Aroma Legend -- Building a World-Class Direct Selling Company

Author: Laura Karpman
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Preface by Jeanne Kirkland, Chairman and CEO of Avon. For 119 years, Avon has inspired countless women with its lipsticks, foundations, creams, and has made countless efforts to make the world a better place. Reading the biography of such a brand is incredibly enlightening. —Kerry Diamond, Beauty Director, Chop Shop Fashion
This book is not just a simple record of how Avon successfully discovered and re-focused its core business, but also deeply reveals the reasons behind its growth. From this book, we can see how Avon successfully adopted multiple distribution systems. Additionally, the core concept being severely impacted is a problem all companies face, and this book provides experience on how to avoid these "landmines." —Alan Burke, Marketing Director, QVC
In 1886, founder David McConnell distributed samples of perfume, and thus began Avon's long journey. This company, long known for its doorbell ringing and door-to-door sales, has now grown into the world's largest direct-selling organization, with nearly 5 million sales representatives in over 140 countries. Through exclusive interviews with former and current CEOs of the company, as well as access to a wealth of firsthand materials, the author reveals the arduous journey of how Avon transformed from a small book-selling company into a world-class beauty and cosmetics company. Under the author's vivid description, you can learn how Avon changed the "rules of the game" in the industry by encouraging women around the world to start their own businesses, how it perfected the "door-to-door sales" model, how it achieved true internationalization by catering to the needs and customs of women around the world, how it achieved product innovation and brand reinvention, and how it promoted charitable causes globally. This book is both insightful and entertaining, authoritatively, vividly, and thoroughly introducing the story behind Avon, a very successful and respected company. At the same time, any business, regardless of its size, can greatly benefit from Avon's unique sales and marketing methods.