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

Avon Calls on Foreign Markets - Case Study Example 62). Avon’s marketing orientations For the US market, Avon has resorted to door to door selling via saleswomen 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 specific marketing, such as naming 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 campaign to signify a brand which is looking towards the future and also associated with breast cancer awareness (Daniels, Radebaugh, Sullivan, 2010, pp 622-624). Avon’s foreign operations The predicted growth for the company in the U.S. was low, since it had no new place to spread within the country to create a market for co smetics, toiletries and fragrances. The number of companies manufacturing these kinds of products in the US being large, Avon was facing considerable amount of competition. So Avon decided to expand its operations to other potential countries where it could register growth through increased sales. Also Avon’s lady representatives were the ones who sold 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 constant customer base. In the late 90’s, when US women started working in multinational companies fulltime, Avon found 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 reach out to the desolate areas to sell Avon products. (Daniels, Radebau gh, 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 Every company and industry is affected by a recession as so many international aspects are related. The fields where Avon may feel the pinch 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 lay offs, which in turn meant that more people were now available to do Avon’s 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). Avon’s Competitive Advantage Avon has a major competitive advantage over its competitors. It has an unparallel reputation in the beauty products market. Its main competition area had been the direct sales area,

Surprising reversal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Surprising reversal - Essay Example However, the truth is that I did have to work and the benefits were not great. The worst part was the aftermath of the soldier coming home. Military men and women have to do a lot of training before they go off to war. Sometimes, it can last 45 days and they are not allowed to come home or have any phone communications. Needless to say, they did manage to make calls here and there when they could. After they would come home from training of 45 days, they would not get time off since they still had to go to work like normal. They would do this every two to three months before they had to go. Being an army wife is like being a single parent because your spouse is seldom there. Unfortunately, the lower the soldiers rank, the lower the pay. So, the wife still has to work, and daycare is out of the question. Kids cannot stay home alone, so what do you do? You try to meet as many good people as possible to help watching the children so that the bills still get paid. There was a time where I had to hold down two jobs and still had to come home to take care of my children. When living on or near a military insulation, the insurance requires that their doctors see you first, and if a specialist is needed, then another doctor would be provided. Personally, I feel that military doctors are qualified to treat their patients, but because they are in military they have that hardcore military mind frame with which they do not misdiagnose the problem but underestimate the issue. For instance, I was told twice by military doctors that I was not pregnant. After a month of still feeling uncomfortable, I decided to see a â€Å"real doctor† and the results were positive but too late. Because the urine sample was not read properly and my baby stayed in my tubes so long, she was diagnosed with a severe heart defect and died 7 months later. Imagine a family that is always separated for long time periods with little phone communication. On special occasions, they would call and all you could hear were bombs going off in the background. That could be the most terrifying sound for anyone. The common wife would get off the phone, go to their children, and sit down and cry. Military wives are a little different. They will get off the phone and go tuck their children in bed with a smile to show that everything is okay. Do not get me wrong. There is always that thought in the back of their minds that something may go wrong, but they do not show it. All military wives are not the same. Some have other agendas. At my time, with their spouse gone, all that some army wives wanted to do was just party and hangout. Meanwhile, soldiers were getting half of the information about what was going on at their homes. Someone would throw a party on base and the commander would only give the first three letter of the last name and it would get the soldier roused up. About two days later, the full name would get revealed but by that time it would be too late. The soldier would have already called home making treats and putting his marriage on the line. It is hard on both the soldier and the wife, but it is even worst for the kids. On one hand, you have the soldier who is out there in the dessert fighting a war hoping everything goes good on patrol and still worrying about what is going on at home. On the other hand you have the wife who is worrying about the kids, work, and the spouse. Oh yeah! And the media does not help at all. They always want the story about