Avon Adjusts Asia Sales For Different Cultures (Published 1979) (2024)

MANILA — The Avon lady, a familiar figure in America and Europe, is developing markets in Asia, traveling by pedicab in Hong Kong, by minibus in Manila and Kuala Lumpur, or by boat along Bangkok's klongs (canals).

The products she sells are often not the ones offered by her American or European counterparts. Many of the cosmetics in her bag have been reworked to suit Asian tastes. Nor does she go strictly door‐to‐door, for many Asians are wary of strangers.

Yet, according to Avon executives interviewed here, the Asian sales force has grown to about 100,000. Sales outside the United States, Europe and Latin America totaled $194 million of Avon's worldwide total of $1.18 billion in 1978.

Its care to accommodate itself to foreign tastes is probably the reason for the company's overseas success.

When Avon began sales in Japan 10 years ago, its executives soon found that Japanese men and women, though attentive to grooming, were easily offended by strong fragrances. Nelson Rogers, who worked in Japan before becoming marketing director in the Philippines, said most products were reformulated to soften the scent. At the same time, Avon increased the number of skin‐care products offered in the Japanese market.

A product line called “Perfect Balance,” which is offered in only four varieties in the American market —cleanser, freshener, moisturizer and night concentrate — has been expanded to eight different products for sale in Japan.

“The Japanese are fastidious, their culture makes them want to change cosmetics with every season and they like beautiful packaging,” Mr Rogers explained. Thus, cost‐conscious Avon, which normally uses cheaper plastic packaging, has had to put many of its products for Japanese consumers in crystalline glass.

In Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, where Avon has actively developed markets in the last two years, the cultural bias against suntan was quickly noted. Because of the colonial experience of these countries, getting bronzed was not considered genteel because it was associated with outdoor labor. As a result, suntan lotion was not heavily promoted.

Lipstick Reformulated

Because of the warm, humid climates of these countries, Avon's moist lipstick line called “Candid” had to be reformulated. Shampoos had to be redone, eliminating formaldehyde preservative, which is unpopular with Asian food and drug regulators.

“When we come into a country, we try to find out quickly what's expected of us,” Mr. Rogers said. “We do a lot of clinical studies and turn over the results to our laboratories.”

Some changes have also been necessary in transplanting Avon's personalized sales techniques. According to Russel Imler, Avon's vice president for the region, Asian sales representatives do not knock on strangers’ doors in Japan and Hong Kong because they would not be welcome. They knock only on doors of friends and relatives.

Kinship patterns in Asia, however, extend through several generations on both paternal and maternal lines, and an Avon representative is usually assured of an adequate market.

In Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, an Avon lady can knock on a door if it belongs to a business acquaintance or to the friend of a friend.

Once contact is made, the Avon lady (only 2 percent of representatives are male) gives the customer personalized attention. Sue takes orders and, in another departure from the American system, asks the customer to pick up the products from the nearest warehouse rather than wait for home delivery.

Many of the decorative gifts Avon uses to promote cosmetic lines are ordered from Asian suppliers. Recently, Avon bought teakwood boxes, macrame bags and stuffed elephants from Asia, and the feasibility of importing to the United States certain cosmetic lines that could be made in lowwage Hong Kong or Manila is under study.

Key Rates

In percent

Solomon Brothers estimates for bellwether issues