Jung, Andrea

▪ 2002

      Though Avon Products, Inc., the world's largest direct-selling company, had built its reputation selling women's cosmetics door-to-door, its 115-year-old sales strategy was being revamped to draw on Avon CEO Andrea Jung's background in department store retailing. In 2001 Avon announced plans to sell beauty and lifestyle products through retail stores while maintaining the three million Avon sales representatives in more than 130 countries. The company chose to focus on American department stores with the planned September launch of a new beComing line in 125 Sears and 75 J.C. Penney stores. Before the products were launched, however, Sears canceled its plan to participate, and J.C. Penney was left as the sole retailer opening exclusive Avon boutiques.

      Jung was born in 1959 in Toronto but moved to Wellesley, Mass., with her family when she was a young child. Her parents (her father was an architect, and her mother was a chemical engineer) were Chinese immigrants who had high expectations for their daughter. She took piano lessons and was schooled in Mandarin Chinese. After graduating magna cum laude (1979) from Princeton University, Jung followed her interest in fashion and retailing by joining Bloomingdale's executive training program. Her career choice might have shocked her parents—at least until Jung achieved increasingly important positions at I. Magnin (senior vice president and general merchandise manager) and Neiman Marcus (executive vice president).

      When she joined Avon in 1993—she began as a consultant but was quickly promoted to president of product marketing for American operations—Jung opposed the company's move into retailing. She saw that the products and the people were not ready to expand beyond the company's traditional direct-selling approach. By the time she was named president in 1998 and CEO in 1999, she and others had already been studying new sales approaches that might take advantage of traditional retailing and Internet marketing while maintaining productive relationships with the company's sales representatives worldwide.

      Jung was known for making informed decisions. As an attractive Asian American (Mattel made an Andrea Jung Barbie doll for her), she promoted a glamorous image for the company and served as a role model for customers, company representatives, and rising executives who took cues from her example. She was also a figurehead for the company's commitment to diversity.

      Foremost, Avon was a company for and about women, and Jung epitomized the successful woman. Under her leadership Avon continued to prosper— exceeding $5 billion in annual sales—even as it sought new opportunities. In addition, her dedication to women's health was recognized in 2000 when she was named the recipient of the Award for Distinguished Service from the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center; the Avon Worldwide Fund for Women's Health had sustained programs in more than 30 countries and provided more than $100 million. Jung pledged to increase that amount to $200 million by the end of 2002.

Sarah Forbes Orwig

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