Research and development

Avon has a product line covering all fields of women's products, but is not widely known among today's young Chinese women.

In early 1990s, Avon Guangzhou production base was built as Asia's largest modern cosmetics production base. In 2010, Shanghai R&D Center was established as Avon's biggest overseas research and development center.

"Shanghai R&D Center aims to meet the demands of Asian women and a large part of the new products made there cater especially to Chinese women," said Dr. Xiaochun Luo, Group Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer for Avon.

Luo is responsible for leading Avon's Global Research & Development Center in its drive for innovation and the development of breakthrough technologies and Avon's worldwide product lines.

The center, built on the company's original 1897 site in Suffern, New York, received over $100 million in investments. In this 225,000-square-foot structure, over 350 of the industry's best and brightest scientific minds are working together to advance Avon's research. They create and test over 1,000 new products every year. That's an average of three new products per day.

Before joining Avon, Luo had spent almost ten years with Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), including three years in Japan establishing a new technology organization for P&G's Asia-Pacific region.  Prior to her current role, she was the vice president of new technology innovation for Avon, and had directed breakthrough developments in anti-aging skin care technology.

Avon anew

A new series of anti-aging facial skin care products called Avon Anew went to market in the end of 2012. However, whether the Chinese market would be shaped anew remains to be seen.  

Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader suggests that McCoy needs to once again focus Avon on its customer base. "There are signs that Avon is going the other way -- focusing on brand and other wishy-washy things rather than leveraging its rich understanding of customers," Fader said. "Avon has a gift, which it does not fully appreciate."

While Long Zan, vice secretary of the Direct Selling Expert Committee of the China Marketing Association thought the prospect of Avon China is not optimistic, because the company failed to adapt to Chinese market in the dozens of years since its entry.  

Though the details of John Lin's reform are still unknown, McCoy seems quite confident in the future of Avon's Chinese business.

In the 2013 Fortune Global Forum, she said that Asian market, especially the Chinese market has the most potential energy for them. They wanted to have more interaction with Asian women and make them more powerful.

(Reporting from New York City)