Avon Calls on Foreign Markets Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Avon Calls on Foreign Markets - Case Study Example62). Avons marketing orientations For the US market, Avon has resorted to entry to door selling via saleswo men who have been marketing the products via the word of mouth and establishing personal contacts with the customers and tapping a huge customer base. Globally Avon had resorted to country specialised marketing, such as designation some of its products in the local language, when taking over a local company with a goodwill Avon kept certain names unchanged. For Asian regions, as customers tend to but products which are foreign, Avon kept their foreign names and prints instructions in the local language. It has also gone forward with the Hello Tomorrow contract to signify a brand which is looking towards the future and also associated with breast cancer awareness (Daniels, Radebaugh, Sullivan, 2010, pp 622-624). Avons foreign operations The predicted growth for the company in the U.S. was low, since it had no new place to spr ead within the country to create a market for cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances. The number of companies manufacturing these kinds of products in the US being large, Avon was facing goodish amount of competition. So Avon decided to expand its operations to other potential countries where it could register growth through increased sales. Also Avons lady representatives were the ones who interchange Avon products, tapped customers and registered orders. This was cost saving for the company as this system required smaller number of employees and helped Avon to maintain low prices, a good image and a eternal customer base. In the late 90s, when US women started working in multinational companies fulltime, Avon plunge it difficult to get saleswomen. When the US market dried up, Avon found new ground in countries like Brazil and Philippines, where the women are usually do not leave their home. There was sufficient number of saleswomen available to strike out to the desolate areas to sell Avon products. (Daniels, Radebaugh, Sullivan, 2010, pp 621,622) Socioeconomic and demographic changes affecting Avon Socioeconomic changes involve the way society views a product. Demographic changes include aging customers. both of these may affect the demand. From the socioeconomic point of view, a new type of conditioner may become important, whereas aging customers may want different age specific products according to their wants and needs. Accordingly Avon will have to come out with variants of the products and introduce new ones where necessary to maintain their customer base (Klepacki, 2005, pp 55, 56). Recession, a boom for Avon each company and industry is affected by a recession as so many international aspects are related. The fields where Avon may feel the snap are sales, suppliers and employees. Surprisingly when the recession hit in 2008 and the world felt the crisis deepening, the company recruited many saleswomen and men for their sales jobs. This happened because the recession led to massive layoffs, which in turn meant that more people were now available to do Avons door-to-door selling. Avon also took in male representatives, so as to allow men to be secure with a job, although it was traditionally reserved only for women (Daniels, Radebaugh, Sullivan, 2010, pp 622 Pauline, 2009). Avons Competitive Advantage Avon has a major competitive advantage over its competitors. It has an uneven reputation in the beauty products market. Its main competition area had been the direct sales area,