Opening Lines: Staying Focused
The way to build a powerful brand is to find a distinct brand identity and remain loyal to it. Susan J. Kropf, president and COO of Avon Products, shared this advice during her keynote address on September 27 at the HBA Health & Beauty America trade show in New York City. Her speech was titled “Building Brand Leadership: Five Drivers of Brand Power.”
“The trick is to build brands that really last, and capture the minds and hearts of consumers over the long run,” said Kropf. “Your strategy needs to start with vision. It’s vital to develop a brand voice that is distinctive and that breaks through the clutter.” In other words, marketers must know what their brand’s focus is—what the brand stands for and who its target customers are.
Avon has had much success with this concept. Today, certain key features define the brand. As Kropf says, Avon is known as a brand that aims to improve women’s lives. From its inception in 1886, the company was founded as a direct-sales entity, one that helped to create economic opportunities for female employees. The brand now has 4.9 million sales representatives worldwide, both female and male. Avon is also known for its Avon Walk for Breast Cancer program, which has so far garnered $350 million for the search for a cure.
According to Kropf, finding a key identity means knowing what your company does best. Sometimes, discovering exactly what a brand’s strengths are takes time. Kropf noted that at one point, Avon started acquiring many brands outside of its cosmetic focus, including Tiffany’s. Eventually the brand realized that its greatest strength was its beauty business and the relationship with women that that business afforded. “You can’t sell everything,” said Kropf. “Don’t pursue every opportunity or you will dilute your brand’s efforts.”
Staying loyal to a brand’s identity also means creating products that support that brand’s message, said Kropf. “To bring long-term growth, innovation must be part of the mix,” she said. “And innovation is about more than products—it is also about packaging, delivery systems, and marketing.”
Just as a brand’s marketing program and products must be centered on a brand’s message, so must the packaging. On crowded store shelves, signature packaging is what will enable customers to recognize your products.
Many of today’s brands have been successful with this. For instance, thanks to its portable packages and unit-dose concepts, Cargo Cosmetics is quickly becoming a brand known for travel-friendly packaging. Other brands, such as MAC Cosmetics and Bobbi Brown, connect with customers through a streamlined look.
Strong marketing will lead customers to your product. Good products will keep them coming back for more. But at the crucial moment—the point of sale—you must ensure that customers can identify immediately that it’s your brand’s product they are looking at—and want.