Inside: What's changing with Avon's new identity?

Watch Me Now, says Avon. We talk to Swati Jain, Marketing Director, Avon India to piece together the transformation the brand is going through with their new identity.

For decades, Avon has had a straight-cut A as their identity. Now, they are moving towards celebrating curves. Watch Me Now, their new brand campaign, highlights a new positioning that reflects on the Avon of today. And, its purpose of transforming women's lives as an innovative, bold and inclusive beauty brand. The campaign calls on people to reconsider their views of Avon, a 135-year old legacy brand.

Avon's logo has been updated for the first time in decades, giving it a bolder, more confident tone of voice. The new branding aims to make the brand and its representatives more relevant to today's generation. The new logo has already begun appearing on products and brochures and includes reference to the curves of the original 1930s Avon logo, with the new colour gradient based on the curves of a woman’s face. 

"The tonality of our branding is changing with the logo. Our communication will be much more active now. We will continue to project stories of Avon influencers," says Swati Jain, Marketing Director, Avon India, adding how for them, anyone who has a story to share is an influencer.

The new identity has been launched with a digital film that brings out real-life positive stories of women who have transformed themselves through experiential learning and mutual support.

Also Read: Role of content in selling beauty brands & products

"Our journey has been inherently based on relationship selling. An Avon representative forms a relationship with the people and advises and guides them personally. While communicating with millennials, this aspect will remain the same. We will just be more aggressive in our usage of digital mediums and the tonality will change," she says.

She further explains how the inherent need to getting advised remains same across ages, only the tonality of communication required changes. Recently, they launched new products, positioning them in a manner that can potentially attract younger patrons. They are also adding elements to their application, making it more social than just a buying platform.

These upgrades come from the simple insight that women across ages love to have someone they can depend on while making a choice around the cosmetics and attires they should invest in. To capture the younger generation, the brand has tilted its communication around the concept and allure of a little black dress.

The onslaught of the pandemic has changed quite a few things for the brand. They have learnt the importance of digital initiatives.

This was the first time they trained Avon representatives online on a large scale. The brand is also amping up their digital assets and online brochures.

Going forward, they are hoping to increase the number of DIYs that go up on their social channels. "We have seen great response for DIY videos. There has been a hike in interest for eye and nail products as well as makeup looks that go well with a mask. These trends are here to stay and thus, we will create more content around them," Jain tells us.

In terms of engagement, Facebook is a strong platform for Avon. In regards to looks and virality, Instagram works well. On the business end, WhatsApp Business is the space where they see a lot of activity.