Avon, the make-up company?
Yes and no, because they’re so much more than that. but the one thing they weren’t was digital. They are now.
Content | Design | User Experience | Strategy | Client Partnerships
In 2019, a business’s digital existence isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. Avon South Africa knew this, and called us in to build on the brand that had done so well with a classic approach. This is what happens when direct selling and digital transformation collide.
For the last 23 years, Avon South Africa has been fighting for the financial independence of their amazing Beauty Representatives. They know that by putting mascara on lashes, they’re putting food on tables. They know that their fight against wrinkles enables them to fight against breast cancer with their detection and prevention initiatives. They know the value of a perfect lipstick, and speaking out against domestic violence.
This is what made partnering with Avon and Justine one of Praekelt’s simpler decisions. It was our biggest opportunity yet to touch the lives of so many women through digital solutions – both the Beauty Representatives selling the products, and the customers buying them.
Pink is the new black
Partnering with a company whose beliefs aligned so fantastically with our own, we dedicated a team of phenomenal Praekelt women (and a man or two) to go in and make digital magic happen. Our strategy, design, content, social, and client partnership teams needed to submerge themselves into the Avon way of life. So we settled in at their offices and became a part of the hot pink furniture.
Talking for two
Once we knew the lay of the land and which coffee machine made the best cappuccinos, it was time to refine the Avon and Justine brand perceptions and user experiences. With two different sets of users – the women selling the products, and the women buying them – every word written, emailer designed, or strategy created needed to consider both users equally.
It's not what you say
It’s how you say it. And with the two separate user bases sharing many of the same resources and platforms, this mattered more than ever. From the digital brochures and emailers to every social media post, we knew we needed to empower the reader. The evolution of both brands’ representative and customer-facing platforms has made buying and selling Avon simpler than ever before.
A whole new digital world
Before this overdue dose of digital, there was a limit on how many customers the average representative could reach and add to their customer base. By introducing UX-backed emailers, revamped digital brochures, and editorial-style blogs that educate online customers on all things beauty, they have more access to the world of Avon (and its reps) than ever before. As for the reps? They now have the opportunity to earn money from orders placed online by customers they haven’t even met yet.
Talk about a beautiful bot
There’s nothing we at Praekelt love more than simplifying businesses and lives through chatbots. When it came time to kick off the Avon Rep Recruitment campaign, we knew that by meeting prospective reps where they already were (on WhatsApp) we’d be making their sign-up process that much smoother (and giving the call centre agents a much-needed break). Their personal info was collected on the chatbot, before an agent called to complete the signup.
Keeping Avon on top
The Avon and Justine worlds require an immense amount of work to run smoothly, and bringing them into the digital world didn’t only mean improving the experiences of their reps and customers through better and more meaningful engagement. It also meant streamlining the work that goes into making all of the above possible. Through smart design systems, copy constructs, and adding new layers of innovation to existing platforms, we were able to increase productivity – effectively doing double the work in half the time – and ensure that Avon continues its reign as SA’s number one beauty brand.
Bringing SA’s number one beauty brand into the digital world.
471%
Increase in signups
for Justine customer emailers
46%
Increase in online revenue
within four months
#1
SA’s ranking across Avon international
over that period
Client
- Avon
- Justine
Industry
- Beauty
Teams
- Creative
- Client Partnership
Partners
- Feersum Engine