How Avon went from beauty institution to total disaster

The global beauty brand used to sell four lipsticks a second. Photo / Getty Images

At the height of its success, the global beauty brand Avon was selling four lipsticks a second. Now, the talcum powder that once made the legacy label a worldwide hit is more closely aligned with its undoing. This week, following hundreds of lawsuits which allege the talc in its beauty products contained asbestos - causing cancer - Avon Products Inc declared bankruptcy.

While the company has continually denied the claims, saying it only uses “cosmetic-grade talc which has been tested to confirm that it does not contain asbestos”, it is now without “sufficient liquidity” to pay off the £1 billion (and counting) ($2.14b) it owes. In the interim, says Avon CEO Kristof Neirynck, they “remain focused on advancing our business strategy internationally, including modernising our direct selling model and reigniting the brand to accelerate growth”.

The company’s troubles started before the talc debacle. Founded in 1886, a decade ago it was “one of the top three beauty brands in the country”, according to its website - but it has struggled to retain its place in an industry in which products for every skin tone and type are available at the tap of a smartphone.

“I don’t envy Avon right now,” says Ruby Hammer, makeup artist and founder of Ruby Hammer Beauty. While she once loved its lipsticks and liners, and relied on its (now-discontinued) Mega Effects Mascara, she says Avon has been left, like many heritage outfits, to fight an uphill battle against “the pace and momentum of the newer younger brands dropping products and content continuously … there is so much noise, it is harder than ever to break through”.

Hammer says Avon has been left to fight an uphill battle against the pace and momentum of newer brands. Photo / Getty Images

What was once Avon’s USP - appealing to all women - simply no longer works in today’s market, says Anita Bhagwandas, author of Ugly: Why the World Became Beauty Obsessed and How to Break Free. “There are so many different brands and so much on offer now that are very specific and bespoke to people, and I think Avon has slightly lost its way.”

The commerciality of TikTok tutorials and celebrity beauty lines could hardly have been imagined by the company’s founder, door-to-door book salesman David H. McConnell. At the close of the 19th century, he identified a market in the women waiting for their husbands to return from work, offering a free gift with each purchase (plus the companionship provided from that knock on the door). The brand’s popularity soared.

Its glossy catalogues - featuring rose perfume, pink and white face powder - and its first print advert in Good Housekeeping in 1906 helped change the reputation of cosmetics. A “painted face”, once considered a sign of immorality, would be increasingly acceptable by the 1920s; in 1931, Good Housekeeping (at that time, the housewife’s bible) gave its seal of approval to 11 Avon products, then a record for one firm.

By the time the brand launched in the UK in 1959, Bhagwandas says Avon had successfully turned the intimidating and often negative messaging of makeup marketing on its head.

With the help of the “Ding-Dong, Avon Calling” campaign - one of the longest-running and most successful in history - the brand became “really kitschy and fun; just a different take on beauty”, says Bhagwandas. “Post-war, people were looking for a bit of joy, and I think Avon brought that.”

It wasn’t only customers buying in. Vicky Borman remembers the brand providing both “a lifeline and a network” for her grandmother, who became an “Avon lady” in the late 60s.

These were the company’s saleswomen, who were able to work on their own time and often earn a personal income. (It was also a child-friendly gig; Borman, who runs her own business, says as a child, she loved traipsing along streets “pressing on the bell and shouting ‘ding-dong, Avon calling!’” with her grandmother.)

According to Millie Kendall, founder of the British Beauty Council, Avon started peer-to peer-selling “before the internet. It’s in a way so modern. Their consultants were the first influencers”, she says.

The company’s saleswomen were able to work on their own time and earn a personal income. Photo / Getty Images

But while “at some point in time these brands were modern and forward-thinking”, Avon has wilted in today’s £28.98b ($61.94b) UK beauty industry. It’s a challenge faced by all older firms (a trait respected among fashion buyers, but less so in cosmetics), which “can struggle to match the pace of innovation set by newer brands”, says Shiyan Zering, beauty and personal care research analyst at Mintel. This “potentially [puts] them at a disadvantage in retaining consumer interest”.

Avon has also struggled to produce the kinds of hero products that were once so popular. While Skin So Soft remains a favourite for killing off mosquitoes, there have been no launches of late to generate a similar buzz, nor command the online conversation.

Their social media efforts have also been sluggish. Then, last year, they announced they would be launching their first brick-and-mortar stores, even amid the high-street downturn. The plans never materialised, but the sense Avon was still living in a different era was only reinforced.

“Despite them trying to reinvigorate the brand in lots of different ways, it has always felt old-fashioned,” Bhagwandas says. “I don’t know how you pivot a brand like that... That’s probably part of the issue.”

Hammer adds the personal touch still matters to buyers - but Avon needs to make more of an effort to move with the times, like swapping events for live streams, or offering samples with QR codes that can be scanned to provide how-tos. (Kendall suggests shouting more loudly about the charitable work they do would also help their cause among ethically conscious consumers.)

It’s a tall order for Avon - and that was before the legal woes. Still, some in the industry are optimistic that, with a significant shift in strategy, the brand isn’t done just yet. Buyers love a shiny new product - but they love a comeback story even more.