Avon Is On The Mark With Social Networking

Mark, the trendy little sister of cosmetics giant Avon, is a brand extension designed for young women in high school and college.

Mark relies on this spirited demographic to sell its products to their friends and schoolmates as a source of income. Yet the sales and distribution strategy for Mark isn't anything like the door-to-door model Avon has used for decades. Today's digital-savvy generation isn't going to canvass neighborhoods with brochures. Sales and socializing have gone digital.

Mark recently became one of the first companies to launch a direct-selling widget for online social media. The brand empowers its representatives by allowing them to socialize online and sell products with a personal touch via its customized Facebook e-boutique.

"Our rep is our store owner and our customer," said Claudia Poccia, global president of Mark. "She has to have a voice and be able to customize her business. Anything short of that is unacceptable."

The brand also created a free iPhone application so customers can research products on their phones -- goodbye traditional paper catalog. In fact, Mark isn't only eschewing print media, but all forms of aging technology. Annemarie Frank, Mark's head of e-commerce and digital media, says: "We found that e-mail blasts have a 10 percent open rate. E-mail is a like dinosaur to them." Avon plans to introduce additional applications that will enable representatives and Facebook friends to create online wish lists to share with friends (and parents) and product promotions that will pop up on the site's new feed.

Embracing social media will strengthen Avon's advertising efforts and widen Mark's influence. Cultivating brand loyalty among teenagers means brands must be modern and chic, and Mark knows the best way to open doors with this coveted demographic is not through doorbells, but ring tones.