past decade. Under new leadership, a turn-around has begun. An in-depth industry analysis identifies several internal and external considerations for the company, such as the effects of globalization, the benefits of technology, the strength of the existing direct-sales model, brand recognition and business-process efficiencies.
Financially Avon is in good shape, and the financial health of the company continues to improve over time. Avon is performing well in the areas of liquidity, profitability, debt and returns. Interest coverage has declined due to financing of growth through debt, but this situation will improve with time, although further expansion in the short-term through debt is not recommended.
Key strategies include staying the course with the current restructuring plan, pursuing new markets globally and demographically (with an…...
mlaBibliography
Hax, Arnoldo and Dean Wilde. The Delta Model - Discovering New Sources of Profitability in a Networked Economy. European Management Journal, Vol. 9, No. 4, 2001, pages 379-391.
Hill, Charles and Gareth Jones. Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach, 5th Edition, Case Study Analysis. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072443715/student_view0/
The ability to create a makeup palate that is suited to the consumer's specific beauty needs, to create a unique image of beauty that is healthy and an enhancement of one's natural beauty should be the focus of a redesigned Avon site.
Conclusion
Avon is a classic product in the United States -- someone in 'your' family may have sold Avon, long ago. Although door-to-door sales is no longer lucrative, and unlikely to be accepted in China for higher-end goods, selling the midpriced Avon in Chinese department stores is an ideal way to create a humanized brand image for Avon and to capitalize upon the mania for customization and goods tailored to 'your needs.' This is one way to use American individualism yet give it a Chinese spin by stressing the need for make up to suit one's skin tone and enhance but not alter one's appearance. The company website for…...
mlaWorks Cited
Avon brands. (2009). Avon. Website. Retrieved August 15, 2009 at
Avon Calls Foreign Markets." Question: Why Avon dependent foreign operations home (U.S.) operations? Please provide a couple reasons relate case.
Avon Calls on Foreign Markets
Avon is one of the oldest and largest cosmetics manufacturing and retailing organization. The company has penetrated the industry through a specific model of direct sales through Avon consultants and representatives. The Avon products are as such not available in traditional stores and can only be accessed directly from company representatives. Aside from the retailing model, this feature is also important as it added a business dimension to the company. Namely, women across the country became Avon representatives and strived to promote and sell the items for their own gain.
Today, Avon makes intense efforts to increase its presence within the global community and to become more competitive internationally. In this setting, a question is being posed relative to the reasons which promoted Avon to rely less…...
mlaReferences:
Avon Calls on Foreign Markets case study
AVON -- Foreign Markets
The marketing strategies that the reading assignment offers include Avon's style of selling -- which is direct sales door-to-door -- and the women who sell door-to-door actually go back to the home where they sold and deliver the products. Another strategy is to sell using the Internet (personal web pages), and selling to friends, colleagues and family (Chapter 16, p. 622). Also, using universities in China, Japan, Australia and Thailand to be part of the development of new products is highly relevant to Avon's global initiatives. Keeping original product names is a wise move for Avon; though they bought Justine in South Africa, they kept "Justine" as the brand (623). Running short campaigns is also smart marketing, because prices can be quickly adjusted based on how inflation is eating into consumers' pocketbooks (623). Using billboards and media advertising is what many companies do, is a wise move…...
mlaWorks Cited
Chapter 16 -- Marketing Globally.
Forbes. (2012). Caught Without Makeup? Investors Figure Avon, Looking Ugly Just Now,
Will Get Back to Pretty. Retrieved January 5, 2015, from http://www.Forbes.com .
Ho, D. (2011). Avon -- Fallen Beauty? Forbes. Retrieved January 5, 20154, from http://www.forbes.com.
AVON Case Study
Overview of Avon
Situation Leading Avon towards Change
Model for Change Theory in Avon
Types of Evaluation Information and Benefits to the Avon
Success of Change in Next Five Years
Avon is found to experience different issues causing changes in its brand and product lines. It reflected the positive net sales and earnings growth for past five years in single, which were observed to be declining every year afterwards. There are specific challenging areas, which are stagnated sales, slow earnings growth, limited distribution capabilities, and shift in personal care preferences along with the spending habits. The considered organization did not have a transparent strategic vision and the employees had no sense of organizational purpose and motivation in the absence of the vision for the organization due to which the image of the Avon became the failure.
Situation Leading Avon towards Change
Many consumers responded that products of Avon are found to be boring, along with…...
mlaGoldsmith, M., & Carter, L. (2010). Best practices in talent management: How the world's leading corporations manage, develop, and retain top talent. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Miller, K. (2009). Organizational communication: approaches and processes. Cengage Learning.
