International beauty company Avon, which has been operating on the Georgian market since
2008, intends to improve its performance by making its services more flexible, accessible, and easier both for customers and its representatives by advancing the digital transformation.
“Our strategy this year, and beyond, is digitalization. The process began before the coronavirus pandemic, and now in the face of the challenges that all of us face it is being accelerated. We have a number of ongoing and future projects that will accelerate Avon digitization, make processes more flexible, and enable even more women in Georgia to gain financial independence, to study and develop, set up and run their own businesses from anywhere, even without leaving home,” Director of Avon Georgia Ana Tskhadadze said.
She added that another thing that Avon wants to share with Golden Brand readers is that the beauty company has a new ambassador – Miss Georgia 2003, Irina Onashvili.
“With Irina we will introduce many more interesting initiatives and projects to our audience,” Tskhadadze said.
Avon has been established as the largest women’s organization in Georgia, bringing together thousands of beauty advisors throughout the whole country.
Avon offers consumers five categories of product, including facial skin care products, body care products, make-up cosmetics, perfumes and accessories, which total about 2,000 products in the Avon portfolio.
Q. Avon is a company which continually offers novelty to its customers. Could you please share some recent developments at the company?
A. Last year we offered a number of important innovations to our customers, of which I would single out Avon’s skin care discovery, Protinol, which is clinically proven to restore both types of collagen found in healthy skin, helping to mimic the perfect collagen ratio found in baby skin.
Protinol is added to all facial treatment products, in almost all creams which are issued under the Anew brand of Avon. Anew has revolutionized the world of skincare.
We strive to keep up with trends in the modern beauty industry. We strive to be innovative and, most importantly, to offer customers exactly what they need.
Q. How has Avon’s catalogue changed over the years, while following emerging new trends in the world beauty industry?
A. We are innovators. Our brand philosophy tells us that our main goal is to be distinctive, loud, diverse, even ‘bold’, and to be available to everyone.
Our catalogue has been updated according to the trends of the world beauty industry; over 135 years of history based on this philosophy.
Q. What are Georgian customers’ favorite Avon products, in your opinion?
A. Many products are popular, from our make-up cosmetics to our facial skincare lineup.
Our lipsticks occupy an irreplaceable position in many Georgian women’s bags, but I would probably choose fragrances. There are several perfumes that have gained wide popularity among Georgian customers. These are the best-selling perfumes, always in demand.
Q. Currently, how many beauty advisors does Avon have in Georgia and how many of them are men?
A. It can be said that Avon has the largest army of women gathered around it, with more than 20,000 women across the country who are ambitious, hardworking and purposeful about gaining financial independence and success with the company.
As for men, it wouldl be difficult to give a specific number, but I can proudly say that quite a lot of men cooperate with us, as men’s products are widely represented in our portfolio; you will find products for men of all tastes and ages in our product line.
Q. Avon is a distinguished company in terms of employee care. We all remember that despite the difficulties of the pandemic year, the company retained its employees. Recently, you rewarded nine employees with cars. Introduce the company’s strategy towards employees and tell us how many employees the company has in Georgia.
A. There are 100 people employed at our office, plus 20,000 sales representatives.
Our main goal has always been to create equal opportunities for all, an equal environment regardless of gender, religion, and different views; to give everyone equal opportunity to express and develop their skills, interests, and knowledge.
Most important to us are the people who put the greatest enthusiasm and love into their work on a daily basis, that’s what the success of Avon stands for, so protecting and caring for their rights is the number one priority of the company.
Q. It is impossible not to mention Avon’s contribution to defeating breast cancer in Georgia. Last year, with the ‘Pink October’ campaign, Avon donated $50,000 to help women fight breast cancer. Can you tell us how many women you funded for breast cancer screening?
A. It is difficult to give specific numbers, though I can proudly say that we have already helped thousands of women.
As you know, we have been leading the ‘Pink Space’ — a wellness center — since 2019 in partnership with Europa Donna and its President Ana Mazanishvili, which continued to receive patients even during the pandemic.
It is the first psycho-social support center for cancer patients where ex-patients share their knowledge and experience with those in need. Numerous activities in this space are carried out completely free of charge for patients, be it art therapy, dance, handicrafts or others.
The ‘Pink Space’ has all the conditions to help cancer patients cope with the stress caused by their diagnosis, because often in the fight against this incurable disease, keeping up one’s spirits is the most important thing.
It is Avon that sponsors the ‘Pink Space’ from our charity fund and I am happy to have the opportunity to stand by those served by it.
Q. Congratulations on winning the Golden Brand! Please tell us what successful activities have led the company to this recognition?
A. First, this is probably stability and the stable growth that we exhibit in the Georgian market. We have been a leader in the Georgian beauty industry for many years and I am very happy about this fact. We are a stable employer and have made a great contribution to the stable economic progress of the country.
The other factor is the charitable projects that we undertook in support of gender equality with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA Georgia) in November of last year during the ‘Pink October’ campaign, which involved up to 1,100 women across the country. In ten cities of Georgia where the state screening program does not work, we were given the opportunity for women to conduct breast cancer screening examinations completely free of charge.
I am very proud of these achievements and I am glad that Avon maintains a leading position in the Georgian market.
