Avon has named Özlem Çitçi as its new chief marketing officer, just weeks after promoting its former CMO Kristof Neirynck to chief executive.
The beauty business confirmed Çitçi will take control of the marketing department come January 2024. The exec first joined Avon as head of marketing for Turkey in 2020, before being elevated to head of marketing for Europe in May 2023.
Çitçi has already transformed the legacy brand’s approach to marketing in Europe, bringing the physical catalogue that’s so synonymous with the brand online and using social to grow its market share on the continent.
In her new role, she will oversee global brand marketing for Avon and commercial marketing for the business in Europe. She will be based in Istanbul.
Prior to joining Avon, Çitçi held senior positions at global, regional and local levels at Groupe Danone, Pernod Ricard, Efes Beverage Group and Sephora.
Ding-dong, Avon calling
Founded in 1886, Avon is older than women’s right to vote in the U.K. and U.S. The brand pioneered a direct-selling model in cosmetics embodied by its doorstep Avon Lady sellers.
However, for the past two decades the brand’s sales have been lackluster due to customers skipping out on door-to-door selling—first in favor of department stores, then later ecommerce.
Under the watch of Neirynck, the brand has been steadily rebooting its image to appeal to mid-30s women, communicating its heirloom qualities alongside Avon’s shift toward digital, which now lets customers access products directly if they don’t want the full direct seller experience.
In 2022, it debuted a global campaign with Wunderman Thompson, “Embrace Your Power,” which highlighted how Avon was letting women “realize their full potential” through its skin care and beauty products, as well as the opportunities for its sales representatives to “earn and learn.”
In mid-2023, the brand underwent another shift with a full-scale rebrand and redesign from consultancy Free the Bird. The reboot equipped Avon with a fresh aesthetic and tone of voice better suited to the 21st century.
As well as updating the flagship brand, the redesign also revamped 120 sub-brands, which are set to reach shelves and ecommerce platforms in early 2024.
Following a decade of decline, Avon’s refocused marketing efforts are yielding fruit, with parent company Natura &Co reporting 3% year-over-year growth in the beauty category in its most recent financial results.
Bricks and mortar will be a big focus for both Çitçi and Neirynck in their new roles. Avon already has more than 60 stores in Turkey and expects to open its first U.K. retail spaces soon.
The company is also expanding its presence in the latter market’s Superdrug shopping chain, following a tie-up in September that saw Avon products sold in select branches of the retailer.
