Avon's ANEW Lash-Transforming Mascara: marketing analysis and strategy

Company Description

In business since 1886, Avon Products is one of the world's largest cosmetic companies with over $10 billion in revenue. Avon markets its products using a direct selling model. Through its 5.4 million independent Avon Sales Representatives the company is able to reach consumers in over 100 countries around the world. The company bills itself as "Avon, the company for women" and has stated a "dedication to supporting women, not only in beauty but in health, fitness, self-empowerment and financial independence." The company is also committed to maintaining positive community involvement including funding for breast cancer, domestic violence and disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

Product Analysis

The product selected is the ANEW Lash-Transforming Mascara + Serum. This product has passed rigorous testing and independent studies report up to 5 times the volume after 8 weeks of continual use twice a day. The packaging is simple but elegant, with dual end brush of gold container for mascara at one end and the serum in a white container at the other. The retail price is $20 but the company has offered it at an introductory price of $15. One of the current trends in makeup over the past several years has been the introduction of lash growing, thickening solutions for women who want fuller and longer lashes. There are a number of different competitors in the mascara business, in particular several focused on thickening and lengthening lashes. Among them are Rapid Lash, which claims that it "helps thicken the appearance of and improve the condition of your lashes and brows" in 4-6 weeks. This product has been promoted on a number of daytime talk shows. ActivLash is another competitor, retailing for $129 at the premium end of the market.

The packaging for ANEW Lash-Transforming Mascara + Serum is excellent, so no changes are recommended for that component of the product. The design is sleek, appealing and easy to carry in a purse. The name, however, is in need of improvement. The name is cumbersome and can be difficult to remember. Much of the name is descriptor. The core brand for the product is "ANEW," which while descriptive of the product's benefits is fairly nondescript and lacks punch. The name should be modified or replaced to improve the strength of the brand.

Price Analysis

Avon has adopted a cost leadership pricing strategy. While the products are of comparable high quality to those of premium brands such as L'Oreal or Vichy, they are sold at lower prices, meaning as such that they are more easily accessible to consumers. In order to execute this strategy, Avon utilizes a combination of efficient management and the representatives as distribution channel, which reduces organizational costs. The representatives bear some of the costs associated with bringing the products to the consumer, so in doing so act as de facto retailer. Avon only faces costs associated with production and distribution to the representatives, and the price at which it sells to its representatives, along with the recommended catalogue price, is based on these production and distribution costs. As such, Avon offers a high level of value and attempts to leverage this enhanced value proposition to increase its market share.

Promotion Analysis

The promotional message for ANEW focuses on the product's benefits. The primary differentiator of the mascara is the use of a serum and nutrients that nurture and strengthen the lash at the root. Avon has taken this as the foundation of its communications strategy. It has created digital content and marketing materials and has distributed these materials through its traditional franchise channels. The result is that the mascara is being heavily promoted by franchisors both in face-to-face meetings with customers and online through their websites and blogs.

This communications strategy supports both offline or print and online communications as the unique value proposition of the mascara is clear, concise, and easily communicated. The use of social networks for the promoting of products can be achieved after trust is attained with the prospect, and for brands whose identities are well-known, social networks are easily used (Bernoff, Li, 2008). Avon's long history and strong brand recognition make it a perfect candidate for the use of social media based on this finding. The use of customer feedback sessions on the Avon website further supports the messaging and communications strategy that seeks to attract the customer to the mascara rather than pushing it on them through traditional heavy advertising and promotion.

It is understandable that the communications strategy and sales approach concentrates on social media. Younger women are using social networks and social media prevalently; in fact, they are the dominant demographic group globally using these networks (Bernoff, Li, 2008). Avon has not been able to successfully sell to younger women and is relying on social media as a means to connect and sell to them (Sullivan, 2010). What is interesting is how far Avon is taking their social media communications strategy. They have sponsored and sanction YouTube videos from customers speaking about the mascara, demonstrating how to apply it, and showing the value of the serum. They are in effect working to create customer evangelists.

The communications program at the company-wide level should also include a greater emphasis on publicity. Competitors often take their marketing campaigns to talk shows -- competitor Rapid Lash has had success with this strategy. By doing this, Avon can increase the amount of publicity the product receives. In addition, the company itself receives publicity, which is essentially given the lack of in-store presence. While Avon's a household name, the company needs to consistently reinforce its message and publicity through traditional media outlets is a strong way to achieve this goal.

Overall Marketing Strategy

The company's overall marketing strategy is strong, but may be losing appeal to younger consumers. The company's traditional approach has served it well, and in terms of sheer numbers Avon has the sales force to market this new product effectively. While the representatives conduct the bulk of the marketing activity, Avon has the ability to promote the product as well. Three key areas of initiative are essential to this product's success. The first is to advertise the product. This has not traditionally been a strong component of Avon's marketing strategy because consumers attracted by an advertisement may not have been able to contact a representative. However, that is no longer the case, as consumers can easily conduct a representative through the company's website. By acting as a conduit for new customers, Avon not only helps its representatives to grow their businesses, but it grows its own business as well. The second element of the strategy is the use of publicity. This tactic has been adopted by Avon's competitors, and the company should introduce this tactic as well in order to match its competitors in terms of influential brand exposure. 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 ANEW product and the Avon brand immensely. That Avon two of three out of the recommended channels have little cost associated with them should encourage Avon to increase the level of marketing integration.

The present level of integration leaves too much to chance. While this is often positive -- representatives are as creative if not more creative that the company as a whole with their marketing initiatives -- there are drawbacks in that the entire effort is uncoordinated. Avon can easily open communication lines between representatives and between itself and the representatives to better coordinate company-wide marketing, publicity and promotion initiatives with the initiatives instigated by the Avon representatives.

Recommendation and Implementation

It is recommended that Avon pursue advertising and publicity to help build brand exposure and to initiate a social media program in order to increase its marketing reach at a low cost. The implementation of these plans should include more money to the marketing budget to support these initiatives. Of equal importance is the recommendation to increase the level of coordination between the company and the representatives. The company should develop sophisticated training programs that include best practices for gaining publicity and for the use of social media and other electronic means of promotion. The company should also focus on a "pull" strategy that will bring in customers by attracting them to ANEW's value proposition as a low-priced but highly effective mascara. The product's benefits should be actively promoted with consistent talking points that the company utilizes in its communications and that the representatives reinforce in their communications as well.

Works 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