Rowland, D., & Higgs, M. (2009). Sustaining Change: Leadership That Works. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
AVON Case Study
Avon Inc., a 115-year-old company, which manufactures and markets beauty and beauty related products, is known to have built its success globally through direct sales. In fact, Avon's strength has always been the "Avon lady," a nation wide force of women sales representatives trained in the art of customer relationship building. Recently, however, Avon's sales have seen a dramatic drop that has largely been attributed to the company's failure to keep pace with the Internet revolution. Indeed, the realization that the World Wide Web has redefined direct selling has led the company into formulating plans to harness the power of the Internet to improve its sales, customer relationships, and operational efficiencies.
It is widely recognized that the Internet has the power to substantially increase a company's market reach and supply chain efficiencies. In fact, in a day and age when online services and shopping are proving a boon to…...
The company's foundes and senio manages howeve feaed this would make the company less agile and able to espond to maket equiements (Gammenou, 2009).
Demogaphic Analysis
Thee have been many socioeconomic and demogaphic changes that have affected Avon's business model in the last two decades. The geatest socioeconomic foce affecting them today is the need fo many women to wok full-time jobs to contibute to thei household's income. This has dastically changed the company's distibution model as thee ae fewe women to wok as pat of thei sales foce. The shift in socioeconomic status is also one that has made competition with stoes even moe focused and aggessive, as etailes have the advantage of being moe of a poduct aggegato than poduct develope. Thei distibution model is shifting significantly as a esult.
Inceasing the ugency of the decision was the fact that demogaphic makets wee changing apidly, as wee the pefeences and…...
mlareferences for cosmetics were changing too. Younger, more educated Gen Y women wanted environmentally responsible or "green" cosmetics, as sustainability is very important to them as a value (Prior, 2010). The development requirements in this market of Gen Y consumers however is significantly different than the major cash source of the company today, which according to the case study are women from the Gen X and Baby Boomer generations (Grammenou, 2009). What Avon has had to do is concentrate on how to create effective marketing programs for each of these divergent markets while at the same time attempting to standardize on product components to streamline their supply chains (Tozzi, 2010). Of all factors that the case alludes to, this dynamics is what makes their supply chain operations the most difficult to manage over time. The company has created a very strong word-of-mouth campaign and has an exceptional level of trust in the industry for its products. Attempting to chase
Avon has both word-of-mouth and trust on its side as a provider of cosmetics, beauty and health aids. Their distribution strategy is one of the aspects that make their unique value proposition all the more effective as well, as it reinforces trust with face-time between their representatives and customers. The Avon model and competitive strength is all predicated on buying from someone you know and trust.
Supply Chain Implications for Avon
In advising Avon with regard to their supply chain strategy, the most important aspect of their planning must focus on creating green- and environmentally friendly products that are consistent with the values of their new primary market, which are women in the 30s to late 40s (Prior, 2010). The regenerative aspects of the products also need to be brought out more effectively and the supplier needs to be challenged for greater innovations in this area as well. The focus on…...
mlaReferences
Grammenou, E.. (2009, April). WHAT'S NEXT? For COSMECEUTICALS and NUTRICOSMETICS. Global Cosmetic Industry, 177(4), 38.
Hill, John S., & Still, Richard R. (1990). Organizing the Overseas Sales Force: How Multinationals Do it. The Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 10(2), 57.
Molly Prior. (2010, March). Avon Launches Environmental Effort. WWD, 199(57), 5.
J. Alex Tarquinio. (2004, September). Aging Gracefully at Avon;. Kiplinger's Personal Finance, 58(9), 49.
ecommendations: Sell the 5 HP unit under $4/unit, thus making up the largest margin per volume than with a higher price and an unlikely volume. Sales estimates of roughly $10.5 million would be generated, and allow for a great OI than pricing at a premium level, but dramatically cutting the number of units sold in the market. Further, pricing the 5 HP unit reasonably, there are greater inroads to the variable speed and larger speed units; the larger speed units requiring more time to sell and investment from the client.
Negatives- Despite the increase volume in annual sales that pricing at a lower fixed price for the 5HP model, and assuming that they make up 11% of the total volume of drives sold, we see a bit of diminishing return on the marginal costs at the levels of production Avon needs in order to adequately fund the new plant.
Overall - the…...
mlaREFERENCES
"Avon Company," Harvard Business School. Case Study 9-590-022, October 30, 1989.
