Avon : Building The World's Premier Company For Women - Hardcover

Avon has come a long way since founder David McConnell handed out his first perfume sample in 1886. The company, long famous for ringing customer doorbells and offering personalized in-home service, is now the world's largest direct sales organization—with almost five million representatives in more than 140 countries worldwide. This incredible industry giant has evolved into much more than just a revered cosmetics juggernaut. Its vast catalog now includes everything from vitamins and weight-control products to clothing and jewelry.

AVON: Building the World's Premier Company for Women offers an engaging firsthand look at how a small door-to-door bookselling business grew up to become one of the world's leading beauty companies. Weaving insightful anecdotes with exclusive interviews and unparalleled access to both past and present company executives, author Laura Klepacki reveals how Avon built a global empire—from Boston to Beijing—and shows how it manages to thrive in all economies, especially during the toughest of times.

Through this one-of-a-kind journey, you'll get a closer look at:

• How Avon changed the rules of the game by empowering women everywhere to start their own successful small businesses
• What the company does to reward top performers and keep them in the fold
• How Avon became an international sensation by addressing the needs and customs of women in dozens of countries around the world
• Why the company originally began its trademark approach of visiting customers in their homes
• How current CEO Andrea Jung reinvigorated the brand with new products, packaging, and ad campaigns to appeal to a new generation of customers and representatives
• How Avon develops leading-edge products, while offering them at low prices
• Innovative ways Avon uses technology to handle the two million daily online transactions and forty million customer orders it receives each year
• And much more

Page by intriguing page, you'll also discover how Avon has maintained and increased its market share through new product introductions, the use of technology, rewarding its best performers, appealing to different customers (including men and teens), and giving back with financial support for causes relating to domestic violence and breast cancer.

Insightful and entertaining, AVON: Building the World's Premier Company for Women provides an authorized, colorful, and well-rounded account of both the people and practices behind one of America's most respected and successful companies. It also shows how every business—big and small—can benefit from Avon's unique approach to sales and marketing.

"For 119 years, Avon has empowered countless women with every lipstick, powder, and face cream sold. It's wonderful to read about a brand that has made the world a prettier place in so many ways."
—Kerry Diamond, Harper's Bazaar Beauty Director and author of Kevyn Aucoin: A Beautiful Life

"By providing women with an unlimited opportunity for career success, Avon harnessed the power of a committed sales force to win customers and grow the business. The company's success story is testimony to the importance of focusing on your core business while recognizing the changes taking place with your customers and the environment. The heart of any successful business is its people and, as this book clearly demonstrates, reawakening its heritage and strength has truly propelled Avon into the future."
—Mary Sammons, President and CEO, Rite Aid Corporation

"This book does more than just chronicle Avon's successful rediscovery and refocusing of its core competency. It tells the story of what makes the company tick. The book is an excellent primer on how to successfully make alternative forms of distribution work. It's also a lesson in circumnavigating the treacherous waters all companies eventually face when it seems their core concept has become passé."
—Allen Burke, Director of Merchandising, QVC, Inc.

"What makes the Avon story so fascinating is that it has no denouement. The dramatic tale continues to evolve. The author's incisive revelations, in tracing the company's roller coaster ride, capture the extraordinary personalities and entrepreneurial strategies of one of America's most spellbinding success stories."
—Annette Green, President Emeritus, The Fragrance Foundation