Marketing plan: Avon and Mattel Inc

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[...] We can resume this case as being the Mattel and Avon's bet. In fact the core products of Mattel and Avon are respectively dolls and cosmetics / fragrances, and it is difficult to see Chinese girls play with Barbie dolls and women with cosmetics Company description Avon was founded in 1886 and incorporated as California Perfume Products in 1916. The core marketing strategy of the company was its ?Avon ladies?: an army of salespersons today constituted of millions of part-time and full time door-to-door working women. [...]

[...] In fact the size of Chinese market and its potential. Are really a good motivation especially because the Barbie doll might really meet the local customers' needs. But they have to be approached by the good way. Thanks to its alliance with Avon, Mattel is able to penetrate the Chinese market. Learning from Avon's experiences and because Avon have already deal with Chinese government, Mattel gain a competitive advantage on its competitors. In long term, it will definitively grow a synergy between the two actors. [...]

[...] So we are in presence of an alliance between two giants. That is why the piggy-back must work in a double way, with reciprocity, the two partners being practically equal, but which need each other. Customers analysis The customers of Avon are women. Women sell to other women. They are Avon product's sellers and prescriptors. Avon looks years younger, too. College girls are now peddling Avon on campuses, from a new line called Mark that includes Hook Up for the 16- to 24-year-old crowd. [...]

[...] Business partner: In 1997, interested by the 2.3 million Avon sales representatives worldwide, Mattel, Inc. announced that it would partner Avon in order to allow its salesperson to sell Barbie dolls. The tests in the U.S. market was a real success and, as soon as spring 1998, Avon and Mattel decided to start to have Avon ladies selling an ?international Barbie? in China. China accounted for only of Avon's sales in 1998, but with the huge potential of Chinese market, Avon is willing to succeed the challenge of entering this market Strategic Focus and Plan This section covers three aspects of corporate strategy that influence the Avon's marketing plan: the Avon Mission, Avon's Values and Principles. [...]

[...] To explain the process, if there is no sells made by the sales person, Avon will not have to suffer of low efficiency and will not have to pay fix sales force costs. - Another core competency of Avon is its closeness with its customer. Thanks to its Avon ladies, Avon can offer very specific services and show a ?human size? company despite its multinational activities. This is a good way to close and high level services Situation Analysis SWOT ANALYSIS In the overall, the main weakness rising from this analysis is the high turnover of Avon's sales force. [...]