AVON Case Study
Avon was founded in 1886 and has developed to become one of the oldest and largest producer and marketer of beauty-related products throughout the world. As part of enhancing its productivity and success, Avon has recently switched its marketing strategy to transform its image and enhance its marketing approaches. The company has combined national responsiveness with globally standardized marketing initiatives to push into foreign markets and increase its global operations. The firm focuses on standardized products with global brand and conveys its successful practices and organizational learning from one country to the next.
Marketing Orientations
Marketing orientation can be defined as a strategy that is utilized by a business or company to enhance its position in order to meet the needs of its customers. There are various marketing management orientations with varying mechanisms for creating, producing, and marketing products i.e. strategic marketing, selling, production, social marketing, and product orientations (oberts,…...
mlaReferences
Marcial, G. (2008, October 27). Marcial: Avon's Allure in Uncertain Times. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from
Eight Steps of Effective Marketing Communication: The New Product Called Orange Clean
Recognizing the Target Audience
Determining the Communication Objectives
Planning the Message
Choosing Communication Channels
Launching the Marketing Communications Financial plan
Creating and Handling the Marketing Communications Mix
Determine the communications' results
Administer the integrated marketing Communication procedure.
Orange Clean. The company's major activity is to produce and sell inorganic household cleaners. The company functions in three different sections: Inorganic ingedients, and Others natural and organic chemicals. Orange clean is made up of the Inorganic Chemicals agents such as real peeled oranges and other natural flavors. The Fertilisers section comprises of natural and organic chemicals that have raw scent. The Others section are made up of speciality ingredients, which are all natural.
Today Orange Clean has a new assessment of communications as a communicating dialogue among the company and its clienteles that takes place all through the pre-selling, consuming, selling, and post consuming phases. Up-and-coming corporations are requesting…...
mlaBibliography
Andreasen, A., 2008. Marketing social change: Changing behavior to promote health, social development, and the environment.. San Francisco, CA:: Jossey-Bass.
Anon., 2016. Creating a Stakeholder. [Online]
Available at: http://www.ors.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/148497/Creating_a_Stakeholders_Communications_Plan.pdf
[Accessed 26 February 2016].
Lastly, Avon should encourage its representatives to adopt social media and provide instruction on best practices for social media marketing. This will not only help the company to attract the youth market, but even older demographics are active in the social media realm. In addition, social media is almost free, and provides great exposure to the brand for the price.
Integrated Marketing Program
Avon's marketing program at present is only moderately integrated. The company leaves much of the marketing to its representatives in order to facilitate its pursuit of a cost leadership strategy. However, some company-wide initiatives would help to grow the brand and advances in technology -- primarily through the use of the company website as a conduit to guide new business to its representatives -- would support the ANE product and the Avon brand immensely. That Avon two of three out of the recommended channels have little cost associated…...
mlaWorks Cited:
Avon.com website, various pages. (2010). Retrieved June 9, 2010 from http://www.avon.com/
Bernoff, J. & Li, C. (2008). Harnessing the Power of the Oh-So-Social Web. MIT Sloan Management Review Vol. 49 (3) 36-42.
Camerius, J. & Clinton, J. (1993). AVON Products, INC.: Developing a Global Perspective. Direct Selling Education Foundation. Retrieved June 9, 2010 from http://www.dsef.org/press/pdfs/avon_products.pdf
Klepacki, L. (2005) Avon: building the world's premier company for women. John Wiley and Sons.
International Business
The international company to be featured in this paper is Avon International. Avon is a cosmetics company located in about seventy-five countries in five geographical locations: Latin America, North America, Central, Eastern and estern Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. In addition to cosmetics (fragrances, skin care, personal care and color cosmetics), Avon also produces fashion items (fashion jewelry, watches, apparel, footwear, accessories and children's products) and products for the home (gift and decorative products, house wares, entertainment and leisure products and nutritional produces) (Forbes, 2014).
Avon was founded in 1886 in the United States and has 36,700 employees; Avon has annual sales of around $9.98 billion and is ranked #70 in Forbes' list of "orld's Most Powerful Brands" (Forbes, 2014).
The company is unique in that it doesn't generally sell its products in department stores or other retail venues. It hires women to go door-to-door and use direct…...
mlaWorks Cited
Avon. (2013). Code of Conduct / Avon South Africa / Avon Products. Retrieved January 11, 2015, from http://www.avoncompany.com .
ENSafrica. (2013). General corporate information for foreign clients: establishing a business
In South Africa. Retrieved January 11, 2015, from http://mandarin.ensafrica.com .
Harris, D. (2014). China Law For Foreign Companies Doing Business In China. It's Real.
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